When Toshitsune Tamashiro was young and closeted in 1980s Japan, Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ni-chome gay district was a haven. Now he runs a bar there, and has fought to keep the district going during the coronavirus pandemic. Ni-chome, believed the most dense concentration of gay bars globally, fulfills a vital role for Japan’s LGBT community in a nation where some gay men still marry women, and even a few Ni-chome bar owners haven’t come out to their families. In April, under Japan’s state of emergency, it became a ghost town. Landlords slashed rents, bars crowdfunded to stay afloat, and business leaders petitioned the local government desperately for help.
“We want to protect our shops, we want to protect our community. We want to protect our town,” said Tamashiro, whose roughly 10-seat bar “Base” is typical of many of Ni-chome’s tiny establishments. Closed for several months, he sold “reserve” bottles to customers for extra income. Others peddled…