31 May 2007

The first guidebooks to gay and lesbian life in East Asia have just been updated and expanded to include contemporary attractions and entertainment for gay and lesbian visitors to 46 Asian destinations including Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei.

Where exactly is the shrine to the 2-ton wooden phallus? Do Love Motels allow same sex couples? Which lesbian bars welcome foreign women? The answers to these and many other questions can be found in the new 128 page Utopia Guide to Japan.

While Japan has had gay guidebooks circulating since the 18th century (and even a modern guidebook to gay life designed for Japanese heterosexuals), it is only recently that the English-speaking international traveller has been allowed access to the Japan's vibrant subculture.

The Utopia Guide to Japan (2nd Edition) attempts to blast away at popular misconceptions that Japan is prohibitively expensive and is unfriendly to foreigners. On the contrary, the Utopia Guide suggests that after suffering from more than a decade of economic flatlining, Japan is cheaper to visit than most major American cities.

The authors go even further to suggest that current warm welcome for foreigners (and their loose change) is evidenced by English signage posted almost everywhere you go, including signs in Japanese saunas cautioning against "hair dyeing and gum chewing."

Meanwhile, if you want know how to find the Erotic Art Museum in Seoul? Just what goes on at a Jjimjilbang? Ofwhich gay saunas "don't ask don't tell" G.I.s visit? the latest edition of the Utopia Guide to South Korea might be a good jumping off point for your discovery.

According to the Utopia Guide, South Korean men, with their natural machismo, special brand of brotherly "kinship" and easy-going metrosexuality, have recently become sex symbols around the region appealing to both sexes.

Apparently, there have never been laws prohibiting homosexuality in Korea and any attempts to enact official discrimination have been overturned through the efforts of vocal gay and human rights activists, according to the new guide.