An interview with a Nichome cross-dressing bar manager
Kyodo News recently had a feature on Onna no ko Kurabu (Girls’ Club), the popular cross-dressing bar and club in Nichome where you can try on women’s clothes away from prying eyes.
The article highlights the “home from home” aspect.
Onna no ko Kurabu is not a drag bar with theatrical outfits and shows, but rather a relaxed space where a man can arrive straight from the office, perhaps in a suit, and indulge his feminine side with a complete transformation.
One side of this cozy bar is marked off with a heaving rack of outfits — everything from understated blazers to gowns with puffy lace sleeves.
Colorful stickers decorate a long mirror behind the clothes rack, with piles of makeup, wigs and skin care products on hand to complete each customer’s look.
According to [manager] Kuriko, the most popular outfits are not costumes but fashion that any stylish woman might wear.
It focuses on the attractive Kuriko.
“In my private life I’m a man, of course, and I dress as a woman for work — it’s both incredibly tiring and incredibly satisfying,” the former real estate agent explained over an iced tea.
It also highlights the changing nature of Nichome, which used to be more secretive but is now popular also with straight patrons.
“Nichome used to be a much more closed community, but with the economic downturn in recent years, gay bars have had to let in ‘tourists’ in order to survive,” Kuriko says.
However, it doesn’t mention the police crackdown Nichome has been experiencing recently or the rising rents, caused by the gentrification of neighboring parts of Shinjuku in response to the inbound tourism boom, that have forced some businesses out.
Instead it sticks to a positive message — that cross-dressing can be the answer to a lot of problems in Japan. Cross-dressing men have greater empathy for women in society and the difficulties they face.
“I would like to see a society where every man has the opportunity to try cross-dressing at least once — that’s the kind of open and warm place Japan should become.”
