Japan's First Lady Rides In Pride Parade

Japan's First Lady rode on a float during Tokyo's gay pride parade yesterday.

The 51-year-old wife of conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe donned a white suit to stand on a float with a drag queen, as some 3,000 participants marched through the trendy Shibuya business and shopping district. Mrs Akie Abe, known for her liberal inclinations, wrote on her Facebook page later that she has been involved in the issue since joining a commission set up by UNAIDS and the Lancet medical journal last year. "I want to help build a society where anyone can conduct happy, enriched lives without facing discrimination," she wrote.

The parade included a marching band which performed We Shall Overcome.

World Order - Welcome To Toyko

I first posted about World Order, a band headed by a retired martial arts champion, a couple of years ago.  This is their "welcome" to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  Nice track, cool dancing, lyrics in Japanese.

(Tipped by JMG reader Greg)

Tokyo To Host 2020 Olympics

Beating out fellow finalists Madrid and Istanbul, the IOC today announced that Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Tokyo's bid came in at $5 billion to $6 billion, compared to $19 billion pledged by Istanbul, said Ed Hula, editor and founder of aroundtherings.com, which covers the business and politics of the Olympic movement. But Tokyo's government has already amassed a $4.9 billion Olympic fund to pay to prepare for the Games, Hula said. And a $1 billion national stadium that will be used for the athletic events and the Opening Ceremonies will already have been built for the rugby World Cup in 2017 and is not considered an Olympic expense. Turkey would have been the first Muslim country to host the Games, and with a median age of less than 30 years, one of the youngest. However, it missed out for the fifth time.

Lesbians Wed At Tokyo Disney

Flanked by Mickey and Minnie, a lesbian couple was (not legally) married on Friday at Tokyo's Disney Resort.

The event on Friday was the first homosexual wedding in the popular amusement park even though gay marriage has no legal standing in Japan.The couple first hit the headlines after the theme park initially told them there would be no problem with the ceremony provided they dressed "like a man and a woman". A staff member said a same-sex wedding would create "repercussions" among visitors if both brides wore wedding dresses or both grooms donned tuxedoes. But just few days later the resort operator got back in touch to say their initial response had been wrong and gay couples were free to mix and match their attire.

Walt Disney Company, which signed onto last week's corporate SCOTUS brief, has allowed same-sex ceremonies on its properties since 2007.

Tokyo Pride 2012

Tweet Of The Day

Oh, this will totally dampen the hysteria. Story here.

Capsule Life

As Japan's economy tanks with the rest of the world, Tokyo's famed "capsule hotels," originally created for businessmen who'd missed their evening train, have turned into extended-stay apartments for the unemployed. Makes you reconsider NYC's 55 square feet apartment, doesn't it?