In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

164 So-called rezu baa (lez bars) were present in Tokyo as early as the 1960s. When a show by a reputable theater company portrayed rezu-style motifs that featured women dressed in men’s clothing, it was supported by twenty-three lesbian bars in Tokyo (Shiba 1993). If one considers that Tokyo’s famous gay district of Shinjuku nichome has only ten rediisu baa today (lesbian bars, known also as ladies’ bars), the early figure is impressive. In contrast to present-day establishments , early lesbian bars featured women dressed in men’s clothing who worked as bartenders, also known as booi (boys) or hosuto (hosts), who served a clientele consisting of women and men from the larger general public. Apparently, then, the concept of rezu at the time denoted women who dressed in men’s clothing.1 At the end of the 1960s, another image of lesbians as vulgar and obscene began to circulate chiefly through mainstream magazines created by and for men. In their pages images of women appeared engaged in hardcore sexual acts, labeled as special “lesbian techniques,” said to offer women levels of pleasure that no man could provide. Not surprisingly, lesbian sex attracted attention. In these portraits, lesbians did not necessarily dress as men, nor were they obliged to be the aggressor in sexual activity (Sugiura 2005, 2006a, 2006b). During these early years, therefore, the public portraits of lesbians were limited to the stereotypes of male dressing and carnal behavior. Lesbians themselves were isolated, and their most immediate need was to establish a space where they could meet one another. In 1971, the lesbian organization known as the Wakakusa no kai (Young Grass Club) was founded in Tokyo so that lesbians might meet one another. I believe it is appropriate to say that this group represents the starting point of lesbian community organizing. It was begun by Michiko Suzuki (b. 1950), who took out ads in magazines and appeared on television in order to recruit members. She ran the organization entirely on her own, publishing a monthly newsletter, responding to letters from people seekIkuko Sugiura Translated by Kimberly Hughes increasing lesbian visibility 12 165 ing advice, managing inquiries from the mass media, and handling general operating responsibilities. During the group’s fifteen-year history, it is estimated that there were a total of at least five hundred members (Hirosawa 1987). Considering the number of years that the group was in existence, it is not surprising that conflicts occurred along the way. As Hirosawa wrote after interviewing Suzuki, the first problems began to surface when, in the midseventies, “a group of lesbians who had become baptized as women’s liberationists joined the group and began to criticize its leader” (Hirosawa 1987, 115). The women’s liberation movement in Japan began around the year 1970, and the Ribu Shinjuku sentaa (Lib Shinjuku Center) operated in Tokyo as the movement’s central hub from 1972 to 1977. Its membership included lesbians, and in the midseventies, lesbians who had been influenced by the ideals of lesbian feminism began to launch projects, including newsletters, dance parties, and meetings for lesbians in the city of Kyoto. In contrast to the goal of the Young Grass Club gatherings, which primarily provided a social setting for lesbians to meet one another, the primary aim of these liberationists was educational—to eradicate internalized homophobia among lesbians. This goal clearly appears in the title of their first newsletter, published in 1976, which was called Subarashii onnatachi (Wonderful Women) and like others that followed,2 clearly proclaimed several central ideals of lesbian feminism: that the roots of lesbian oppression could be traced to the existence of patriarchy; that one must value one’s own joseisei (womanhood), as well as one’s relationships with other women; and that the task at hand was to overthrow the patriarchal system itself. The lesbian feminist critique of the Young Grass Club leader, Michiko Suzuki, was rooted in the ideals described above. Suzuki had apparently made notes regarding individual members on the group’s roster using terms such as “feminine,” “boyish,” “likes to lead her partner,” “likes to be led around by her partner,” etc., to describe them. This was criticized by the liberationists as replicating the male-created value system (Hirosawa 1987, 115). The 1980s: Expansion of the Network All of the newsletters publishing during the 1970s were short-lived, and did not influence lesbian community building. In 1984, however, five lesbians who had been involved with the earlier publications...

Share