For the most part, Tokyo has securely bound its revelers in the outlying suburban areas in disguised geisha palaces with traditional sliding panels and lanterns and the impersonators attired in obi (sash) and kimono, reclining on the crisp floors sipping their tee and inhaling the Lucky Strike of Japanese brands, the ever-popular bitter-sweet aroma of Peace Cigarettes.

But there is the international set which hovers in secluded bars and hostelries in the port bay of Yokohama and downtown Tokyo. This group includes a gross representation of Americans, both men and women. In Tokyo there is a tiny and intimate bar with a rectangular ultramodern facade called the Cafe Bon Heur, where some 70 plus American service personnel of all ages and civilians habituate. It is an exact replica of this sort of thing in the States of course operated and staffed by Japanese and condoned because the basic Japanese legal and moral sanctions do not interfere with the gay element. In fact, remove the military authorities and Japan-particularly Tokyo-would be the most ideal climate for homosexuals. Spotlights, autumn hues, and an upstairs with low-lighting, cushioned window seats and siphoned mood music pervade the Club Bon Heur. The most impressive element about it is its location. Not miles away in a quiet suburb but mere steps away from the heart and main street of Tokyo the Ginza. The Bon Heur is located directly across the bridge from the Picadilly Theater and it is a wonder it has existed, lo, these many years. The club is frequented primarily by navy and air force personnel with a few stray army and marine and female element thrown in. The atmosphere. is usually quiet with dancing and the

usual mannerisms of the group and infrequently an over-intoxicated patron will display his terpsichorean abilities.

There is another small upstairs haven called the Shangri-La a few minutes cab ride from the Ginza and located in a small suburban shopping district near a railroad overhead; very inconspicuous, it is owned and operated by an American. There is an overhead terrace, bay windows, indirect lighting, a small bar, paintings, and low-lined sandwichsize tables. One may find themselves talking to a serviceman, a film executive, or a Nipponese proprietor who "understands."

In the feminine department, there is much afoot with the WAC and WAAF personnel who mostly confine their associations with chanteuses and dancers of the Japanese theatrical circuit. Nine out of ten females prefer the Nipponese companions to their own kind and vice versa.

In Yokohama, once a hot-bed of activity but since toned down by repeated raids by military police and port authorities, the vestige of a once-highly active society abounds in an upstairs cabaret which now caters to mixed patronage but which once was exclusively gay. It is no curiosity to see Japanese men dancing together or with Japanese women or with American men and/or women, and any remaining variety or combination.

The Japanese themselves are a highly emotional and cultured people, and they look toward the removal of all restrictions in the direction of the homosexual by the law and police force. Noting the trend as indicated in the ballerina film mentioned above, homosexuals in Japan view the future with a balanced note of optimism.

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