>Hugz<

I am not sure. But at least, it seems like that to me. I found two English gay magazines(GT and Attitude) and two HK gay magazines(Good Guy and Achilles) at the same bookstore. Achilles is targetted to gym-goers. But if it's solely devoted to body building does it have to show so many men with so little clothes? I doubt it.

Several weeks ago, I came across a few gay literatures of Japan in English at one secondhand bookstore. One is Comrade Loves of the Samurai by Saikaku Ihara and the other is Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima. That is selective stories from Saikaku Ihara's " The great mirror of male love " and easier to read so I'm reading the book while commuting. I also bought two more books of Ihara, Scheming World and Life of an amorous man . What an unexpected suprise! Even when I visited Japan this summer, I couldn't find those books.

G-men1月号 No.178 One of the most influential Japanese gay magazines, G-Men reveals gay spots in Seoul, Korea. The details of the first "G-men" of 2011 follows: ■速報！ アジア中のガチムチ野郎注目の新イベント 「FANTASY」誕生！ ＆台湾ゲイパレード2010 10/29に台北で誕生したアジア最大の ガチムチ野郎イベント「FANTASY」と、 10/30の台湾ゲイパレード2010を総力取材。 アジア中のナイスなガチムチ野郎が集結した その天国のような空間をイチ早くお届け！ 表紙に登場するのは、FANTASY BOYS。 その模様と台北レポートは2月号で たっぷりと掲載します。 ■総力特集　 Gay Traveller ASIA SEOUL 男の旅 ～あなたの知らないソウル Seoul, Men's trip, ~ Seoul which you don't know そして今号の目玉はソウルの大特集。 もっとも近い海外、韓国・ソウルの 日本では知られていないゲイスポットを 完全取材。 And this month's edition's focus point is Seoul Special Report. We covered all the gay spots of Seoul, Korea (which is the closest overseas country) which are unknown for Japanese yet. もちろんソウル・カバーボーイズの 特写グラビアもたっぷり御用意しました。 Of course, we provide specially photographed gravures of Seoul, cover boys' with plenty.さらに、漢流イラストレーターが 熱筆を揮ったカラー男絵とコミックもご紹介！ ソウル・カバーボーイズ 特写グラビア5本立て ナイトタウン＠ソウル ・ナイスガイ・マスター登場 ・日本初紹介のバー＆居酒屋 　+高雄の日本語OKのバーも取材 ・最新人気ハッテン・スポッ

Korean band " Monni " released their second album this year in five years after their first album in 2005. I heard their song for the first time, when I visited clubs around Hongik Univ areas. I liked them instantly. But recently I came across the fact that their promotion video for " Leaving Me " was banned for lesbianism. Now I like Monni even more. :)

Recently I bought iPod touch. I installed some apps for gays. Ie scruff and grindr. I got shocked how open and proud korean gays are. So many pics from those who are not afraid or shamed of who they are. So impressed I am.

Ihara Saikaku is a famous Japanese writer in 1600s. He wrote many modern novels including, Life of an Amorous Man and The Eternal Storehouse of Japan . Safe from Christianism through centuries, Japan has old traditions of homosexual relationships. So Saikaku also wrote on homosexual relationships which were common among samurais and monks in this book.

James Baldwin's 2 novels, Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni's room were translated in Korean in 1980's. While searching for "Giovanni's room" in local libraries, I came to know the fact. After some more research I could purchase the book from one used books store(which was several months ago, maybe more than a year ago).

The title "Notes of a desolate man" was changed to Korean title meaning "The portrait of a gay man". The subpublisher knows how to sell a book, I suppose. It was almost 9 years ago since I read this novel. So I didn't remember anything about the story. I came across this book while moving my books here and there.

No Regret is a Korean queer movie. One is an orphan who became sex worker. And the other is rich boy with a secret agenda and fiancee!!!! This movie is very intense in every way. I have watched it before and I bought the 2-disk DVD yesterday. But I am not sure when I watch this movie. Even though I'm a huge fan of queer movies, intense queer movies make me feel uneasy. "Just Friends"' director produced this movie.

During my short trip to Japan, I found this book unexpectedly. The cover caught my eyes instantly. And from the word "forbidden" I could guess this book is about homosexual desires. So I bought it but I haven't finished the first chapter. When I looked back, I couldn't remember finishing any English novel besides Maurice . Maybe I just like collecting gay-themed things. Anyway, this book is about a man who uses young lover to hurt women's feeling because he dislikes women.

Long ago, I heard from someone or read from somwhere about a Japanese writer who killed himself. He was Yukio Mishima. This novel is his semi-autobiographical novel. He confesses his sexual desires to workers on the street or a classmate from his childhood in this novel. But the protagonist didn't do anything sexual with any man, even not a brief kiss in this book. Rather than accepting himself, he tried to sleep with a prostitue, in vain or pretend to be straight all along. Not like "Queer", I could read and enjoy this novel without any efforts. Maybe I feel more comfortable when reading Japanese literature.

Years ago, when I ran into a movie called "Naked Lunch", it didn't catch my eyes at all. But when I ran into a novel from the same writer whose book became the movie, I felt thrill. The title "Queer" caught my eyes instantly. And I never realized that Penguin Classic books are finally translated into Korean!!! I read the novel during last weekends. But I don't feel moved or thrilled at all except got the feeling that this book is really raw and honest. Maybe I read this book too late? Even if I didn't catch all the meanings, who cares? This is who I am right now.

I came across two sites introducing gay beaches in Japan. Of course there are not enough infomations, but both of them mentioned "Tsurishi-kaigan" or "Tsurushi-kaigan" which means "angler's beach" literally. It is a secret beach in Chiba, surrounded by sea and cliffs. There's no other way to reach but through a small cave made for local anglers. So it's not safe and not easy to go to this place. And the place is not close to the nearest railroad station, Namihana(浪花) station. This place is not an official gay beach nor nude beach. But the surroundings around this area make it almost perfect place for gays. So if you're ready for all the troubles, read on. :) First, you can get to Namihana (浪花) station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namihana_Station via JR. If you start from Tokyo, you can go to Chiba station via JR Sobu Line. And then you can reach Namihana station via JR Sotobo Line(the next station from Ohara s

Personal Taste is an MBC show based on the novel of same title. It deals with a romance between a woman who gets tired of lover's lies and thinks that she needs a gay roommate and a man who is searching for a room and mistaken as gay. In this show, there are many gay characters. Even though most of them are so stereo-typed, But I think it's better than invisible. The real problem is that the script is not so good. No wonder because the novel is not that impressive. But I welcome this show, even though some people think that it's not good enough for those excellent actors and actresses in the show. Well, anyway better than nothing.

Currently, two gay-themed soaps are on Korean public TV networks. One is Beautiful Life and the other is Personal Taste . Beautiful Life shows the lives of big family members' in Che-ju Island. They encounter many burdens in their daily lives. But they overcome helping each other. That's the main theme of this show. One of the family members is gay and under lots of pressure of marriage. Not like in Western culture, in Asia it is expected to get married when he/she reaches certain age. Family members and even co-workers keep asking about personal life without boundaries. So it's not easy to live a closeted life in this situation. This character faces the same trouble. He's a doctor and in his 30's. No one doubts that he has to settle down with a good girl. But he's gay and starts to see a good guy (who suffered from forced marriage and now is a divorce'). Family members, not knowing anything about his being gay, expect him to get marr

Just Friends is the 2nd film by Kwang-su Kim-jo, the director of "Boy meets a boy" and producer of "No Regret". His 1st film "Boy meets a boy" deals with the love between teenagers. The director says that he was frequentely asked if he was doing the sequel to it. "Just Friends" could be one in a way that it deals with love between friends in their 20's. In Korean, the title of this movie is "Chin-gu-sa-i". It's also the name of a famous LGBT organization of Korea. The name also express the status of Korean minorities who cannot fully express their relationship with their same-sex partner. Instead of saying "We're lovers", they tend to answer "Us? We're just friends" if asked. Back to the movie, In Korea, most men in their 20s has to serve in the army for 2 years. It can be hard for anyone, but it can be harder for gays and trans-gendereds. The movie starts with a man who visits his love