Shinbashi

Xinqiao is a bustling business district, a happy street for the general public, and a gay city. The first post-war gay bar "Liu" (やなぎ) (1945) opened on the approach to Usen Shrine. San Yoshino Toshio, the mother of the well-known gay bar "Yoshino", used to work here, and famous people such as Edogawa Ranpo, Alain Deren, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Carden have visited here. Currently, there are 66 gay bars (3-chome 29, 4-chome 28, etc.) centered on the 3 and 4-chome areas at the Usen Exit of Shimbashi Station, and the total number of gay-related stores is 74. However, in the yellow pages of the Japanese gay magazine "Badi" in 1998, there were only 15 gay bars in the Shimbashi area, the third largest gay city after Shinjuku 2-chome and Ueno-Asakusa.