I’m standing on a roof patio overlooking Osaka Castle, one of Japan’s iconic landmarks. It’s located in the centre of Osaka, the country’s third largest city and nicknamed “Water City” because of the many canals that once ran through it from Osaka Bay.

One of the remaining canals was dug in the 16th century to fill the moat around the castle. Tonight, it is too dark to see the moat. All that can be seen are the silhouettes of the trees in the large gardens surrounding the white castle.

I’m here for the opening reception of the IGLTA Global Convention, which has run in various international cities for more than 40 years. Surprisingly, this is the first time that the LGBTQ+ travel conference has taken place in Asia.

During the rooftop reception, Hiroshi Mizohata, president of Osaka’s Tourism Bureau, makes our jaws drop by coming on stage wearing a gold cape and crown. Animated and grinning from ear to ear, he captivates us all with his commanding presence. This is not the demure behaviour we expect from people in Japan, but it turns out that Osakans are different.

They are chattier and bolder, so while Tokyo has far more LGBTQ+ spaces compared to Osaka’s 100-plus venues, I suspect it is the citizens’ welcoming nature and charisma that has led to the city gaining hosting privileges over the Japanese capital and other Asian cities.

With drag queens flanking him on stage, Mizohata clasps a wooden mallet in his hand and kicks off the party with the ceremonial breaking of a saké barrel — “Kanpai!”

The traditional experiences don’t stop there. The following day, after meetings and seminars, I attend Voyage, the IGLTA Foundation’s fundraising gala, where they raise over £60,000 to fund research to promote understanding of LGBTQ+ travel within the global tourism industry.

The event is at Sumiyoshi Taisha, one of Japan’s oldest shrines and, suitably, one that enshrines the Shinto god, who protects travellers. In a large hall, we are entertained by the Wadaiko Hiryu troupe of drummers, whose frantic beats vibrate through the room, followed by kabuki dancers performing the Renjishi dance with metre-long wig flicks that Drag Race queens could only dream of.

At the end of the event, I cross the shrine’s stunning red Sorihashi Bridge and walk to the Shinsekai area, which is centred around the Tsutenkaku Tower. Modelled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it’s a third of the size and has a slide you can ride down. South of the tower, there are lots of restaurants, bars and arcades.

It is a cavalcade of colours with large, papier-mâché-like lantern displays depicting everything from puffer fish to tigers and samurai. Further north, in the centre of the city, is Dōtombori, Osaka’s buzzing entertainment district, where neon signs cover whole buildings, and restaurants advertise their speciality dishes with comically sized displays above their entrances, including crabs, octopuses and even a giant Spider-Man crawling into a scallop shell.

The city is the kitchen of Japan, and locals have an obsession with food that can be summed up in the word ‘kuidaore’, meaning to eat until you drop. And it is easy to do so with offerings like octopus-filled takoyaki balls from street vendors and okonomiyaki restaurants serving up savoury cabbage pancakes with lots of toppings, a rich sauce and mayo.

W Osaka

With the bright lights of Dōtombori behind me, I pass the opulent shops along Midōsuji Boulevard, including large Louis Vuitton and Prada stores, to the W Hotel. The property is a glossy black monolith on the skyline, but inside it is bright and playful with lots of design nods to the city. I have a room high up in the 27-storey hotel, which offers a stunning sunset on the night I’m there for it. All in white, the room is open plan with no walls separating the bathroom, which has a bath and a walk-in shower.

Breakfast in the Oh.LaLa… brasserie features three buffets, including one specialising in Japanese-style morning dishes. There are two more restaurants on site in the form of Teppanyaki Mydo and Sushi Ukiyo. The frosted lights of the lobby’s Living Room create a pleasant space for afternoon tea and livens up in the evening, when you may find a DJ behind the decks.

But the highlight is the fitness facilities. I don’t have time to enjoy the Away Spa, but the blue-tiled pool is stunning and great for swimming short laps, and the Technogym-equipped studio is one of the best I have come across in any hotel.

Rainbow Festa

The conference is timed to coincide with Rainbow Festa, the name of Osaka’s Pride, which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary. On a scorching hot Sunday in October, I walk into Ogimachi Park, where roughly 50 small white marquees are set up for small independent craft stalls, charities and big businesses.

Beyond this are food trucks and a stage with all manner of acts, ranging from an S Club 7-like choreographed pop group and a magic show with two monkeys to Obachaaan, a much-loved J-pop group of singing grandmas in lots of leopard-print and an average age of 70.

With 64,000 people attending Rainbow Festa over the weekend, Expo 2025 uses the event to promote the six month world fair starting in April. Japan has over 1,500 officially recognised and much-loved mascots representing companies and prefectures. One of the most bizarre and newest additions is Myaku-Myaku, Osaka’s Expo 2025’s red and blue mascot, which has five eyes and an amoeba-like face that is said to symbolise body cells and water — the source of life. It is fitting because the theme for the Expo is Designing Future Society for Our Lives. I take the chance to have my photo taken with the cheerful fellow before the big event starts.

At around midday, I line up to join the Pride march. There are no big floats, but some small white trucks are wrapped with banners for various organisations with people in the back of them waving to the public.

The 3-kilometre route follows a loop back to the starting point, with police officers stopping traffic to allow the 3,700 marchers to proceed safely. Passersby enjoy the march and people in high-rise flats wave and shout their support from their windows. Most of the people marching are in groups and wearing matching tops that represent the company they are walking with, such as Japan Rail and Osaka’s Universal Studios.

But I am also pleased to see two guys representing Soluna Esperanza, which makes gender-affirming clothes for trans men, so it isn’t just big corporations marching.

Osaka’s LGBTQ nightlife

There are dozens of LGBTQ+ bars in Osaka, with clusters near the Shinsekai and Dōtombori areas, but the majority are in the northern area of Doyama, near the shopping haven of Umeda. Accompanied by some new friends I’ve met at IGLTA, the night begins at Yuntaka, a small bar up several flights of stairs.

We soon learn it is a snack bar, meaning you have to buy a sweet or savoury snack with your first drink, so we all have a pot of ice cream as the locals start to sing karaoke. The owner, Shuji, is friendly and there are a few sweet drawings of himself displayed in the bar which I suspect are by fans of the bear community.

The next stop is the vibrant FrenZ-FrenZY, “Japan’s Rainbow Paradise”, where we are served by a much younger bartender wearing cat ears and a bell collar. With colourful walls and decked out in disco lights, the venue is busy.

The bar has had some famous visitors, including Lady Gaga, who performed some impromptu karaoke numbers including ‘Poker Face’ and ‘Just Dance’ while she was on her 2009 Monster Ball Tour, videos of which can be viewed on the venue’s website.

Next, we hit Grand Slam, where the macho bartenders flirt with us. The dark bar has scaffolding poles holding up the lights and TVs, but it is incredibly popular, and the whole bar joins in when the karaoke pumps out a popular tune — it is rare to find a bar without a karaoke machine.

We finish the night at one of the city’s newest bars, Eagle Osaka. The latest outpost of the two popular Eagle Tokyo venues opened in March 2024, and it is the largest gay bar in western Japan. On the top floor, there is a casual bar with lots of seating, while a dance floor on the ground floor is packed by the time we get there. Sipping on a drink, I think about how exciting it is to see such a vibrant queer scene and wonder how long it would take to visit every bar the city has to offer.

For more information on Osaka, please visit visitgayosaka.com

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