Japan’s oldest night club, Club METRO, hosts a monthly drag show DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER in the ancient capital of Japan for over 30 years. Kyoto Is Burning.
With 17 World Heritage sites within a radius of 10km (6.2 miles), Japan’s ancient capital Kyoto is known for its history. And so is Club METRO, that is allegedly the oldest nightclub in Japan founded in 1990 underground Jingu-Marutamachi Station a few blocks away from sacred Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto City.
Past the entrance / before the exit of Jingu-Marutamachi Station awaits Club METRO.
The entrance of Club METRO.
Put your stuff in a locker and dance.
Since the foundation of Club METRO, its claim to fame drag show DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER has been slaying every month for over 30 years. Local legend drag queens perform on stage and the audience dance to disco songs in the 70s, new wave music in the 80s, and beyond. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER has now transcended to its own planet.
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER couldn’t happen anywhere except for Kyoto City. KCUA (Kyoto City University of Arts)’s alumni Teiji Furuhashi (古橋悌二) brought the NYC drag ball culture to Kyoto and started performing as Miss Glorious (ミス・グロリアス) in the 1980s. That’s the widely held genesis of Japan’s drag culture.
Kyoto’s RuPaul, Simone Fukayuki.
In 1990, Miss Glorious and her fellow Kyoto-based artists DJ LaLa and Simone Fukayuki (シモーヌ深雪) organized DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, and the rest is history. In the 2020s, it seems like DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is gonna last forever. On every last Friday of the month at Club METRO, Kyoto is definitely still burning.
Smoking is allowed in a lounge adjacent to the dance floor.
Details:
・Admission: ¥2000 / $14.30 / £12.50 / €14.30
・Hours: Open at 10pm
Websites:
・DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
・Club METRO
Club METRO | 82 Shimotsutsumicho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, 〒606-8396, Japan
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