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Published in 2008 as part of the publication series entitled ‘Memoir Grafica’, Nakai Hiroyasu’s Gay in Shinjuku contains a collection of portraits documenting the lives of the gay community of Shinjuku during the late 70s and early 80s of Tokyo. Photographed in both colour and black and white film, the images are fun and flirtatious, portraitures of the men dressed in drag, comfortably flaunt and pose in front of Nakai’s lens, leaning in, coy yet suggestive, each character exudes their own individuality and confidence. Resonating with the images from Jennie Livingston’s documentary “Paris is Burning”, Hiroyasu’s photographs present an insightful, and thoughtful exploration into gender within Japan, exploring a microcosm of society where the roles of identity, desires and the many dimension of gender are expressed.