What is it like in Tokyo, Japan?

You generally won't be bothered about your homosexuality in Tokyo. The Japanese are typically non-confrontational, and try not to disturb the "wa" (harmony). Saying that, much more than your homosexuality you may find that simply being a foreigner is a greater impediment to your acceptance in Japanese society. They're a little odd when if comes to foreigners. In any case, Tokyo is a nice city and the people there are lovely. The earthquakes aren't so bad - I was there for a month last year and only felt one (and it was mild). They do occasionally have enormous quakes but they seem to get by. The weather is pleasant most of the year - it can get quite humid at some points, and quite stormy at others, but generally the climate is fairly mild.

Homosexuality is tolerated in Japan better than most societies, however, in general, it's assumed that everyone is heterosexual. There's no need to come out of the closet, because it's not really anyone's business, is it? Just live your life. Why does anyone need to know you're gay? People know that homosexuality exists and that it really has little to do with anything. There are lots of earthquakes in Japan, but generally they're not a problem. Obviously sometimes they are, but major earthquakes are rare. The weather varies a lot as it's a long country. The north is similar to parts of Canada. The south is like Hawaii. Most of the country's population is in the middle. There are 4 distinct seasons. Summer is hot and humid. Winter is cold, but not always snowy. It depends where you are. Dubai has the largest phallic symbol in the world. You'd think they'd be more unbiased towards homosexuality.

People generally aren't homophobic in Japan. However, they're not supportive either. I've noticed they don't talk about it or even care if other people are gay. There are some gay characters on Japanese TV but I cannot go into detail about this because I don't live in Japan. I think they're most likely stereotypical but that's better than most other countries where they're not even allowed to show gay people on TV. If you're comparing Tokyo to Dubai when it comes to being gay then Japan is 110% better. You won't be killed.

Sounds like the earthquakes are on a bit of an upswing there. When I lived there there was a quake at least once a week. Nothing big, just enough to rattle the sliding doors in my apartment. Sometimes strong enough to rattle the doors hard enough to wake me up at night. It'd be a lot easier to describe the weather if you just said where you are from. I'd say that Tokyo is a lot like the middle eastern part of the U.S. With my sister living in VA and getting quite a bit of snow during winter, and my cousin in SC where it is rather rare, I'd say it would be like NC, right in the middle of the two. There's an area where gays are known to hang out. Forget where. But it depends on what you mean by 'open' once you get out of such an area. They aren't going to execute you but if you want to really stand out, walk down the street hand-in-hand with your significant other.

I love Tokyo, it's a very safe city and you will have no problems whatsoever being gay there. I just came from a 2 month trip in Japan and I only felt an earthquake once even though we had more and some were very big. The one I felt was 5.8 magnitude with epicenter around Sendai. It was in the middle of the night and it was actualy quite fun. It lasted for around 30 seconds I think but it was really nothing scarry. There was a bigger one, 6.9 around 2 weeks later but I didn't feel it. All the shinkansens were running 30+ minutes late because they automaticly stop when there's a big earthquake. Buildings in Tokyo are very safe with an exception of older buildings in places like Asakusa, but still safe.

Here is some information on Tokyo climate: http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/tokyo_climate.htm The main thing about earthquakes in Tokyo is how safe are people. The answer is very. In the major earthquake in March 2011 and the following after shocks only five people in the greater area of Tokyo were recorded as being killed and two of those were heart attacks. Now this is out of a population of 35 million. In other words very safe. The building standards are very high.

There is no punishment for being a gay in Japan.