From salaryman to drag bar: a conversation with Japan's biggest diva

Meet Sylvia Manchester, a self-titled Natural Born Diva working as an entertainer and drag bar host in Tokyo. She sits down to talk to us about her studies abroad, interest in queer literature, coming out, and the birth of the Sylvia Manchester character.A big thank you to our colleagues from ZenMarket for sponsoring this episode. Interesting in buying anything from Japan? Find out more here:https://go.zenmarket.jp/unpackingjapan

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0:00 Intro

1:07 Meet Sylvia Manchester

6:35 First interest in drag

7:54 Being gay in Tokyo vs. Britain

12:10 Starting drag in Japan

14:02 Queer literature and gay identity

22:08 Start in drag bar

24:54 Being closeted in a Japanese office

27:37 Becoming a professional drag queen

32:16 Golden Gai

35:45 Interest in Chanson

41:30 Birth of Sylvia Manchester

43:29 Busking in Tokyo

47:15 Finding a place in the Tokyo drag community

50:00 Translating Chanson to Japanese

51:43 What Golden Gai is like

58:32 Balancing drag and normal personas

1:00:36 The Sylvia Manchester queendom

1:03:40 Sylvia's literature reviews

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