Elska, Issue 47 – Yokohama (Japan)

Elska is a bi-monthly male photography and culture art-zine on 130 pages of beautifully stroke-able matte paper. Each issue is shot in a different city with men from that city, including not only their photographs but their stories too. It’s a sort of cross between a quasi-intellectual queer pin-up and a sort of sexy anthropology journal.

In this issue:

This is the second edition of what was originally our 9th issue, brought back by popular demand. It was made in Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city, where we set about finding more about this under-understood city via getting to know a smattering of men from its LGBTQ community.

Inside the issue, which has been remade from scratch, you’ll meet eleven ordinary Yokohama residents who we photographed in their city’s streets and/or at home. Then, you’ll get to know these guys further with the addition of a personal story, written by each of them on any topic of their choosing.

Some of the stories you’ll read here include: Yosh N’s tale of coming out to his grandmother; Wataru S’s self-introduction where he confesses to being a messed up, art-hag kind of fag; Ky S’s reflection on whether moving to Yokohama from Vietnam was the right decision; and Jay W’s epic about having an affair with his much older university professor.

‘Elska Yokohama’ features eleven chapters, dedicated to the following local participants: Yosh N, Ky S, Wataru S, Zhi L, Ryoji S, Jay W, Ken M, Kazuta S, Patrick Inada A, James A, and Tyler J.