Japan, rightly or wrongly, is often characterized as being a highly conformist society. Readers of the Japan Gay Guide, though, will know that there are people across the country fighting for the rights of LGBTQ+ people and other minorities. This struggle for equality is fought on several fronts: not just in the courts, or during election campaigns, but in organizing, in art, and in communal care. Today, we’re highlighting NAMNAM Space: who they are, what they do, and how you can help them to continue their important work as they fight for a fairer future.
A Passionate Hope for the Future
Internationally, LGBTQ+ rights are bolstered by grassroots organization, carried out by passionate advocates who do thankless but meaningful work behind the scenes. NAMNAM Space, labeled as an “anarchist queer community space”, is a DIY collective that hosts events every week to further progressive direct action in Tokyo.
As a non-profit organization, NAMNAM’s 网站 affirms that its core values are “art, queerness, and anarchy.” Accordingly, NAMNAM justly seeks to “challenge traditional power structures, promote social justice, and build community.”
While the word “anarchy” might be intimidating to some outside the community, just a single visit to the space will dispel any fears you may have. The energy of NAMNAM can range from cozy to wild depending on the event, but the volunteers of the NAMNAM group are welcoming to people of all walks of life. The core NAMNAM members are especially kind souls, each personally dedicated to making NAMNAM a consistent and conscientious community that supports not only the queer and LGBTQ+ community but also other marginalized groups in Japan.
A Queer Anarchist Space in Koenji
NAMNAM is based on the fourth floor of an older establishment about a seven-minute walk from Koenji Station, and shares a wall with Uptown Records, another DIY space that sells low-price vinyl records and boasts an extensive and unique collection of zines in both Japanese and English. The building’s elevator is a love letter to the building’s DIY roots: the walls are covered in mismatching stickers that range from denunciations of Shinzo Abe’s fascism to support of Palestine’s freedom and peace in the Middle East, while the roof is speckled with glow-in-the-dark stars for the pure whimsy of it all.
While NAMNAM’s organization might be young “on paper,” having only been around in its current location since 2024, one of its unofficial former iterations was an anarchist space in Shinjuku Nichome called Café Lavanderia. Back in its day, Café Lavanderia was beloved by radicals and rebels for its cheap drinks and revolutionary atmosphere, and played host to a number of famous thinkers and public figures, including a 2014 visit from Noam Chomsky.
Café Lavanderia used to reside on the same street where you can now find popular queer bars King and Queen. In its prime, Café Lavanderia was known as an antifascist music space and the future NAMNAM Space founders originally met on its premises.
Today, NAMNAM is a plyboard-covered room composed of versatile benches hammered together with passion by volunteer effort, with political posters adorning the walls advertising long-passed events, and unique queer art by international creators here and there, further livening up the energy. Reflecting pressing modern issues, a string of Palestinian flags line the windows and a new progress pride flag confidently hangs over the balcony.
NAMNAM Space hosts a plethora of events, both weekly, monthly, and as stand-alones. Notable examples include: “Chalchitr”, a Queer and Alternative Indian Cinema night; “Cafe Falastin”, a weekend popup cafe that fundraises for Palestine; and the “Yamanote Queer Creative” exhibition, which features local LGBTQ+ artists. Other events include Karaoke nights, political education workshops, and drag shows.
Fighting Gentrification
On April 23, 2026, NAMNAM announced via their Instagram that the building hosting their quaint space is imposing a non-renewal of contract for all its residents in the coming year. The NAMNAM organizers suspect that the impetus for this action is good ‘ol gentrification: other units in the building have already been refurbished into AirBnB rooms, and NAMNAM Space suspects that there are similar plans for their current space.
Unfortunately, this means both NAMNAM Space 和 Uptown Records will be kicked out from their Koenji home and are currently looking for new accommodations. NAMNAM Space in particular, being a non-profit, volunteer-based collective, is crowdfunding to cover moving costs.
And here is where you can help. You can donate now to NAMNAM’s campaign on the fundraising website chuffed to support their fight against gentrification. Every donation is gratefully received, because, to paraphrase Paddy Constantine’s character from the 2014 film 骄傲, what you are giving is more than money: it’s friendship. Every yen that goes to NAMNAM Space’s chuffed campaign is a valuable part of Tokyo’s queer, radical, and rebellious spirit: a spirit that hasn’t been defeated by weariness, nor by natural disaster, nor by fascists, and sure as hell isn’t about to be defeated by landlords.
After all, the core pillar of anarchism isn’t chaos, but rather mutual-aid: the act of decentralizing and individualizing community support by using your own extra resources to ease the burden for other people around you.
NAMNAM Space intends to continue their activities even if they lack a physical location. We encourage you to check out their Koenji space before it disappears, and give what you can to the LGBTQ+ community that’s fighting behind the scenes to support some of our most marginalized siblings.
