Elska goes to Japan to showcase the men of Yokohama

Welcome to Yokohama! 

Elska, a publication that is "dedicated to sharing the bodies and voices of LGBTQ+ communities around the world," is taking a pit stop in Japan for its latest print issue! But if you think Tokyo is the only worthwhile destination in the land of the rising sun, Elska is here to prove you wrong, as they are prominently feature the men of Yokohama for this sexy visual project!

"When we started getting requests to do an issue in Japan, I knew I’d avoid Tokyo. Not that I don’t love Tokyo, but rather that I get a thrill from focusing on less expected places," Elska's editor and chief photographer Liam Campbell said in a statement. "Although Yokohama is the second most populous city in Japan, it is a massively overlooked place, and I wanted to try to correct that in some way. I also wanted to show what queer life is like outside the capital, to perhaps give a sense of Japanese attitudes and customs more generally. Plus, I love Japan and hoped this could be just the first of many issues made in the country."

"Unfortunately, making an Elska here was not at all easy," Campbell continued. "In fact, it's actually the most difficult city we've ever tackled for Elska. Despite Japan being so renowned for its modernity, this doesn't quite extend to attitudes toward homosexuality, nor to the idea of sharing one's personal life publicly. It was rather difficult to find subjects for this issue, but those we did find were not shy to explain in their stories how hard life here can be. For example, multiple stories touch upon how difficult it is to live up to the norms and expectations of being a 'respectable' and 'honorable' person, and how being gay isn't exactly compatible. Ultimately, because of how difficult it was to make this issue, it feels like quite a triumph that it happened at all."

Scroll through to see more portraits from Elska's Yokohama issue. And for more information on Elska and to order the issue for yourself, visit their official website here.