Have you seen the Monday article for this week? This week was Earth Week, which made us think of climate change and what we each can do to stop it. Today, there is another event week coming up. It is Pride Week!
Before Pride Month, celebrated in June, there is a Pride Week in Japan which is held between April 22 and May 8. But do you know what Pride celebrates? Taking a simple explanation from BBC, “Pride is a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, and how in some places there’s still work to be done“. So it is also important to use this celebration period to think and talk about the existing problems.
One famous event held every year during this period is the Pride March and Pride Parade at/from Yoyogi Park. Due to the pandemic, the parade wasn’t held face-to-face for the last three years, but it’s coming back in 2022! The parade this year is on April 24, starting from the Yoyogi park and marching through Shibuya and Harajuku. You had to pre-register and be selected in the lottery system to enter the parade, so it is a little late to be part of the parade now. But, you can still go to the Pride Festival held between April 22 – April 24 and enjoy the booths and stage performances! (You may want to go early because the pre-registered guests will have the priority to enter)
It doesn’t mean that you have to be part of these events to celebrate pride. You can celebrate it on your own or with the people you’re close to. But if you want to feel the festive air, other events are held face-to-face or online during most of the days of Pride Week. The events can be seen on the Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2022 website.
I would like to celebrate pride by joining some of these events and also make this period an opportunity to read many novels related to the LGBTQ+ community. I am so excited imagining myself in a book cafe for the whole day, reading. There are myriads of ways to celebrate pride. What is your way of celebrating?
Reference
- BBC. (n.d.). Pride: What is it and why do people celebrate it? – CBBC Newsround. BBC News. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52872693
- Tokyo Rainbow Pride. (2022, April 15). Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2022 (東京レインボープライド2022). 東京レインボープライド2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://tokyorainbowpride.com/