It¡¯s a Sunday night, and Eagle Tokyo Blue, a nightclub in Shinjuku¡¯s Ni-chome neighborhood, is filled to the brim with a raucous crowd fired up for the Tokyo Kiki Lounge. A rotating panel of judges sits at one end of the room; in front of them is a T-shaped runway for dancers and pageant contestants. On either side, there are throngs of ball-goers, sitting and standing, screaming and waving their hands.

In the club¡¯s entry area, I meet a 20-something trans boy from the United States ¡ª fresh on testosterone, a hint of dark fuzz starting to form on his upper lip. He¡¯s bouncing with excitement.

¡°I had no idea this was going on!¡± he shouts over the noise. ¡°It¡¯s my last night in Japan. I was just strolling through Ni-chome (known as Tokyo¡¯s LGBTQ neighborhood) and saw a bunch of people outside the club, so I came in. I¡¯m so glad! I didn¡¯t know Japan had a space like this!¡±

¡°Are you going to walk in any categories?¡± I ask, pulling up a list of ¡°open-to-all¡± competitions for the night.

¡°No, no, I¡¯m just going to watch,¡± he says. ¡°I don¡¯t want to intrude.¡±

¡°Nah, dog,¡± I say with a laugh. ¡°This space was made for you!¡±

Founded in 2022 by Hiha, the newly minted father of the kiki house Pinklady Japan, the Kiki Lounge is a queer pageant, dance competition and party, known in the ball culture as a ¡°kiki ball.¡± Hiha felt inspired to create the Kiki Lounge, which takes place several times a year, to contribute to Japan¡¯s growing ballroom scene.

¡°When I started voguing, I found a space where I could be who I am; I didn¡¯t have to be closeted or ¡®fake,¡¯¡± says Hiha, 26. ¡°So for Kiki Lounge, I didn¡¯t want just to create a ballroom event ¡ª I wanted to create a ballroom community where queer people can be who they are.¡±

The event has grown over the past year: There were only 40 attendees initially, but now the crowd swells to over 350. The participants range from LGBTQ members and allies to tourists and residents.

Under the leadership of trailblazer Crystal LaBeija, the ballroom scene originated in New York in the 1970s as a close-knit community and sanctuary for Black and Latino queer people ¡ª especially transgender women (known as femme queens) and gay men (butch queens).

The balls, beyond simply being a dance party or a competition, provided LGBTQ youth who had been rejected by their families with newfound homes, structure and a sense of dignity. Competing within their queer families or ¡°houses,¡± rising stars of the ballroom scene won trophies in categories such as voguing (¡°performance¡±),...