In her overview of lesbian culture in Japan, writer Sawabe Hitomi posits the period from 1971 to 1980 as the time when ‘the seeds’ of lesbian and queer women’s communities emerged (Sawabe 2008: 6-10). Wakakusa no kai (Young Grass Club), formed by Suzuki Michiko in 1971, is the first documented lesbian group in modern Japan. Suzuki ran highly successful home parties for members. Drawing together women with diverse political and social commitments, tensions developed as a small part of the membership demanded greater transparency in management and an end to the butch/femme classifications used within the parties, which they saw as perpetuating women’s subordination (Sawabe 2008: 9). A break-off group of women produced the first lesbian mini-komi, Subarashii onnatachi (Wonderful women), in 1976. The break is indicative of a recurring splintering often referred to as the divide between nekkara (innate) and sentaku (choice) identified lesbian women. That is, there was a political divide between those who felt they had grown up with sexual desires for women in a society that was extremely hostile towards women’s sexuality and female same-sex relations, and those who embraced lesbianism as a part of their utopian feminist politics. Tensions over gender roles, utopian views of universal sisterhood, and debates over the political importance of polygamy versus monogamy have continued to be an issue within the queer women’s communities (Izumo, Tsuzura, Hara and Ochiya 2007: 195-223; Sawabe 2007b: 167-80, 2008: 6-32).
The 1970s also marked the beginnings of the mini-komi culture that has been an integral part of queer women’s history. Subarashii onnatachi (Wonderful Women; 1976) offered women a forum in which to express desires and identities that fell outside of heteronormative societal and familial structures. Similarly, as groups formed and disbanded more magazines were produced — Za Daiku (The Dyke/Carpenter; 1978), Hikari Guruma (Wheel of Light; 1978), Rezubian Tsushin (Lesbian Group News; 1983), and Eve & Eve (1984). To the present day, Regumi Tsushin (Regumi News; 1985-2013), Raburisu (Labrys; 1992-95), and Raburisu Dasshu (Labrys Dash; 1996-98), have been crucial forums for disseminating information, sharing stories, fostering relations, connecting potential lovers through personal advertisement columns, offering advice, and facilitating debates.