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Entrance to Garcon Cerkle gay bar in Namba, Osaka.
When most locals and visitors in the know think of gay Osaka, Doyama comes to mind. Doyama is an area adjunct to one of the region's uber destinations, Umeda, in the northern part of Osaka. Not to detract from Doyama?s glory, but there is indeed gay life to the south - down in the Namba district. It just comes in different flavors.

The Garcon Cerkle bar, with karaoke screen.
Over in Namba?s ?GT Town Building,? you will find two tiny taverns holding not more than a dozen people. Garcon Cerkle is your classic intimate gay bar with a chatty but astute, good looking bartender. Just one floor below the Cerkle is Ken?s Club, which trades in elegance for kitsch, and cool for boisterous. Each welcomes foreigners, and each holds interesting spectacles for said foreigners ? professedly gay or otherwise ? who may be new to this kind of scene.
Table in Garcon Cerkle
Garcon Cerkle is a name which might conjure up some sort of imagery, but it?s safe to just throw that out the window. You will be hard pressed to figure out why this gay bar is called that, or even what it means in the first place. Instead, glide into the darkish, intimate space, and take a place at the six-person bar, or at the one table if you are coming as a group.

Some little snacks will come out with your first drink, which is you clue that there is a cover charge: At Garcon Cerkle, your first drink ?set? will run you 1,800 yen, with su...