Most Popular Lesbian Words and Phrases of 2008

＜English＞

Hello, chief editor Yuki here!

How were your New Year's celebrations?
Folks here at TW had a mad assortment of plans: some headed home for the holidays, some went out to Nichome to party, and some, well, slept.

As you most likely noticed in our article, Top Lesbian Words and Phrases of 2008, we have a couple special awards to announce! The TW Reader's Award and TW's Special Awards!

●TW Reader's Award

"The Woman that Women Want"

Little in recent history has made such an indelible impression on the collective memory of Japanese lesbians as when Katherine Moennig, better known as "Shane" from the stylish lesbian drama The L Word, came to Japan in June 2008. Over 1000 women flocked to Narita Airport to greet her upon her arrival and the media spent days busily reporting on her every move and openly naming her "the woman that women want most".
Even here at TW we felt the spreading heat. When we sent word out to TW readers about the Premium Fan Conference, there was no end to the impassioned messages sent back our way!

★Reader's comment

I think the Top Phrase would have to be "Shane - the woman that women want". Katherine Moennig's arrival in Japan stirred up something close to a social phenomenon! Her visit was covered in depth by the mainstream media, and this should be appreciated for the fact that, in many ways, it contributed to banishing the "underground" image that lesbians have had.

★Reader's comment

I think the Premium Fan Conference held during Kate Moennig's visit was a historic event. Bringing a lesbian icon together with actual lesbians at an event arranged by lesbians is a tremendous achievement and very meaningful in my eyes.

●TW Special Awards

1. Last Friends

Last Friends may not have been a program about a lesbian, but it was a highly-rated drama centering on a character, Ruka, that identified as a sexual minority. Both Ruka and the program itself became a much-loved topic of conversation among lesbians in Japan, and blogs also endlessly followed every twist and turn in the drama during its broadcast season.

Here at TW, we've noticed that our interview with Last Friends' screenwriter Taeko Asano has been accessed by Japanese readers more then any of our other articles (many times more!). There is clearly no denying that Last Friends has lesbians in Japan excited, and the number of people who have shown their interest, in ratings and otherwise, is just astounding.

2. The Olympics

The much ballyhooed Beijing Olympics were held in August of this year. Among participating athletes from around the world, 10 of them were out lesbian and bisexual women. Though, when compared to the number of lesbians in the world, the number 10 is still small and, unfortunately, none of the out athletes were from Japan, the fact that out bisexual and lesbian women did succeed in winning medals is worth celebrating!

★Reader's comment

Norway's women's handball team won the gold! Nothing made me happier than being able to see the cute couple Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg play on the court!　

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