Whenever it¡¯s announced that a bona fide drag celebrity will be visiting Japan, the community here starts buzzing.

¡°Manila Luzon? You know that she is the G.O.A.T.,¡± one drag devotee, using an acronym that spells out ¡°greatest of all time,¡± told me three months ago when Luzon¡¯s arrival was announced. ¡°I am actually so shaken and excited they are bringing her to Japan.¡±

Dec. 1 saw the third and most successful installment of Tokyo¡¯s preeminent drag show Opulence, combining some of Japan¡¯s best local drag talent with three of the celebrity drag queens from the hit TV show ¡°RuPaul¡¯s Drag Race¡±: Luzon, Trinity the Tuck and Kylie Sonique Love. All three queens were immensely popular casting choices, but Luzon ¡ª one of drag¡¯s first internationally recognized Filipina American celebrities and the award-winning host of the ¡°Drag Den¡± television series from the Philippines ¡ª was the name that seemed to send Shinjuku Ni-ch¨­me (Tokyo¡¯s traditionally LGBTQ-friendly neighborhood) into a spin. And now, the G.O.A.T. herself had arrived.