TOKYO —

Charles Ayres is really making a name for himself in Japan — so much so, he’s had to revamp his old name, adopting the more regal-sounding Charlemagne. “I feel like my parents were trying to curse me with a boring life,” says the 30-year-old American. “Charles sounds so stodgy. I wanted to find a way to take what I have and make it really glamorous.”

Searching out Tokyo’s cutest guys for the TOKYO MX show “Goji Ni Muchu” is a far cry from his roots in Kansas City, Missouri. But even as a young boy, Ayres had begun dreaming of breaking free from the American Midwest. Inspired by movies and images of Japan that saturated the media at the time, he fantasized about a life in the Far East. In fact, he began taking Japanese lessons when he was only 10 years old.

“Rewind to America in the ’80s — you had movies like ‘The Karate Kid,’ ‘Shogun’ and everything in the news was about how Japan was going to take over the world. You know how children go up to their parents and say, ‘I want to take the cello’ or ‘I want to take pottery?’ Well, I was like, ‘I want to take Japanese.’”

In 1997 he was off to New York, attending prestigious Columbia University and majoring in East Asian Studies. That’s when his creative tastes, and a penchant for designer ensembles, really started to blossom. After interning for world-renowned Japanese designer Issey Miyake, Ayres decided he wanted to pursue a career in fashion. “I got my pay in clothes,” he recalls. “I was a college kid walking around in $800 sweaters. I was a fashionista in heaven.” Soon, though, he set aside his fashion dreams to pursue a master’s degree in Asian Studies after being offered a scholarship at Tokyo’s Sophia University.

It was in Tokyo that Ayres began his foray into the world of TV. An ex-boyfriend took him around to the talent agencies because he was “funnier than the other gaijin on TV.” His first gig had him in a tight yellow jumpsuit, camping around the bathtub with comedian Noritake Kinashi for a soccer lottery commercial campaign. The rest is history.

Ayres describes his experience working in Japan as much more “ritualized” than in the U.S., which he sees as both good and bad. “Things can go very smoothly. You start your emails and your phone conversations almost the same way every time. But then there are times when it can be difficult to get new things started or get them to think outside the box. Putting subtitles up on my videos on YouTube was like a six-month battle for me.”

But as his colorful, quirky persona is shared with a wider audience, it may prove to be a battle worth fighting. The “Tokyo Prince Collection” segment on “Goji Ni Muchu” was a big hit, especially with housewives. Each week, Ayres became a kind of Queen Charlemagne figure — complete with crown — searching for attractive young “princes” in various neighborhoods in the metropolis. The result was a funny, campy romp that has drawn a lot of attention. The princes all seem to play along with Ayres, who is openly gay and not afraid to vamp for the camera.

Gay lifestyle just starting to come into focus

Ayres is more than happy to discuss his sexuality and his experience as an out and proud gay Westerner on Japanese TV. He claims he hasn’t faced anything approaching prejudice, although he does feel that the gay lifestyle is only just starting to come into focus here. “Ten years ago, ‘gay’ meant ‘drag queen’ to most people. Because I’m not wearing women’s clothing, they don’t think I’m gay sometimes,” he says. “How much gayer do I need to be? Do I need to walk down the street naked wearing a feather boa, Elton John in arm?”

Yet Ayres’ own “gaydar” seems to have adjusted just fine in Japan. Unlike some Western gays who may find it challenging to suss out their own kind, Ayres has it figured out. He notes that, like their American counterparts, gay men in Japan also have their beloved “divas” and their own brand of grooming and dressing (apparently, well-groomed facial hair and Abercrombie and Fitch gear are tell-tale signs). He’s also perfected an “opposites” game, which he plays with suspects to determine a Japanese man’s sexuality. He claims it works like a charm.

“In Japanese, I say ‘hot’ they say ‘cold.’ I say ‘north’ they say ‘south.’ Then I say ‘semeru’ (attack). Straight guys say ‘mamoru’ (defend, like in soccer) but gays might slip and say ‘ukeru’ (receive). As you can deduce, ‘semeru-ukeru’ can refer to active-passive roles in gay sexy times,” he explains.

While his own experience with men in Japan hasn’t been as easy as a game, Ayres still holds out hope that one day his own prince will indeed come. He seems to take it all with his own playful brand of humor, saying, “The whole reason I’m here is Madonna’s fault. Her video for ‘Material Girl’ had one Asian guy as a backup dancer. And I remember looking up at him when I was a kid and going, ‘I like that!”’

Until Charles finds his own Asian prince, Queen Charlemagne can be seen on TV and in YouTube clips finding them for the rest of us.

Real interest from YouTube

Ayres certainly sees his sovereignty over the airwaves as only just beginning. His current segment on TOKYO MX sees him searching out cheap leisure spots for families in Tokyo. Thanks to his firm grasp on the inner workings of the Japanese TV world, he sees huge untapped possibilities. “The TV people aren’t seeing the worldwide potential of these shows,” he says. “I’ve seen from YouTube that there is a real global interest. People were taking the ‘Hard Gay’ show and adding their own subtitles and putting it up there.”

So, behind his ditzy facade, Ayres is focused and knowledgeable. Plans for a book and his own talk show are in the pipeline. In the meantime, he’ll be concentrating on setting up his own internet channel.

Ayres admits that what he is doing is not rocket science, that he is not out saving the world or finding a cure for cancer. But he seems genuinely content nevertheless. “I know my parents are thrilled I’m using my master’s degree to hunt the hot men of Tokyo,” he quips, “but my philosophy is: grab their attention now; subtlety can come later.”

What that future subtlety will entail remains to be seen. Clearly, Ayres found some measure of success in a country he’s dreamed of since he was a wee gay boy in middle America staring up at the Asian guys on the TV screen.

If his drive and audacity, or his candor and color, are any indication, Charlemagne’s reign in the Land of the Rising Sun hasn’t even reached its peak. He currently has no plans to leave, asserting, “I’m going to do what I can to stay here. Unless they throw me out for outrageous gayness or exile me for fabulousity.”

Surely, the Japanese wouldn’t be that foolish. It would seem his crown is secure enough for now.

Latest 15 of 33 Total Comments Show All

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  sk4ek at 12:40 AM JST - 14th July

  LOL...

  Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I've had a Mixi page since 2005... :pp

  Wheeee... :)

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  mamacass at 12:50 AM JST - 14th July

  to lipscombe

  plays a role that does nothing but enforce lame stereotypes about foreigners and gays.

  why don't you make something better then? when did it stop being ok for gays to be campy and fun?

  to sk4ek

  I still find his feature on MX annoying, and if he is indeed just putting on that clumsy accent for television

  please ain't nothing clumsy about that accent. i suppose you speak japanese like the geisha of kyoto or some business? you get up on TV and we'll see.

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  lipscombe at 12:53 AM JST - 14th July

  hahahahahaha sounds very camp. why would I want to make something better? did you read or understand the rest of my post? like I said it's boring and been done over and over again. no different from any of the crap on TV or radio. but I would imagine you arent very discerning after all that tequila you drink

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  Sarge at 12:59 AM JST - 14th July

  "I was a college kid walking around in $800 sweaters"

  Jesus Christ...

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  timorborder at 08:26 AM JST - 14th July

  Good post lip. I totally agree, this guy just seems to be getting rich off the back of stereotypes. It is just another take on the stereotypical foreigner you see on TV. You might even call him Dave Spector V2.0

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  nutsagain at 09:54 AM JST - 14th July

  Agreed... the guy is riding on the back of stereotypes and anyone who's had anything to do with the genokai knows this nothing to do with talent, rather flavor of the month. This kid's the flavor of the moment and hardly a role model for anyone, let alone some Japanese kid with a confused sexual identity. Wonder if the creep that runs Johnny's Jumsho is backing him? (in a matter of speaking of course)

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  Shaniqua at 03:39 PM JST - 14th July

  this guy just seems to be getting rich off the back of stereotypes

  timorborder, i see you what you mean and im sure its true of some people on tv. however, i have a few friends in tv here in japan, and honestly, for a feature like that they dont pay the foreign tarento wellbecause theyre seen as disposable. even things like radio shows and all those other things are just a drop in the bucket compared to the comparable workload of their japanese counterparts.

  if people dont like his feature, they dont have to watch it. for all we know, this could simply be a stepping stone to make connections and on to something else. in the entertainment and media industries, it`s almost a given that most people have to do a few things that are less what they want, to do exactly what they want later.

  incidentally, flavor of the month? try flavor of the last few years.. i would venture to say that maybe the jokes on all of you for taking what he does so literally. it could very well be that theres more than whats on the surface. i say watch this guy end up writing a very insightful book about japanese/non-japanese culture relations and the views of stereotypes in the foreign community in japan. some of the comments would be prime examples of the myopia that tends to take hold if youve lived here for a while.

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  gogogo at 03:51 PM JST - 14th July

  This guy is riding the current "new half" TV trent at the moment. I hate the person that made up that word!

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  nutsagain at 05:17 PM JST - 14th July

  "i say watch this guy end up writing a very insightful book about japanese/non-japanese culture relations and the views of stereotypes in the foreign community in japan. some of the comments would be prime examples of the myopia that tends to take hold if youve lived here for a while."

  Yeah, I'm sure I'll be up all night reading it... Or even between yawns 'myopically' refelcting on it for sure.

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  mamacass at 05:52 PM JST - 14th July

  totally agree, this guy just seems to be getting rich off the back of stereotypes

  maybe he's just being himself...no one would say "she's being too black" or "he's being too jewish" why is bad to be "too gay?"

  would you have told jack in "will and grace" to stop camping it up? maybe Jake from Scissor Sisters should just start wearing GAP everyday. frankly he's got his shot on TV and he's OWNING IT. TV has to be a little over the top. he sure got your attention.

  considering this is the Warhol age that anyone can make their own media or YouTube shows and become their own star why don't some of you make your own butch gay shows and see how many people watch. the Lance Bass comedy hour? how about the Reichen game show? didn't think so...

  Meanwhile Charles will be sipping champagne with Beyonce and Lady Dewi...

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  tetsukon at 06:32 PM JST - 14th July

  who cares, he's just another talentless person begging for attention.

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  KitsuneYoukai at 10:51 PM JST - 14th July

  Gays sure can be flamboyant.

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  Crucades at 03:32 AM JST - 15th July

  ugh this guy freaks me out

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  sport at 08:03 AM JST - 15th July

  Most would agree that throughout history stereotypes have been used in many forms. In Japan gays seem to inhabit 2 types. One is a cross dressing man. There are those that take on the persona of a woman and others a kind of half woman, half man. The other type is the flamboyant girlish male. They are seen on shows as the character to be laughed at. If anyone watches TV they know who I am talking about. I know nothing about Charles Ayers. I have never seen him on TV. Like most working people I am never around a TV at that time of the day. He seems to have worked very hard to get where he is. Knowing how the Japanese media works (Johnny's boys etc.). It is easy to see that this kind of stereotype is typical of the entertainment industry here in Japan. If he has no talent, then really, who on TV here does? Watch Mesamashi morning show and you can re-cap all the no talent personalities that exist here. People make a commercial and they are seen as a celebrity. As indicated in his article. I can only hope that one day his focus turns to changing the perception of gay people in Japan. Be they Japanese or Foreign.

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  GW at 09:39 PM JST - 15th July

  I live in the sticks a bit here & havent watched tv in jpn for about 3yrs now, its paradise you all shud try it!, anyway never heard of this dude so did the youtube thing................

  Man this guy is awful, forget that he is gay, who cares, its just bad bad bad, anyone who thinks this guy can do something other than for himself is delusional imo.

  I am sure his japanese is very good & can do well for himself, but these tv bits they just SUCK!

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