J-pop Star Shinjiro Atae Comes Out During Performance
Image: Shinjiro Atae Instagram
J-pop singer Shinjiro Atae has come out during a performance, in front of 2,000 of his fans.
In Tokyo, on July 26, after a two-year performance hiatus, Atae, 34, announced to his fans that he is gay.
‘Finally Have The Courage To Open Up To You’
“I respect you and believe you deserve to hear this directly from me,” he said.
“For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself. But now, after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something. I am a gay man.”
In a message posted to social media, Atae wrote, “It has taken me a long time to be able to say I am gay. I could not even say it to myself. However, I’ve come to realize it is better, both for me, and for the people I care about, including my fans, to live life authentically than to live a life never accepting who I truly am. I hope people who are struggling with the same feeling will find courage and know they are not alone.”
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‘Everyone Was So Open’
Talking to the New York Times about his own struggles with his sexuality, he shared, “I thought if I was found out, it would end my career, and so I couldn’t tell anyone.”
His decision to come out has been seven years in the making, starting when he moved to Los Angeles.
“[In Los Angeles] Everyone was so open. People would talk about their vulnerabilities. In Japan, people think it’s best not to talk about those things,” he said.
Not Common In Conservative Japan
Making this announcement so publicly is not common in Japan.
Satoshi Masuda, a researcher at Osaka City University explained, “Japanese society is not a place where people strictly state their sexuality. Rather, it naturally comes to be known.”
“I think he has decided to come out in order to change Japan,” said Gon Matsunaka, director and adviser to Queer support centre Pride House Tokyo.
Atae’s announcement was accompanied by the release of his new single, “Into The Light”, which talks about living authentically.
Joining at age 14, Atae spent 20 years as one of the five members of the Japanese pop group AAA before starting a solo career.
AAA debuted in 2005 and would go on to record eight top 10 hits in Japan.
Isn’t it still sad that someone like this finds the need to apologise for his life-reality..
I’m now into my seventies and had to hide until my fifties. Work, social and fortunately legal things still were not impacting so solidly.
This very handsome young man has had to display himself for all the bigots and fools because he is a human with different tastes and needs.