By: Annabelle Ma

2,000 fans of the J-pop star Shinjiro Atae gathered in a dark auditorium on Wednesday night to hear Atae talk about “the challenge” of his life. There, surprising news came: Atae is gay.

“I respect you and believe you deserve to hear this directly from me,” he said, reading a letter he prepared for that Wednesday night. “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.”

34-year-old Atae has spent two decades performing in AAA, a popular J-pop group. Before starting his solo career, Atae wanted to let his fans know his true self. He also hopes to comfort those who are facing anxiety over their sexuality.

So far, there has been no Japanese pop star that has publicly declared they were gay. This is mainly because they fear losing their fans.

“I think he has decided to come out in order to change Japan,” said Gon Matsunaka, a director and advisor of the Pride House Tokyo, a support center for the LGBTQ+ community.

Mr. Atae, who has been dancing with AAA since he was just 14, has always feared this public announcement.

“I thought if I was found out, it would end my career, and so I couldn’t tell anyone,” he said during an interview in Tokyo.

After he visited Los Angeles and saw how open the people there were, he finally decided to announce his sexuality. He first told a few of his close friends that he is gay, then his mom, and finally, the public.

Wednesday night ended with a music video broadcast of Mr. Atae’s new single, “Into the Light”. The lyrics in that song closely relate to what he was feeling.

“I spent so long being these versions of myself

I forgot who I was, I was somebody else

You give me something I’ve been missing my whole life

I’m coming into the light.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/world/asia/japan-gay-j-pop-shinjiro-atae.html