Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae says he's gay

....ok and so what?

Guy surely looks very gay, but who doesnt in Japan?

On another note, this is the first time I see someone named "Atae" in Japan, the kanji itself 與 looks like a pacman maze or something

Nothing new under the Sun.

Shijiro

"Shinjiro", not "Shijiro".

Moderator: Thanks for pointing that out. It has been corrected.

Sorry, nobody cares.

Good for him.

Out of show business since 2020, no luck in the US (surprise, surprise) so has to do something to regain attention.... So make a big fuss about something everyone can tell by looking at you. And a charity song... Sad.

So is 12% of the population. What’s the big deal?

…a time of increased awareness and support for the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Japan.

Really? I just thought the 1% that care about that kind of thing were getting louder.

The rightwing North American podcast watchers are fully triggered here.

Good to see them off the Russian invasion and climate change threads.

A bit of variety is nice.

Oh my God, hark at him, lol. Who cares about sexuality these days anyway, it’s not one hundred years ago.

As previously mentioned seems like the chap has become rather irrelevant and it’s an immature and regressive attempt to restart his career, you see.

So is 12% of the population

More than 1 in 10 people are gay now? Ridiculously inflated figures. Keep dreaming.

I am straight, a heterosexual women, if I announced the fact in news print would that bring me pride satisfaction to the fact?

Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae said he is gay.

Does Shinjiro Atae a gay man, feel announcing his sexuality, will relieve the worry Shinjiro Atae clearly has from being shunned from society and lose his career?

Clearly so.

Shinjiro Atae, gay or otherwise is a human being, nobody can take that away from him.

More should come out and let the government know they exist and have equality

That nice that he is gay, Which I don't need to know. I hope he represent his sexuality with respect. I will acknowage that gay sexuality dose not not mean you are part of the marxist community. EG One Douglas Murray a known gay intellect who comment on the social problems that is cause by marxist groups like gay pride faction,.stop gas faction, and child abuse cause by transexual marxist attitudes and he refuses to take part with gay faction groups and associate with Marxism. So I assume Atea will represent his sexuality in a non political action the same as heterosexual represent their sexuality.

I'm a long-time fan of Shinjiro Atae, so the news is pretty surprising. Nonetheless, I can fully understand why he's bringing up his sexual orientation, given there has been a lot of talk recently about LGBT+ rights and discrimination in Japan. Maybe he is throwing his own hat in the ring to let people know that even a beloved idol out here is gay, in hopes that it might help with better acceptance for LGBT+ people. I fully support him on this and don't see the harm in him speaking up. You do you, Shinjiro!

“Really? I just thought the 1% that care about that kind of thing were getting louder.”

Ha, ha, ha! 

Spot on! They make a lot of noise and people assume that it's a lot of people. It isn't. It's just a few being really noisy.

That good news great he is gay because gay mean happy nothing wrong being happy.

Why is this even news? Wow another person coming out of the closet. No one cares. Congratulations happy for ya!

Coming out from?

Shinjiro Atae, enjoys the sexual company of a man?

Many already openly display there sexuality.

I have noticed this in Nagoya.

J society culture, rather couples no matter sexuality nod 'n' wink in public.

Give the odd come hither glance.

The trouble is when an identity political agenda come into play.

Atae. ATae ! ATAe !! ATAE !!! ATAE !!!!

ATAE! ATAE !! ATAE !!! ATAE !!!! ATAE !!!!! ATAE !!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Are gays widely discriminated against in Japan? Only gays I know here are foreigner acquaintances. Nobody has ever mentioned that they were discriminated against because they're gay nor they mentioned of an instance that happened to others they know.

Maybe it just didn't crop up in the conversations.

70 years ago it would have made the news, buy why is it news now???

And sorry I don't even know this gentleman, who is he?

The expression 'wearing one's heart on one's sleeve' has morphed into plastering your every insecurity on social media - fine for people who have no interest in it - but which is then posted on news websites (all it seems) which indulge it as clickbait. That, I believe, is what annoys people.

JayToday  05:55 pm JST

So is 12% of the population

More than 1 in 10 people are gay now? Ridiculously inflated figures. Keep dreaming.

Of course difficult to know exactly as they are not yet video camera in bedroom thanks God!

But it seems that it is around 8% (even you can see all types of figures if you Google it). So probably a bit less that one out of 10 but not that far.

Anyone here ever heard of this guy?

I can see a story like this if it’s a major star but this guy seems minor to me.

Guy surely looks very gay, but who doesnt in Japan?

finally rich, I'd take that anyday over the alpha macho nonsense in the west and the Australias. I lived in Japan for a long time and appreciated the fact that I could go out for a drink without some idiot wanting to prove a point. By and large Japanese lads respect other peoples space. When you say who doesn't look gay in Japan you mean Japanese lads don't have a pint of lager in each hand with tattoos all over their arms and legs.?

....ok and so what?

The point is he cannot enjoy equal rights as most people.

This is inhumane and only changes when celebrities come out and speak up.

treble4punkToday  09:52 pm JST

The point is he cannot enjoy equal rights as most people.

There is no such thing as equal rights for all. I don't have the right to:

Attend kindergarten

Join a women's circle

Vote in Japan

Park in disabled spaces

Join a gentleman's club

Use a women's toilet (topical!)

Because I'm not:

a child

a woman

a Japanese national

disabled

in possession of the right introductions

a woman

I don't know what rights you're thinking about, but if we're talking about marriage then gay couples don't have the right to marriage because they aren't a male and female. As above, that's the way it is, not an opinion. But if something else comes along that satisfies them, good for them. If you mean other rights, then you should list them. I'm not sure what else they're denied.

Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae says he's gay

Had to google the name.

no idea who he is.

still don’t.

one look at his pictures, the news he announced has got to be shocking to no one.

so, if he is, great. If he isn’t, who cares?

we all have bills to pay.

Let’s just focus on that.

I'm surprised to find so many comments on this article considering the number of people who profess not to care about Mr. Atae.

I'm surprised to find so many comments on this article considering the number of people who profess not to care about Mr. Atae

They often do things like this.

They like to spam the women’s football threads by telling us they aren’t interested and nobody else likes or cares about it.

I think they like to think of themselves as ‘influencers’.

Teenagers, eh?

Ok, so what’s the big deal?

The negative view of gays here in Japan didn't used to exist before western influence came ashore. There are old Tokugawa sex manuals illustrating heterosexual sex in great detail with ukio-e (浮世絵) woodblock prints, but there is always a last chapter on how two men or two women can have sex. No moral judgment. These chapters were deleted in modern editions. However, recently, I found a publication that included the gay sex chapters. Western influence has been good in some way, bad in others.

So?

To the multiple people commenting, "Who is this guy?" and assuming he isn't famous...As I commented above, I am a fan of Shinjiro Atae, and I am also a Westerner. He (and the idol group he was a part of, AAA) are actually quite famous, especially in Japan. Maybe the world of J-Pop is just not your scene?

(Also, you'll have surely seen his face around. A lot of drugstores in Japan used to have his face plastered up for skin care products there.)