Coming out as non-binary is not easy for anyone in the world, but I can only imagine how hard it must be when you’re also a celebrity with a stature like Utada Hikaru. In a conservative country such as Japan, good on you!
During an Instagram live stream with anime director Hideaki Anno, the singer revealed that she’s non-binary before wishing everyone a happy pride month. This is after the pop star posted a lengthy message on June 18th in which Hikaru states that they’ve never been comfortable with traditional feminine pronouns and that “Every time, I feel like I’m forced to misrepresent myself.” They go on to state that from now on, they prefer to be referred to as the gender-neutral pronoun Mx (pronounced Mix).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQQil30pg34/
Before I wrote this article, I did some research into how gender and sexual minorities are currently treated in Japan, and what I found saddened me. According to reports from multiple human rights organizations and online publications, Japan might appear to be tolerant on the surface, but all you have to do is dig a little to expose the truth of discrimination against gay, lesbian, or transgender individuals and the tough road that they must travel in order to find any semblance of happiness in modern Japanese society. There is even a recent case of a graduate student studying law who took his own life after being outed as gay to seven friends by another man that the gay student had confessed his attraction to.
For someone with the notoriety Utada Hikaru has to come out as a minority will hopefully help shed some light on the subject within Japan and be a new leaf for the country to turn over so that they can address the concerns of these citizens head-on.
Sources: Anime News Network, Asian Junkie
