Rui Takahashi, the first Japanese professional volleyball player to come out as gay, did so on Tuesday. The 26-year-old player from the Suntory Sunbirds Osaka posted a statement on social media, along with a black-and-white photo of himself. He said he wanted to help people who struggle with their sexual orientation.
View this post on Instagram
Instagram
|
He had feared facing a certain side of himself since his youth, Takahashi wrote. “I wrestled with it and, in the end, denied who I am.” And he added: “The fact is that I am gay and belong to sexual minorities.”
Support from his prominent younger brother
His younger brother Ran, a nationally recognized player in Japan, helped him. “The conversation with Ran became the trigger that allowed me to accept myself for the first time,” Takahashi said. “By putting my feelings into words, I could sort out my thoughts, and gradually I began to feel that it’s OK to be who I am.” The brothers played on the same team until last season.
Takahashi has been with the Sunbirds since 2022 in the SV.League, Japan’s top professional league.
Few openly queer professional athletes in Japan
Openly queer professionals remain a rarity in Japanese sports. Soccer player Shiho Shimoyamada came out publicly in 2019 as the country’s first openly LGBT athlete (TheColu.mn reported). Kumi Yokoyama, a member of the women’s national soccer team, came out as a trans man in 2021 (TheColu.mn reported).
In June 2021 the Japanese Olympic Committee appointed the trans fencer Fumino Sugiyama to its board just weeks before the Tokyo Games. The former volleyball player Nanae Takizawa had already come out as lesbian in a 2017 television interview.
