Ringing in the New Year at a gay bar in Tokyo
January 6th, 2009 by James
Another clip from Asahi TV’s coverage of how certain people spent New Year’s Eve:
This clip is about Hiroshi, a 26-year-old who works at a gay bar in the Shinjuku 2-chome district. It is customary for most Japanese people to visit their families for the New Year holiday, but Hiroshi will not be going home. He has only told his brother than he is homosexual, and is afraid of what will happen if his father discovers the truth. He enjoys his life in Tokyo, but worries about the day he will have to come out to his father.
Hiroshi calls home on January 2nd to wish everyone a Happy New Year. He talks to his brother, but he doesn’t have a chance to speak with his father (who is probably passed out drunk from holiday drinking). Hiroshi hopes he has the courage to come out, but isn’t quite ready to do so.
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Thank you for posting videos like these. It’s interesting to see stories like this, as well as to practice my listening comprehension.
I don’t really have any idea what was said in the clip but according to the English description he is worried about the day he will have to come out to his father. Isn’t that day pretty much the day that this aired on television? And I mean now it’s on the internet, surely someone will see it and his old man will find out. maybe I am missing something but this seems quite obvious to me.
This is an interesting topic.
The gay issue is far from being as generaly accepted as in France, for instance.
I thought exactly the same thing than kovert. But maybe Hiroki san did it in purpose.
He phoned and showed that he wanted to try his best to do his coming out, so he may feel relieved. He told his secret, and that is probably the most important act to him.
What surprises me is that he makes himself up when working in the bar, whereas on the outside, nothing indicates his sexual choices.
Being gay in Japan seems to mean neither looking like a man, nor like a woman. This transexuality lefts me with a weird feeling.
I’ve got the impression that there is a lot of work to do in Japan before the single fact that one can be gay will be tolereated.
The social aspect in Japan is really interesting to me.