We are in June, which means we are in Pride month, which means we should expect to see a lot more stories like this rolling through the media. A new survey has found that 10.6% of people in Japan identify as LGBTQ+. The poll asked 46,658 individuals aged 20 to 59. The survey was run by advertising giant Dentsu, whose interest in the subject perhaps shows how important and potentially lucrative the LGBTQ+ yen is to corporate brands. Dentsu has previously carried out similar surveys, the last one of which was in 2023, which found that 9.7% self-identify as LGBTQ+. Presumably, greater ...

In a recent interview with Aera, the former AKB48 idol Nana Okada (岡田奈々) has come out as nonbinary. They don't explicitly also come as bisexual but the 26-year-old does say they are attracted to both men and women, and that they dated a woman back in 2017 (during their tenure in AKB48, which started in 2012). As readers will remember, Okada was fired from AKB48 over a dating scandal in 2022. Until then, she had been one of the most popular members of the idol group. For a more in-depth analysis of the interview and what Okada reveals, we recommend this thread. Okada is currently ...