{"id":286265,"date":"2021-06-29T06:25:19","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T03:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/japanese-singer-hikaru-utada-comes-out-as-non-binary\/"},"modified":"2021-06-29T06:25:19","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T03:25:19","slug":"japanese-singer-hikaru-utada-comes-out-as-non-binary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/japanese-singer-hikaru-utada-comes-out-as-non-binary\/","title":{"rendered":"#Japanese Singer Hikaru Utada Comes Out as Non-Binary"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Japanese Singer Hikaru Utada Comes Out as Non-Binary<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Hikaru Utada, t<\/strong>he singer behind the theme<\/a> songs to the Rebuild of Evangelion<\/strong><\/em> anime<\/a> films, Kingdom Hearts<\/strong><\/em> video game<\/a>s, and the To Your Eternity<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a> TV anime,\u00a0revealed<\/span><\/a> on their\u00a0Instagram live stream on Saturday night that they were non-binary.\u00a0Utada<\/strong> had previously revealed<\/span><\/a>\u00a0publicly\u00a0that they were questioning how to express themselves in an Instagram post on June 18.<\/p>\n

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You can watch the live stream archive (which also features Evangelion<\/strong><\/em> director Hideaki Anno<\/strong>) on the Hikki Staff Instagram account right here<\/span><\/a>. The relevant section starts at 2:04 in the video.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In the stream \u2013\u00a0prior to Anno<\/strong> coming on \u2013 Utada<\/strong> introduces another special guest, their\u00a0stuffed bear\u00a0Kuma, explaining “He’s a boy, and he is gay.” They continued on,\u00a0“It’s the month of June and I’m non-binary, so happy pride month! I got to say it before the end of the month!” The singer then repeats the above in Japanese.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Hikaru<\/p>\n

Previous Instagram post (link<\/span><\/a>)<\/p>\n

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Utada<\/strong> had brought up questions on their\u00a0genre previously<\/span><\/a> in the month on another Instagram post, saying that they are “sick of being asked if I\u2019m ‘Miss or Missus’\u00a0or choosing between ‘Miss\/Mrs\/Ms’\u00a0for everyday things” and that they “long for an alternative option, one that anybody of any gender or social<\/a> standing could use.” The image on the post (seen above) suggests the use of “Mys. Utada.”<\/p>\n

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The Japanese press picked up on the story this morning, with\u00a0The Chunichi Shimbun<\/span><\/a> explaining and transliterating “Mys. Utada” for a Japanese audience. The article said that Utada<\/strong> has seen many positive and\u00a0sympathetic comments from the Japanese public, with one commenter saying that they “are happy [Utada] can speak out freely.” Renato Rivera Rusca, a l<\/strong>ecturer at Okayama Prefectural University on Japanese popular culture,\u00a0tweeted<\/span><\/a> out a clip of a Japanese morning program\u00a0using the news<\/a> to introduce LGBT terms to Japanese viewers.<\/p>\n


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As expected, Monday morning TV picked up the story on Utada Hikaru coming out as non-binary, and used the opportunity to give a crash course on basic LGBTQ terminology. I did not expect “Long Long Man” himself, US-born Ozawa Yukiyoshi not to have heard the term before, however. pic.twitter.com\/SFQpRwS5NS<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\u2014 Renato Rivera Rusca \uff08\u30ec\u30ca\u30c8\u30fb\u30ea\u30d9\u30e9\u30fb\u30eb\u30b9\u30ab\uff09 (@RENATOLOGY) June 28, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


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Sources: Hikki Staff on Instagram<\/span><\/a>, Hikaru Utada on Instagram<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0The Chunichi Shimbun<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0Renato Rivera Rusca on Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Try<\/a><\/p>\n

—-<\/em><\/p>\n

Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs the YouTube channel about Japan stuff called\u00a0TheDoctorDazza<\/a>, tweets at\u00a0@DoctorDazza<\/a>,\u00a0and posts photos of his travel<\/a>s on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>\n<\/div>\n