In front of more than two thousand fans in Tokyo, Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae publicly announced for the first time that he is gay. Now 34-years-old, Shinjiro first shot to stardom when he was just 14-years-old as a member of the highly successful J-pop group, AAA.

“I respect you and believe you deserve to hear this directly from me,” Shinjiro said at the event. “For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself. But now, after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something. I am a gay man.”

In a social media post, Shinjiro continued, “To all my fans, today was a very special day for me. For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself...But now, after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something. I am a gay man. It has taken me a long time to be able to say I am gay. I could not even say it to myself. However, I’ve come to realize it is better, both for me, and for the people I care about, including my fans, to live life authentically than to live a life never accepting who I truly am. I hope people who are struggling with the same feeling will find courage and know they are not alone.”

As reported by The New York Times, Shinjiro’s decision to open up about his sexuality evolved after living in Los Angeles for seven years where he saw how freely gay couples felt showing affection in public. “Everyone was so open,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “People would talk about their vulnerabilities. In Japan, people think it’s best not to talk about those things.”

Currently, Japan does not legally recognize same-sex unions or marriages, and it is the only G7 country that does not.