In 2024, an elderly man stood before students at Doshisha University and asked a simple question.
“Has anyone here ever thought of themselves as LGBT?”
The man was 95-year-old Hase Tadashi, a gay man who lived through a time when being gay was not accepted. He openly identified as gay, but throughout his life, he never experienced a romantic relationship or sexual intimacy with another person… and that was not by choice.
At the time he grew up, being gay meant facing constant discrimination and stigma.
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A Time When Being Gay Was Not Accepted
Hase lived in Nishinari, Osaka, on a modest pension.
Inside his apartment, the walls were covered with photos of men he liked, cut from magazines and newspapers.
“I don’t even know who they are. I just like faces like this.”
Even after a lifetime of hiding his identity as a gay man, his natural feelings never disappeared. That simple honesty showed the pure side of being gay, even after decades of silence.
But being gay in his time came with deep loneliness.
Back in 1915, a book called Hentai Seiyoku Ron labeled homosexuality as a treatable mental illness. This idea shaped how society viewed gay people for decades.
Even into the 1990s, being gay was still described in dictionaries as “abnormal.”
Hase was born in Kagawa Prefecture. His first love, as a young gay boy, was his male elementary school teacher.
When asked if he ever confessed his feelings as a gay student, he answered clearly.
“No.”
That one word reflects how difficult it was to be openly gay at the time.
A Life Spent Hiding Being Gay
After moving to Osaka, Hase worked many jobs, including delivering telegrams and cleaning buildings. He moved between 11 different jobs while trying to survive as a gay man in a society that did not accept homosexuality.
At work, he was constantly asked why he did not marry. For a gay man in that era, this question was painful.
“You cut people off and hide behind fake words.”
Due to his sexuality, he believed his existence might trouble others. Because of that, he distanced himself from people, even from his own family: being gay meant living in emotional isolation.
His poems and novels show the reality of being gay in that time.
“I went with other men to watch strip shows at hot spring resorts, but I didn’t enjoy it at all.”
“It became a lifelong resentment toward myself through sexuality, and even hatred toward fate.”
These words show the inner conflict of being gay in a world that rejects gay identity.
Pride as a Gay Poet
Hase loved literature and continued writing throughout his life.
Using the pen name Yasuo, he published poetry and even won a major newcomer poetry award at age 34.
“Becoming a poet drawn to literature is something I’m proud of.”
Even though he could not openly live as a gay man in society, he found a way to express his identity as a gay individual through words.
For him, writing may have been the only place where he felt free to be himself.
The First Time He Saw So Many Gay People
In 2024, Hase joined the Rainbow Parade in Shibuya for the first time.
In a wheelchair, holding a small rainbow flag, he witnessed something he had never seen before.
“So many gay people… I had no idea. I’m surprised.”
For a gay man who spent most of his life alone, seeing so many openly gay people must have been overwhelming.
There was joy, but also sadness for some who spent a lifetime as a gay man in isolation, finally seeing a community of gay people.
If He Had Been Born in Today’s World as a Gay Man
“I’d marry the man I love. Even if people didn’t accept it, living together would still be fun.”
It is such a simple wish.
For many gay people today, it is becoming more possible.
But for Hase, as a gay man of his generation, it was never allowed.
LGBTQ＋ Life That Connected Generations
On November 10, 2024, Hase passed away peacefully in his home in Osaka.
A film about his life as a gay man has also been made and is being shown in a small theater in Nakano, Tokyo.
The film is called 94-Year-Old Gay Man.
His life shows what it meant to be gay in a time when being gay was denied.
It also shows the strength it took to continue living as a gay person in silence.
The Future for Gay People Is Built on the Past
Today, being gay is more visible and more accepted than ever before.
But that progress exists because of people like Hase, who lived through hardship as a gay man and never gave up.
The lives of gay people today are built on the courage of gay people from the past.
We should never forget that.
With respect and gratitude to Hase Tadashi, a gay man who lived through history.
May he rest in peace.
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