Rui Takahashi comes out as gay in Japan volleyball

Japanese volleyball player Rui Takahashi came out as gay on Tuesday, saying he wanted to help others struggling with their sexuality in a country where openly LGBTQ athletes are rare.

Takahashi, 26, plays in the top division of Japan's professional volleyball league. He posted a statement on social media with a black-and-white photo of himself.

He wrote that he had been afraid to face a part of himself since he was young and had denied who he was.

"That is the fact that I am gay and that I am one of the sexual minorities," he wrote.

Takahashi said his brother Ran, a star with Japan's national volleyball team, helped him come to terms with his sexuality.

"Talking with Ran became the trigger that finally allowed me to accept myself for the first time," he wrote.

Takahashi said he hoped his decision to speak publicly could become a catalyst for others in a similar situation.

He becomes one of a small group of openly LGBTQ professional athletes in Japan. Women's football player Shiho Shimoyamada came out as gay in 2019, and Kumi Yokoyama, who played for Japan at the Women's World Cup, later came out as a transgender man.