Tokyo Times

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Hard Gay humour

Variety shows on Japanese television don’t shy away from over the top stereotypes. Far from it in fact. Comedy and entertainment (although I use the terms loosely) come before any sense of responsibility – or indeed sensibility.

The introduction of the character Hard Gay however arguably takes this approach to a whole new level.

hard gay

The young chap it would appear struts the streets of Tokyo; performing acts of ‘social improvement’and shouting “Wooooo!” or “Hard Gay!” a lot. All interspersed with liberal doses of hip thrusting — his trademark movement.

hard gay

Although some thrusts it has to be said are more extreme than others.

hard gay

For any fans interested in copying their favourite comedy character, internet shopping site Rakuten is currently offering a Hard Gay costume set. The pack consisting of a hat, vest, hot pants and wristband. All for the very reasonable price of just under 6,000 yen (30 pound).

hard gay

However for those not willing to take the plunge but still looking for a Hard Gay fix, by clicking here you can see a video of him in hip thrusting action.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I saw this guy on a show when I was in Japan for a few days in July. After about 5 minutes, I was already bored with him. Beyond the hip thrust and the affect of being blatantly gay, there really isn’t anything else for this guy to do.

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  3. I actually saw this guy a couple of months ago, on the street in Akasaka as I was going to lunch with a few friends. It wasn’t far from TBS – is that his network?

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  4. where is this skit from? i busted out laughing when i first saw this guy on tv. but i forgot what show i was watching though

    “RIDE ON! HARD GAY!”

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  5. sorry to be boring but I was talking to someone about this guy the other day and apparently the ‘gay’ comes from osaka people calling comedians ‘geinin’ or something similar. to be honest I’m not convinced – they must be using the analogy. anyway – it works for the japanese. how would this go down in the US or UK?

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  6. I never seem to be amazed at what the Japanese seem to find entertaining.

    Being gay in Japan is a very big taboo. Most gay people in Japan all take vacations to Guam and hang out at places like Jacks where they can do and see things that they can not at home. If they can not do this they with nearly hidden faces slip into places that approximate the American Gay Bar.

    When Japanese men put women down, think it is cute to pinch them etc guess who thinks who is barbaric and has poor taste??? Westerners now putting the haughty arrogant shoe on the Japanese’s other foot. Was it not they who said that Westerners are barbaric, uncultured and are very rude??? They should think again. It is not cool to put down women, gay people or others.
    Japanese should remember WWII when they were all hooped up on Hilter and his aryan race only to discover that they were at the bottom of the food chain in Hitler’s eyes and never could be Aryan enough.

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  7. LOL!!! I must say that I think Hard Gay is quite ridiculous. The first time I saw him Tokyo, I was more disturbed. Don’t get me wrong, some things he does are funny, but he is just not my cup of tea.
    This takes me to my next subject: Mr. Rowland. How old are you by the way? I hope you are old enough to realize that every society will have there up’s and down’s. I agree, some of things that the Japanese find funny, I do not. Hell, I have a Japanese friend in Tokyo, and his parents and grandparents hate HARD GAY. But what about your society? What about mine? I think I can identify such ideological abominations in all three. What I am trying to say is why generalize here? Not every Japanese thinks Westerners are “barbaric” so to speak. People shouldn’t hate as you say, and I will add that people should not generalize an entire population based on a TV character! Take that chip off your shoulder, it’s almost 2006!!!!

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  8. I agree with D. Mendez, been gay in Japan isn`t that much different to been gay in the west, they have their own community and clubs here and no one really hassles them much, the TV may seem a little childish and silly at times but thats just sense of humour the Japanese have here, they like the variety type shows where the comedians make fun of themselves to the general public. Roland should also remember Japan has a very low rate of crime in general and they live in a very harmonious society and they do remember WWII and are very shamed by what their former leaders did, maybe if you dont like the country and its unique culture you should bugger off home.
    Keep up the happy gay spirit of wa Japan

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  10. There are many successful gay comedians and TV personalities such as Osugi & Piko, Kenichi Mikawa, etc. However, interesting enough, no one seems interested in their private life, i.e., who they are dating with, etc. Even those tabloids magazines, who make such a big deal with love affairs of even the most obscure z-listers, would never pay attention to it.
    I guess what Japanese audiences are trying is to extract campness (demeanor, language, etc.)from those gay entertainers to consume (=enjoy)and turn their blind eye to them as a person. They find gay guys entertaining on TV but not in their real life. They like camp guys as “they are funny” but they do not want to picture them kissing their boyfriends.
    Actually, this “Hard Gay” guy is not gay in his real life. Neither as Takashi Fujii as “Matthew” in a late-night TV. (See the film “Lost in Translation” if you have never seen this guy.) Both have confessed publicly that they are straight in their real life. I think that is why they have made such a huge success. Japanese people enjoy their “gayness” without worrying about other complicated things. To them, gayness is just a form of art, not sexual orientation.

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  14. i have to say HG is actually quite popular in the states and au. It is he’s “hoo” and underwaist thrust that entertains us, but he’s action attracted us. as in, helpin plp and c’mon. He was influencin plp to be thankful to their dads on father’s day. Who would do that? He’s a hero =) no matter he is gay or not.

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  15. He is sooo funny, it’s doubtless that he is so funny. As well as I am wondering if he is really gay, but doesn’t matter. I have watched a lot of his movie clips on the internet and I like he underwaist thrusting no matter where he is an he has never felt shy to do that, it is one of the thing I admire him.

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  16. whoa. everyone here needs to learn to laugh at life a little. it is disgraceful and ignorant to be laughing and making fun of others; but don’t we do it here in the states? like dave chappelle or carlos mencia? plus japan was a very sexually open country until they let westerners in. once they started becoming accustomed to the “western” ideals and standards of living, japan started becoming more and more homophobic. with christianity came all the homophobia associated with it. i’m not sure if you all know this but samurai were encouraged to be bisexual and take on fellow samurai lovers. educate yourselves before you decide to judge others. i’m talking to you rowland.

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  17. im in newfoundland canada. i just seen hard gay’s clips on the internet. i love em. makes me wish i was in japan just so i could watch him on television.

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  18. on the contrary mr. rowland; homosexuality has, historically, been more acceptable in asian cultures.

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  20. go to youtube.com , search for hard gay and you’ll find lots of stuff, if u are lucky there will be many with english subtitles as well 😉

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  27. I don’t think hard gay’s character is meant to be offensive to anyone– What -I- think this character portrays is ‘Here I am, I’m gay and having fun, not harming a single soul.’ I mean, really, I don’t think he’s hurting anyone– if anything he makes people realize there is a gay culture and it will not go away and therefore should be respected and lived with whether you like him or not.

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  28. Hate to tell you this, Maki, but Christianity has had VERY little influence in Japan. The religion itself fascinates a lot of Japanese, but very few of them understand it very well. It’s similar to the way Westerners pretend to understand Hinduism: it has an exotic, myterious appeal that they can’t quite grasp, let alone get into the mindset.

    All world cultures — Japan included — have had their own flavours of “homophobia”. Judeo-Christian faiths discourage the behaviour itself, but in Japan, homosexuality is still largely considered a phase that some men go through and are fully expected to marry and have children. Instead of the behaviour being frowned upon as it is in the West, it’s the condition of homosexuality itself that is frowned upon in Japan, and it’s always been like that. (Thus, the bisexuality of samurai: Japanese feudal culture was EXTREMELY misogynist and women were considered inferior. In other words, women were for procreation while men were for recreation)

    That being said, I adore Hard Gay. As the person said above me, I don’t think he’s out to be offencive: he’s playing up a stereotype. It wouldn’t be the first time a comedian of ANY nationality has done that, and it certainly won’t be the last.

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  29. Oh, and I forgot to add that lesbianism has ALWAYS been frowned upon in almost every culture — Japan included. (Mostly because women have almost always been considered to be little more than breeding stock) It’s only been *male* homosexuality that was considered acceptable…primarily because that was considered a good way for a lord to assert his dominance and control over his subjects. (Feudal homosexual acts were traditionally carried out as a way for a superior to assert dominance. Love hardly ever had anything to do with it)

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  33. …this is more about the reaction of the normally very polite Japanese to the outrageousness and bold behavior of Hard Gay! The hilarious part is that they attempt to maintain their cool while Hard Gay is going through his gyrations! OMG…the funniest thing I’ve seen in years…

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  34. Yea… im late on the ball… HEHE^_^. So, why are you people making this so political? It’s a show, it’s entertaining(to some it isn’t), and that’s it. Theres nothing political about this stuff. Learn2laugh. GG

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  35. By the way, Hard Gay aka Masaki Sumitani is not really gay. He is actually married to a Japanese swimsuit model and actress named Anna Suzuki.

    He means no harm to anyone and is playing the part for comedic purposes. He means to do well, his purpose includes social improvement. If you people want to burn on someone, that’s pathetic. He means no harm. And if you guys haven’t noticed, being homosexual isn’t “abnormal”. I think because people like that exist, it makes the world a more interesting place. My experience with them makes me think they are quiet nice although I won’t stereotype them all to be like that.

    If people think the toy of HG is bad, why not ban video games? Battlefield 2142 has you shooting European Union and Russian troops. Counter-strike has you shooting law enforcers/terrorist. Rowland, what you said is based on a stereotype and that your assumptions are what bring society down. Who said all the japanese are like that? Are you an idiot? If you haven’t noticed, a whole regiment of Japanese soldiers were formed during WWII to fight against their ancestral country. We even put our own citizens, 2nd generation japanese in internment camps where some have died.

    “Japanese should remember WWII when they were all hooped up on Hilter and his aryan race only to discover that they were at the bottom of the food chain in Hitler’s eyes and never could be Aryan enough.”

    Who the hell said all the Japanese were thinking alike? So you are telling me you have the same opinion about the Iraq War as I do?
    It’s not cool to put down a group of people, Rowland? You just did. Hypocrit. You are your own individual idiotic self.

    Btw, Aryan race

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  38. I read your website every week, its great and got lots of information to take in and lots of interesting articles.

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