Difficulties of Coming Out Amoung Japanese Elite Athletes : A media-studies inquiry into the case of soccer player Shiho Shimoyamada

Abstract: The 2020 Summer Olympicsand the Paralympic Games were scheduledto take placein Tokyo. This sporting mega-event has affected change in the public and social spheres of the host country, Japan, but with regard to athletes’ gender and sexual orientation Japan’s mainstream media seem still considerably biased. Little has been reported on openly LGBTpro athletes from Japan and their involvement in advocating the Olympic values:diversity, inclusiveness and equality.This thesis investigates howLGBTiconsare portrayed by the media, or more specifically,the national newspapers, LGBTcommunity sources and social media, and withregard to the first it questions whetherthere are differences in the portrayalof Shiho Shimoyamada, the first openly homosexual female soccer athlete fromJapan, between Japanese and English language media.In the attempt to interrelate sports studies, queer studies and media studies, this thesis investigates in the main the representationof Shiho ShimoyamadainAsahi Shimbun, Japan’s second largest newspaper, and inthe English-language newspaperThe Japan Times. It also provides an overview of the athlete’s self-representation on Twitter which relates closely to her LGBT activism.Investigation of the media sources is executed by qualitative and quantitative analysis of data collected within 13 months(January 1, 2019 -February 28,2020). Categorizing tweets bygroups, the findingsdemonstrategaps in media representation ofsociallyimportant activism and presents the social media self-promotion strategies used by the athlete.