Kenta Yamazaki | Nijigumi Fights "The 11th Nijigumi Gakuen Autumn Grand Cultural Festival"
Kenta Yamazaki reviews Nijigumi Fights' "The 11th Nijigumi Gakuen Autumn Grand Cultural Festival," discussing its significance and the state of gay representation in Japanese theater.Summary
This article is a review by Kenta Yamazaki of Nijigumi Fights' "The 11th Nijigumi Gakuen Autumn Grand Cultural Festival." Nijigumi Fights is a gay idol group formed in 2009 with the concept of "playing idol," and this performance was selected from the open call for "Meteorites" (projects) for the performing arts festival "Autumn Meteorite 2026 Tokyo," held on October 25, 2026, at Theatre West, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. The sight of 43 gay men standing on stage is extremely rare, and the performance was a three-hour extravaganza with high-quality music and dance and a strong entertainment value. Yamazaki points out the scarcity of gay representation in Japanese performing arts, its appropriation by the majority, and the difficulty for individuals to openly stand on stage with their sexuality, while highly evaluating the significance of Nijigumi Fights performing on a public theater stage, likening it to a "meteorite." He also emphasizes the significance of the audience functioning as a safe space and the opening act in the public space before the show, which made many gay individuals visible. Furthermore, he touches on the aspect of disrupting norms by shifting the heterosexual-norm-based idol format into a homosexual context, and expresses hope for changes in the situation surrounding queer performing arts in Japan and, above all, in the attitude of the majority.
(Source：artscape)