On July 26, AAA member Atae Shinjiro held a free fan event titled 'Atae Shinjiro announcement' at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA where he came out as a gay man and announced that he would be resuming his activities. 

Atae made his debut as a member of AAA in September of 2005. Besides his group activities, he was active as a solo artist but put a halt to his activities in 2021 shortly after AAA went on hiatus. Since then, he produced his own brand called '446 DOUBLE FOUR SIX' basing his work in both Japan and Los Angeles. This June, he terminated his exclusive contract with Avex Management and announced that he would carry out his activities as an independent agent. 

During the event, Atae spoke at length about his decision to come out and expressed his hope that his coming out would give courage to fans facing a similar situation. He also revealed that he recorded a new song titled "Into The Light," and that a portion of the proceeds will be donated to a LGBTQ+ support group. Finally, he mentioned that a Hollywood documentary based on his life is in the works. It will be produced by Peter Farrelly and Fisher Stevens. 

Atae expressed his gratitude to his family, friends, and the staff who have always supported him. He also introduced his fellow AAA members -- Nishijima Takahiro, Uno Misako, Hidaka Mitsuhiro, and Sueyoshi Shuta -- who all watched over Atae from the venue as he made his announcement. He concluded the event by showing the MV for "Into The Light." 

After the event, Atae took to his Instagram account to announce the news to everyone else. You can read his full post below.