Otsuji Kanako was the first out-of-the-closet dyke and homosexual in Japan’s government. She is a Japanese LGBT rights activist and former member of the Osaka Prefectural Assembly (April 2003–April 2007). One of only seven women in the 110-member Osaka Assembly, Otsuji represented the Sakai-ku, Sakai City constituency.

Ken Togo was Japan's first queer activist, who, in 1971, founded the Zatsumin no Kai, or Organization of Miscellaneous People, which fought for the rights of sexual minorities, including lesbians, gay men, and sex workers. He has repeatedly run for political office in the national Diet, Japan's parliament, but without success… [he is also] a gay bar owner…[and] the editor of the magazine The Gay, first published in 1981 (and previously titled The Ken), which contains a … mixture of explicit pornography and gay-rights discourse.

Carrousel Maki is a high-profile entertainer, who, in 1972, underwent a complete sex-change.

Akihiro Miwa is a homosexual Japanese singer, actor, and theatre director from Nagasaki in Nagasaki Prefecture. His real name is Maruyama Akihiro. He writes most of his own music and has written over 20 books.

Shinnosuke Ikehata is a Japanese singer, dancer and actor.  He uses his moniker of “Peter” when he appears on TV variety shows and musical revues. He adopted the stage name when he was 16 after his style of dress and dance which was said to resemble “Peter Pan.” He is a transgender pervert.