The 94-Year-Old Gay #JFF2026

R:Film Festival

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Japanese (Thai & English Subtitles) “To me, this is like a miracle. This is miraculous.” Hase has lived a life of solitude, unable to reveal to anyone for the longest time that he is gay. His only mental support was literature—writing poetry. In 1963, he won the most prestigious accolade, the Contemporary Poetry Handbook award, as a new contemporary poet. The transcendental atmosphere in his poem was highly regarded by Shuntaro Tanikawa on the selection committee, and Hase went on to be published in multiple issues. He continues to write tanka poetry today, at the age of 94. At the timeof Hase’s birth, homosexuality was publicly regarded to be a disease. The climate around homosexuality has changed greatly since then. Hase has since also managed to come out, being supported by an understanding care manager, and continued to live his life with great resolve until one day he is met with a great surprise.