During a party celebrating his election to a Tokyo ward assembly in April 1999, the candidate was being congratulated by supporters, as were his parents, who were hailed as the biggest contributors to the successful campaign.

The candidate had mixed feelings, however, because he knew that the person who had most backed his campaign was actually his lover — others only knew him as the candidate's friend and chief aide.

"I could tell only a few of my supporters that I was gay and that my chief secretary was my partner," said the ward assemblyman, who is in his 30s and asked that his name not be given.