The Dutch ambassador to Japan has kicked-off Tokyo Rainbow Week 2013 with a colorful reception for the LGBT community and their supporters.

Tokyo Rainbow Week is dedicated to supporting Japan’s sexual minority community, creating a friendly and accepting society where anybody can be themselves and lead ‘a life of happiness and optimism’.

The week consists of over 20 events running from today (27 April) to 6 May. It kicked off today with a ‘Colorful Eve Reception’ at the residence of the ambassador of the Netherlands. Gay Star News was at the reception to report on the proceedings.

The ambassador from the Netherlands, Radinck J van Vollenhoven, launched the event of approximately 300 attendees.

‘People have the right to choose who they want to love,’ he said. ‘Whether it is someone of the same sex, or a different sex, or someone who started out as one sex and is now a different one, that is your freedom. It is a personal matter, and one that we will fight for worldwide.’

Boris Dittrich, advisory director of the Human Rights Watch, and a former MP in the Netherlands, was on hand to share his experiences.

He said: ‘I was here about half a year ago, and at that time we talked about marriage equality. For those of you who think marriage equality in Japan is too far away, I would like to say the future is not in front of you, the future is inside you and you can make it happen.’

Shin-ya Yamagata, the organizer of Tokyo Rainbow Pride taking place on Sunday, April 28, told us about his experiences of organizing gay prides with various organizations for the last 10 years:

‘I went through so many challenging experience because I am gay. I want to reduce that pain for the younger generation by doing this parade.’

The kick-off event was in aid of NGO ‘Good Aging Yells’, an organization focused on creating a better life for the LGBT community as they age in Japan.

One of the sponsors of the event and the entire Rainbow Week is Alfa Romeo. We met with Tiziana Alamprese, marketing director of Fiat Chrysler in Japan and asked why this company has been so passionate about supporting LGBT causes.

Alamprese told us: ‘Our brand is a very special brand that emphasizes the essence of being yourself, of being unique, being your whole self.

‘Under this umbrella, we started to promote many activities to encourage people coming out because you know there is no freedom unless you discover the freedom within yourself, finding yourself, and being proud of yourself.’

The event was a great start to a week that promises much for the LGBT community in Tokyo.