Trans News > English > 2002
Trans News in Japan - 2002
Court rejects gender change request in resident
registry
Saturday, December 21, 2002 at 20:00 JST
TOKYO - The Tokyo Family Court has rejected
an appeal from a plaintiff, who underwent
a sex change operation, to change his gender
entry in a resident registry from female
to male, the second such court rejection
in Japan, sources familiar with the case
said Saturday.
In a recent decision, the court, touching
on the biological aspect of sex, said there
was no reason to effect a change in line
with the Family Registration Law. The law
provides for such a change when there is
an "error" at the time of birth.
"It is evident that (the plaintiff)
was a woman at the time of birth not only
in terms of sex organs but also chromosomes,"
a judge said in the decision.
The plaintiff, whose identity is withheld
for privacy reasons, said the decision fails
to consider the psychological and social
aspects of gender and wondered if the case
was thoroughly examined. There was, for instance,
no interview by the judge, said the plaintiff
who is in his 30s.
A sex change operation for a person diagnosed
as having gender identity disorder was first
conducted in Japan four years ago at Saitama
Medical College in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture,
in conformity with Japanese Society of Psychiatry
and Neurology guidelines.
A total of six people, including the plaintiff
filed appeals with family courts in various
parts of the country last year seeking to
change their resident registry gender entry,
saying they cannot otherwise marry or get
jobs
In August, another family court in the Kanto
region of eastern Japan rejected a similar
appeal, the first rejection of a gender change
in a resident registry. The case has been
appealed.
In September, the municipal assembly in Koganei,
Tokyo, approved a motion seeking to enable
a change in the gender entry of a resident
registry for those diagnosed as having gender
identity disorder. (Kyodo News)
Reuters October 18, 2002
Male Japan MPs ponder sex change for cabinet
seat-PM
TOKYO (Reuters) - Some male politicians in
Japan are so keen to win a cabinet post that
they're thinking of having a sex change operation,
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was quoted
as telling members of a gender equality panel.
When Koizumi reshuffled and slimmed down
his cabinet last month, all four female ministers
survived.
Male lawmakers envied the four women, Kyodo
news agency quoted Koizumi as telling panel
members at a restaurant on Thursday evening.
"Some are thinking about undergoing
sex change surgery," he joked.
Koizumi, who has irritated members of his
ruling party by ignoring factional clout
when he names ministers, defended his appointments.
"Some people bad-mouth me, saying 'Koizumi
just believes in appointing women', but I
have been promoting people who are capable,"
he was quoted as saying. "Women are
appointed to posts in the cabinet because
they are excellent."
Dow Jones Newswires October 18, 2002
MARKET TALK/JP: Want To Join Cabinet?Get
A Sex Change!
0837 [Dow Jones] Japan PM Koizumi, with tongue
firmly in cheek, tells gender equality panel
members some men mulling sex change to get
Cabinet portfolio, after all 4 female ministers
survived recent reshuffle, Kyodo reports;
"The four female Cabinet members are
all envied (by male parliamentarians). Some
are thinking about undergoing sex change
surgery," PM quoted as saying. But PM's
quips on women have backfired in past, and
opposition may try to get mileage from comment
as new Diet session starts today. (HSL)
Mainichi Daily News August 29, 2002
Court vetoes gender change on family register
A family court has refused to allow a person
who underwent a sex change to alter the gender
on her family registry, sources close to
the case said.
"It's true that public awareness of
gender identity disorder is growing. However,
the Family Registry Law stipulates that a
family registry can only be corrected if
there is a factual mistake," a judge
at the family court in the Kanto area was
quoted by one of the sources as he handed
down the decision. "This case does not
fall under that provision," he added
in the first ruling of its kind.
The names of the plaintiff and the court
are being withheld to protect her privacy.
The woman underwent an operation at Saitama
Medical College to change her sex to a man
after legally permitted sex change operations
began in 1998.
She is one of six people who filed requests
with family courts in May last year for a
change in their gender after undergoing sex
change operations. (Mainichi Shimbun, Aug.
29, 2002)
Japan Today/Kyodo August 29, 2002
Court rejects lawsuit seeking to change gender
in registry
Thursday, August 29, 2002 at 09:30 JST
TOKYO- A family court in Kanto has rejected
a lawsuit filed by a person who underwent
a sex-change surgery seeking to change the
gender in the civil registry, the plaintiff's
lawyer said Wednesday.
This is the first court ruling on a person
with gender identity disorder who sought
a change of gender in the family registry
following a sex-change operation that was
conducted under rigorous procedures.
According to the plaintiff's lawyer, the
family court rejected the lawsuit on grounds
that there are still questions on the causes
of gender identity disorder.
Japanese law only allows changes in the civil
registry on questions of gender only if a
"mistake" had been made at the
time of birth.
The family court ruled that gender identity
disorder does not fall under such mistake-at-birth
category.
The plaintiff, born a woman, underwent a
sex-change surgery at Saitama Medical School
and has since been living as a man.
The plaintiff's lawyer said the plaintiff
had trouble find a job or going to hospital
because of contradictions in identification
papers.
The plaintiff filed the lawsuit on grounds
that the Constitution guarantees the citizen's
right to the "pursuit of happiness."
The plaintiff is one of six people who have
undergone sex-change operations and filed
lawsuits in May last year challenging the
government's gender registry policy. (Kyodo
News)
Kyodo Thursday June 27, 5:30 PM
Firm appeals ruling on dismissal of transsexual
employee
Shobunsha Publications Inc. has appealed
a Tokyo District Court ruling that found
its decision to fire a transsexual employee
unlawful and ordered it to compensate the
employee, company officials said Thursday.
According to the ruling handed down June
20, the publishing company based in Tokyo
rejected a request in January by the employee,
who was born as a male,
for approval to work as a woman.
The employee began coming to work in March
dressed as a woman, but the company dismissed
the employee in April citing a violation
of office regulations.
"The dismissal is invalid as it was
not fully proven that the employee's presence
would have damaged the standing of the company
and its businesses," Judge Jiro Hosokawa
said in his ruling.
The judge also ordered the company to pay
the employee 2.64 million yen, which is equivalent
to the salary that would have been paid to
the employee until next April.
The employee legally adopted a female name
through a family court in July last year.
Mainichi Daily News February 26, 2002
Filipino transsexual's throat slit
KAWASAKI -- A Filipino transsexual has been
fatally knifed in the dormitory where she
lived, police said Tuesday.
The woman, believed to be in her 30s, was
found in the room of the nightclub dormitory
where she had been living for the past week.
Police said a hostess from the Kinkai nightclub
returned to the dormitory at about 2 a.m.
Tuesday and felt something was suspicious
about the door of the Filipino's apartment
being open.
She contacted a male employee of the bar.
He arrived and the pair looked into the Filipino's
room.
They were greeted by the horrific sight of
the transsexual lying on her bedding in a
pool of blood. Her throat had been slit.
(Mainichi Shimbun, Feb. 26, 2002)