Trans woman arrested at a womans public bath in Mie prefecture.

28 comments

1. Good. You can’t just make up new societal rules based on your feelings.

2. To call this person a “transwoman” is possibly a stretch. The article clearly call him a “43 years old man” (43歳の男). If this one indeed had gender reassignment surgery, I think the article would have used a different word.

3. I’m a Trans man and I live in Japan, I am Japanese as well and have just avoided going to the public bath tbh it’s just better and doesn’t cause any trouble either. I understand it’s different for a man who transitioned to a woman because it’s a man but still I think she shouldn’t of gone in the woman’s area without surgery, or maybe even at all.

4. Nothing against the trans community or anything but it’s funny to think about them telling the police 「心は女なのになぜ女子風呂に入ったらいけないのか」lol

5. Hmm. This is indeed a sticky problem. However, while she may identify as a woman I think she needs to read the room (or country) and realize Japan is not the place to exercise your beliefs at this time. At least not in a vulnerable space such as a bathhouse.

6. I am not touch this with a ten foot pole… yes I am.

   I have tattoos and not allowed in even though the rule is dumb as fuck and no one really cares. I have to look at old dicks and fat people but my tattoos are offensive. Grow a fucking pair and don’t look. but rules are rules.

   I don’t really care how you identify. Did you have mismatching genitalia? Then you broke a rule.

7. The funniest thing about all the trans stuff is we all know it’s bullshit and no it’s not cool to have men change with the girls, ever.

   The problem conservative right wing people are so fucking cringe that we try too hard to distance ourselves from them, even supporting the trans stuff, but we KNOW it’s wrong.

   A bathhouse is a vulnerable place and women rightly have their own space. No, it is not right that men change and bathe with them, no matter how much they feel like they’re a woman deep inside.

8. Good. We women have enough creeps to deal with already in public spaces, we don’t need this crap in our private spaces, too.

9. Imagine taking your young daughter to the onsen and the first thing she gets when she enters the bath is a cock in her face

10. Why would you think that’s okay

11. Good

12. The article doesn’t actually say this is a trans woman, it says it was a man who entered the women’s bath and, on being arrested said: 「私は心は女なのに、なぜ女子風呂に入ったらいけないのか全く理解できません」 which is something like “I’m a woman at heart so I don’t see why I can’t enter the women’s bath.”

13. One of my favourite aspects of living in Japan.

14. Headline is mistranslated and misleading. The headline says a man went in and claimed they were a woman inside after being arrested—that is not the same as a transgender woman going into the bath.

15. So dumb. Hey lady why you walking around with an erection.

    Clearly the person isn’t mentally well and I’m not talking about the gender part. It’s the fact that they believed in JAPAN it was totally fine. There is 0 rational and 0 due diligence to check first. Dumb dumb dumb

16. Bottom line (so to speak)…it doesnt matter what is in your heart, it matters what is in your shorts.

17. I am a woman.. and I wouldn’t feel comfortable. They should just take a bath privately (private onsens exist)

18. Thank gawd it wasn’t a western person. It’s bad enough this Japanese guy was copying what he’s seeing on Twitter, it’d be worse (imo) if he were a foreigner.

19. Good. Women don’t want to see men’s parts in a woman’s bath. And vice versa.

20. This is why we need objective clear criteria about what is legally constitutes a man and what legally constitutes a woman. If it’s just based on feelings (self-identification), they it gets messy, just like this – and you couldn’t even say this in the West right now, without getting branded as a bigot.

    As far as Japanese law is concerned you can only legally change your gender after full reassignment surgery. In which case, a trans woman should be allowed in. Pretty clean cut and easy to understand in Japan, thankfully.

21. As a Japanese woman, I respect the transgender community and their opinions. However, the transgender woman who entered the bathhouse should be aware that the women around her would feel uncomfortable if they saw someone with a dick entering their private space where everyone is naked.

22. All I’ve learned from this is that JapanNews is full of both transphobes and people that believe identity politics are a Western thing and believe its infecting the rest of their world and think other cultures can’t think for themselves.

    Anyway, this is a different situation than the bathroom one I think and needs more than just “Let trans people live”. Being a trans person myself, there is a difference in whats done in private and whats done in view of others. Use whatever bathroom you want, it doesn’t matter, there’s no magic barrier preventing people from entering so the issue of safety is a fake one that people fall back on. Trans people use their preferred bathroom hundreds of thousands of times a day without issue.

    Being at an onsen is a different issue entirely and deals with consenting to what you see. I know I’m going into a men’s onsen and will see male bodies, I consent to that the moment I decide to go in. However, if you still have male parts then going into a women’s onsen (or the other way around with trans men) is a problem because the women there did not consent to seeing male genitals. It has nothing to do with “Safety”, that was never a concern. Neither is “but the girl children”, because all that tells me is you have no problem with grown men seeing your sons naked. It doesn’t follow any sort of logic.

    The obvious workaround is to go to a mixed onsen, which exist. I don’t really see why this was an issue for them. Japan is not exactly known for its shining views and rights for the LGBT community, why purposefully make things hard on yourself, especially in a way that isn’t even something that will be defended by everyone in the trans community? Just seems like a really bad idea all around and isn’t very respectful of people’s consent.

23. So… a man walks into a women’s public bath and expects not to be arrested.
    Hmm.

24. So how is having gender surgery magically make it okay for you to go in either the mens or the women’s?

    This isn’t about “comfort”, it’s about reality.

    Have a mixed onsen where they can all go and do whatever they want.

    I as a man, wouldn’t want a mixed onsen.

    Why does no one give a shit about the old women cleaners in the mens toilets and onsens here?

    Are men seen as horrible horny animals that don’t deserve privacy?

25. I don’t want men using this as an excuse to enter public bath.

26. Some people don’t seem to understand that place like bathrooms are separate by biological sex, not gender identity.

    Men use men’s bathroom because A, there are unianls there，and B women don’t want to see penises in their bathroom. None of those reasons involve gender identity.

27. All the transphobic comments here aside, as a trans woman, I wouldn’t dream of going into women’s public baths. Why would I put myself in a place where I could easily be outed and put myself in danger? This alone just makes me think that they are not actually trans.

28. As a trans person living in Japan, I could never imagine stepping foot into a public onsen without surgery. Luckily I have large tattoos so I don’t have to explain why I can’t go when people invite me to one.

    This was someone making a false claim to avoid trouble or make a misguided point. The trans people in Japan don’t act like this. Hell most of the ones I know don’t even use public restrooms to avoid uncomfortable situations.