Photo/Illutration The initial layout of the second-floor bathroom area at the Kabukicho Tower in Tokyo's Shinjuku district (Provided by Tokyo Corp.)

The recent Supreme Court ruling regarding toilet use was a small step forward for a transgender woman at the economy ministry, but it did not dip its toe into the wider arena of public toilets.

One of the supporting opinions written by a Supreme Court justice in the July 11 ruling stated that further discussions were needed regarding transgender people using public toilets.

General discourse in society about public toilets has often been heated and vocal.

For example, the Kabukicho Tower that opened in April in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district initially had a sign for a genderless bathroom on the second floor. In the bathroom space were two stalls for men, two for women and eight that were genderless.

There was also a common area to wash hands.

Photos of the initial layout appeared on social media, leading to other posts declaring that giving consideration to transgender people was leading to the disappearance of women’s bathrooms.

Tokyu Corp., which manages the tower building, said the views of sexual minorities were taken into consideration before deciding on the layout. But the company now plans to reconstruct the area in the wake of the criticism.

Criticism was also directed in March to public toilets in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward.

Renovated bathrooms there did away with the women’s stall and left a urinal for men and a common stall.

Shibuya Ward officials were forced to issue a statement saying they had no intention of doing away with all women’s public bathrooms in the ward.

Many social media posts now frequently state anyone who says they identify as a woman can use the women’s bathroom, purportedly to commit criminal acts.

Those who provide support to sexual minorities, in turn, charge that such comments only foment discrimination against transgender women.

Many transgender individuals say they are careful about which bathroom they use, in part, because the process during which they shift to the gender they identify with is a gradual and long one that involves, for example, taking hormones.

Until that process is complete, however, such individuals are particularly sensitive about how the rest of society views them.

While some transgender people undergo sex reassignment surgery, the financial and physical costs of the procedure lead many to hesitate about having it done.

Those who have not undergone surgery are often nervous about using public toilets.

“We do not use bathrooms depending solely on our gender identity,” said Aya Kamikawa, a transgender female who is also an assembly member in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward. “We carefully choose which bathroom to use depending on the stage of our social gender conversion.”

Lisa Kawakami, another transgender woman, said, “There are 10 answers for 10 people. If we feel we are being seen as a male, we will not use the women’s bathroom.”

Transgender people say they use the stage in their social gender conversion as well as whether sex reassignment surgery has been performed to decide which public bath to use.

One transgender woman admitted to foregoing using the women’s bath because she had not undertaken the surgery.

Regarding the spread of concerns about transgender people using public bathrooms, Soshi Matsuoka, who heads an organization that disseminates information about sexual minorities, said, “The problem lies with people who incite concerns or confrontation. There is a need to provide careful explanation to anyone who might feel worried.”

(This article was written by Midori Iki, Aya Shioiri, Satomi Sugihara and Yuki Nikaido.)

Related News