Japan’s “New Half” Culture Goes Mainstream
January 4, 2009 Japan, Living in Japan
Imagine, if you will, this situation. You’re a man in a public washroom in Japan when, out the corner of your eye, you see that the person next to you is not some other guy who’s going to make the distinct sound of collecting mucus only to spit it into the urinal before using it, but a very attractive person who you would not expect to see in a “Mens” washroom. What do you do? Do you look? Do you ignore them? Do you run from the scene in the event it’s some new extortion attempt?
Depending on how much of the other person we see, it might not be an easy question to answer.
Over the last two years, there have been an increasing number of trans-gendered people gaining popularity on the daily variety shows, as well as in advertisements and magazines. While I can certainly appreciate the difficulty some males might face to pull off the difficult task of appearing female, I cannot fully understand why so many of them have reached such fame and popularity in a country that currently forbids same-sex marriage.
IKKO (豊田 一幸 | Toyota Kazuyuki)
One of the first “New Half” celebrities I had seen in Japan goes by the name of IKKO. She (?) has been a prominent person for over 20 years, first getting a start as a hair dresser and later moving into the TV realm. Her famous catch phrase for the last few years has been “どんだけー” (or “just dull”) which has, thankfully, become less prominent recently. Aside from appearing on variety shows she’s been a regular on fasion shows as well as the quiz circuit, most notably Quiz Hexagon.
How well does she pull off the appearance of looking female? I’d give her a 7 out of 10 as her face, neck, and hands are still a dead giveaway to her birth gender.
愛はるな (Ai Haruna)
When my wife first told me that Haruna was actually a man, I didn’t believe her. The appearance is just too convincing, even on HDTV programs. But, interestingly enough, it’s true. Ai Haruna was born Ken Oonishi in the ever-popular city of Osaka, and decided to make the permanent switch to the fairer sex in 1995. Despite knowing she’s really a he, every time this person is on the television, they consistently look better than the natural-born women that appear on the same TV show. Perhaps this is done on purpose, or perhaps I’m just a little too curious about this person’s physiology. Either way, she is very popular at the moment and should have another few years on the variety and quiz show circuit before burning out from lack of sleep.
How well does she pull off the appearance of looking female? Aside from the occasional slip up with her voice, I never would have even guessed she was actually a he. For that reason alone, I’m forced to deduct a single point, which means Ms. Ai (which is not her legal name) comes in at a 9.9 out of 10.
Let’s hope I never meet her in a mens washroom.
The New Half Phenomenon
The rising popularity of trans-gendered individuals in this country seems to be somewhat of an anomaly in many countries. Aside from Thailand, there is no other country I’m aware of where a group of people who chose to change something so fundamental to their identity can gain such fame and fortune. Does this mean that Japanese people are more open and receptive to people who are different from the rest of us? Perhaps. Unfortunately, I think this current popularity might just be for entertainment’s sake, and not as a gradual means of making the public accept such a thing as common place.
What do you think of this recent trend in Japan? Will this be another short-lived fad, or something that will become much more commonplace in society?
Comments (18)
Well, I think that it is good for society to accept trans-gender people. It is very progressive from a culture stand point to be so open to famous people who are trans-gender. I think this trend will keeping going in Japan. The Japanese do seem to be more open minded with lifestyle choices.
By the way. I thought that Ai Haruna got a sex change and is how a full women. Am I wrong?
Very funny.
Nice job.
Great article!
I think this is going to last for a while in Japan actually, they’re more open minded and used to “weird” stuff. I think it’s cool that these people dare to actually do such a thing. There will always be people like this so I’m pretty sure it’s not a fad, homosexuals can still be entertaining to heterosexuals, so there’s probably nothing different with transsexuals on that matter ^^
If you are surprised at how feminine Haruna Ai is, then you won’t absolutely believe Ayana Tsubaki was born male (not only because of her looks, but for her voice too): http://youtube.com/watch?v=9BnQaYqWFCg
Her official blog: http://ameblo.jp/tsubaki-ayana/
I don’t live in Japan and don’t speak Japanese (I know only a few words), but I think Ayana’s gaining more and more popularity since she released her first book last June. She’s also a semi-regular guest on Sunday Japon.
For the reasons of “new half” popularity in Japan, I think Japanese men and women love pretty things (just look at how many female fans pretty boys have), so it’s almost natural for a pretty transsexual to gain attention. And as support to my theory, the other way around doesn’t work: you can’t find a masculine (= not pretty) female talent/idol/singer/actress in Japan.
Only recently things are starting to change with the likes of Juri Ueno, Maki Horikita and – to a certain extent – Yui. But they’re still regarded as pretty by most people even in their most androgynous looks.
Openly or secrectly I think a lot of men would love to be with a newhalf full time. I know I would. Not only would I love to meet one but to actually have a full time long term and perhaps life long relationship.
Im not sure if open minded is the word i would use for the main streem japanese. its true they dont seem to be as homophobic as say Australian (im australia but not homophobic). but its COS they ARE a closed group of people that the `new halfs` are on TV more and more….
cos its diffrent and unknown.
its like the BIG BLACK man on japanese TV afew years ago (you can still find the tokon black man on some tv shows even today) and then it was the a MAN in black leather whos name was `HARD CORE`. and the endless TV shows about grown man acting like young kids. eg the slapping on the head and so on.
Its cos the japanese have such strong ways of thinking that those tv show become so common. COS its so `NOT REAL` for them `normal` japanese people.
so i would say its SO far left most japanese dont think its really happening like many dont think there is AIDS in Japan or you cant get a job if you dont have black hair.
@Barakameek – You seem to have “open mindedness” confused with something else. I have spoken to thousands of people in Japan about countless subjects and, more often than not, people here are far more willing to accept ideas or opinions than those in other western countries. On top of that, for someone who claims to be from an English-speaking nation, the excessive number of self-contradictions, spelling, grammar, and factual errors forces me to ask whether it was a good idea to approve your comment or not.
While I appreciate the effort you put in while trying to communicate, I’ll kindly ask that you double-check your comments with Google Docs or Word to give yourself a better chance at being understood and having your opinions heard.
Thanks.
@jason.. thanks for approving my last comment and your right i may have open mindedness confused too. As for my bad spelling and grammar. your right again and your also right about the Japanese people accepting diffrent ideas as well.
however i still feel that the shock of new halfs being new and diffrent does play in to why they are on the TV in the first place. The Japanese people dont get angry like in westen nation but that does not mean that its not interesting and diffrent.
the standards of being a trany or even gay has been kicked up a few notches. but i believe only asians can pull this off. our smaller stature and less carved cheekbones help give a better illusion. so you guys think twice before asking a cute asian chick to do some woopy. and i’m open enough to say i will have naughty thoughts of them but with clothes on
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oh and for the *not real* guy have you ever been to japan?? the things you see on tv are quite real in busy (young) cities. the new generation of kids in japan are wild and crazy we are finally breaking free of the hard ass culture japan wen’t through for centuries. its fun now but i’m kind of worried of the future but thats another story.
Hi! I’m argentinian, and I find it very interesting the way the asians in general (and Japan and Thailand in particular) view the transsexual movement. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that their cultures as so much older, and hence wiser, than ours. The west has grown accustomed to think of themselves (ourselves) as “macho”, because the way the western countries were formed and conquered was, hmmm, quite brutal. Our original cultures (in America) were quite accepting of transgender and intersex people, something that must have caused quite a stir amongst the “conquerors” and their “God-fearing” methods. They simply didn’t understand and the way to cope with it was rejecting. It hasn’t changed that much, and you can see it by the way they (we) treat “different people”, be that race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. The japanese seem to be going through a “loving” phase with the distinct, their “newhalves” people and that’s why they appear so often on TV. However, besides the entertaining side of it, I think it runs far deeper than that: don’t forget Kabuki and other traditional customs that encouraged people to “cross-dress” and look pretty. Does a transsexual person think of his/her situation as of a pretty thing?. Hardly at all. The inner hate and fear are very difficult to bear as to be considered a thing of beauty or fun…. But, on the other hand, being TS is difficult and, as most people, all they want is to be accepted and loved. If the means to achieve it are having to appear on TV or other media-related formats, then they do it. I don’t know if that is good or bad, but is the only way they know how to deal with it right now. The fact that so many ever-younger transsexuals are coming out world-wide shows that the exposition is not regarded as harmful as before. With time, even the most archaic-thinkers will get accustomed to TS people and will stop thinking them as “perverts or lunatics”. I applaud the japanese way of thinking, especially by the manga way of showing “newhalf-stories” every now and then (Family Compo made a great case for it), because it opens a new world (on that is not so different after all…) to new generations of people, people that will grow up without the prejudiced misconceptions of the past. Well, that’s what I think at least. I only can hope that we, western countries, can do the same soon…..Best regards, kids!
Well if you think about Japanese culture, the idea of feminine men as celebrities is not far fetched…kabuki had men playing women and they were revered for their feminine beauty.
Great post!
The same thing was seen in Shakespearian productions. All roles were played by men, and it would be the young males that got to play Juliet and Lady MacBeth
Victorian England took care of that tradition, though
There is a difference between “openness” and “acceptance”, and both are learned aspects. From what my friend and his father were telling me, until about the 70s, there was little openness (O) and a small degree of acceptance (A). In the late 80s, the O jumped to about a 7 out of 10, and A matched it. Then A became almost 10 out of 10. There are always somethings you can’t accept as a culture. O is still being explored, and while my friend’s father hasn’t been back for years, he says he things it’s going to stay Open.
There was a sort of freedom attained, by each generation. They are not bound by family, and can find general acceptance among non-family if they are “removed” from the family charts. THAT is what supports and will support the “Multiple Inner Cultural Aspects” of Japan. They experienced the snowball effect that aggressive events in American history have killed. They have us to thank for it, as well, since they didn’t have to ingrain youths into believing an army is required at all times.
I’m not sure you’ve really read into this enough to write the article that you have written, since it seems the underlying thing you are stating is that they are women, but you still persist in mild references to them being “men”- Why the heck would they go into the male bathrooms either way? It’s not like girls check eachothers genitals in the female bathrooms, so that just seems really silly to me.
Transsexuals are men or women who feel strongly that they are born into the wrong gender, they don’t “make the change” for fun as much as necessity
Thanks for commenting Krisy. I can understand your point, but I believe you misunderstand the one that I’m making in this post. I would never try to say that people are getting sex-changes for the sake of media attention or short-term profit.
The goal of this post, aside from a bit of information for people outside of Japan, was to show that this country is not as close-minded as many think, and that trans-gendered individuals can enjoy a little bit of normalcy/fame/or anything else they choose.
As for the pronoun confusion, I’ll admit that I really don’t know which pronoun to use for some transgendered people. Pre-Ops or No-Ops might get one pronoun, while post-ops can take an opposite pronoun. That said, I don’t go around asking if I should refer to someone as “he” or “she”, and I’m not ignorant like others who insist on using “it”.
Hope this clears things up a bit.
I liked the article over all, but it brings up a lot of questions. I’ve actually been researching transgender issues in Japan because of an idea I had for a short story. And I find that like many places, there is a lot of conflicting information about transgendered people.
For instance Japan had a Transgendered Assembly person, before it had a female one. Which would lead one to believe that they are being accepted. But if they are being accepted, why are the laws so repressive against them? I have read newspaper accounts of transgendered being arrested for being “dressed” in public. I think the celebrity portion of this story is very similar to an American problem. In America if you can become famous fast enough. Your actions are not treated the same as if you were an average citizen. For instance celebreties often get away with violence and sexual misconduct that would have the average citizen arrested. While this is an extreme example. I think maybe this is what is being seen here. A Newhalf person in Japan becomes famous, and they are given a different status than say what might happen if some Japanese father found his son wearing his sister’s prom dress. Of course nobody knows for sure because there is no right or wrong answer inscribed accross the heavens. We all have to struggle to find our own answers. Hopefully this new trend will not only stay in Japan, but will lead to more understanding accross the globe. Not likely, but I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong.
There haven’t been too many reports of transgendered people in Japan being arrested for dressing as the opposite sex unless they’re also selling “services” that fly against other laws at the same time.
Despite what many people say, the Japanese people are quite accepting of different peoples and ideologies. Sure, they might talk and laugh about someone they see on the street, but most people will not resort to the violence or public ridicule that we’d see in Eastern-European nations or North America.
Hopefully, within another generation or so we’ll likely have a greater acceptance for people of different sexual orientations, ideologies, and skin tones.
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