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I'm a trans woman heading to Japan on holidays soon.
Are there any particular laws surrounding the toilets in Japan for transgender people? I will be presenting female - but I will be visibly transgender sadly.
I don't really feel comfortable heading into the male bathroom - but I'd also not like to go to jail instead, or face a fine.
I tried googling it, but all I come across are news articles about some high court ruling. I'd like to know what the law actually says (if anything).
Many public toilets in Japan will have, beside the regular gendered male and female toilets, an accessible toilet which is intended for people with disabilities, people with a stoma, people who want to change nappies, people who are with young children, elderly or pregnant people, or anybody else for whom the use of the regular toilets might cause difficulty for any reason. They are called 多目的トイレ "tamokuteki toire, “multipurpose toilet” and sometimes "daredemo toire" "anybody toilet".
Here is a sign for such a toilet. They would normally be located beside or between the gendered toilets, where you would find a "disabled toilet" in the UK. However, unlike disabled toilets in the UK, they are designated for use by "anybody". This is the norm for public toilets in department stores, train stations, even on the bullet train and in larger restaurants.
The text reads "Multipurpose toilet (Some people need multipurpose toilets)"
From a legal point of view, the situation is muddy at best. Japan does recognize transgender people and it's possible to legally change your gender, but the bar to doing so is quite high and merely being female presenting is not enough. There is also recent court precedent (July 2023) that transgender women can use women's bathrooms at work.
In practice, though, Japan is very much a "mind your own business" society where people avoid getting involved in the affairs of strangers, so it's exceedingly unlikely that anybody would call the cops on you for merely using a female bathroom.
Are there any particular laws surrounding the toilets in Japan for transgender people?
I'll be first to answer the actual bathroom law question. Firstly, there is no bathroom law in particular, but it falls under the jurisdiction of trespassing law (住居侵入等, article 130).
Here's what it states:
Article 130 of the Criminal Code. A person who, without justifiable cause, enters a person's residence or a residence, building or ship guarded by a person, or fails to leave these places despite being requested to do so, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or with a fine not exceeding 100,000 yen.
Thus if you were to obtain permission from the owner of the building where the toilet resides in, you will be able to use whichever toilet regardless of your presentation.
However, another law comes into play if a third party sees you and reports you to the police, which falls under "Violation of the Anti-Nuisance Ordinance (迷惑防止条例違反), and states:
Nuisance prevention ordinances are ordinances set by each prefecture and other local authorities prohibiting nuisance behaviour towards the public.
In many municipalities, the official name is 'Ordinance on the Prevention of Violent Delinquent Acts, etc. that Cause Extreme Disturbance to the Public' (e.g. Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Osaka Prefectural Government).
Basically, a nuisance act committed in a public place or in a public vehicle is a violation of the nuisance prevention ordinance.
...and transgender individuals have been arrested for it in the past.
Thus, the only legal recommendation is to use the gender neutral toilet (多目的トイレ）.
Short list of transgender individuals who have been arrested for toilet use in the past 2 years (by request):
There are a ton more articles, but as explained, they are rarely ever tagged 'transgender' due to public and lawful perception.
I would recommend researching the areas you'll be visiting to see if there are any establishments with gender-neutral restrooms because it really depends on the establishment, but most places in Japan has a gender-neutral restroom.
The laws surrounding the toilets in Japan for transgender people are not very clear or consistent. There is no national law that explicitly protects the rights of transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, but there are also no laws that explicitly prohibit it. The legal situation depends largely on the local authorities and the individual establishments.
