The Function of Legal Gender Marker and Ideal Gender Recognition in a Non-Western Cultural Context – An Analysis of Pathologised Gender Identity in Japan

• Applicant: Mai Ishijima, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Private Law ; Asian Studies ; Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology ; Principles of Law and Jurisprudence
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 546469095

This project examines how discussions on A) the depathologization of trans identity, B) the protection of non-binary gender identity, and C) the abolition of gender registration will be perceived in Japan from a legal perspective. The study investigates the compatibility between Japanese law and the prevailing discourse of legal gender recognition in Western research. From the research outcome, this project ultimately questions D) the necessity and essential purpose of gender registration for both legal practices and people living in a society governed by that legal system. Since the concept of gender identity and its diversity have gained greater recognition, many jurisdictions have turned their attention to the question of under what conditions one's legal gender should be legally recognized. While international trans rights entities have long been promoting depathologized legal gender recognition, Japanese judiciary premises strictly pathologized state of the applicant changing their legal gender. However, this pathologized procedure may not stem solely from the conventional opposition to gender transitioning regarding recent developments in Japan's judicial decisions. This project aims to reframe legal gender recognition in the gender/family paradigm underlying Japan's legal practices. Regarding the presumably unique preference for pathology, which exists even within the Japanese trans community, this study attempts to elucidate the possible reciprocal relation between Japan's legal practices and the sentiment within the trans community. As the legal recognition of non-binary gender identity has been implemented in other jurisdictions, Japanese law is required to react to it. Given the community movement and the gender/family norms attached to the Japanese civil registration system, the development of the third gender option in Japan is expected to follow a very different path than that in Germany. This project also hypothesises that the elimination of gender registration may affect trans people differently in Japan regarding the social context in which publicly authorized gender may have more significance for trans people. By analyzing gender/family norms implied in Japanese judicial practices, the narratives around the Japanese GID Act, and strategies adopted by Japanese judicial/legislative/political movements to "justify" gender identities, this project attempts to capture the detailed background of Japan's persistent pathologization of legal gender recognition and clarify how the legal gender recognition and its requirements should benefit both the legal system and trans people. Through these examinations, this project fundamentally questions the necessity of legally assigning gender and its essential function.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Japan
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Moritz Bälz; Professorin Dr. Ute Sacksofsky; Professorin Dr. Friederike Wapler; Professorin Dr. Marina Wellenhofer; Professor Dr. Urs Matthias Zachmann
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Wataru Miyasaka; Professorin Dr. Akemi Yokota