November 12, 2025
TOKYO – A provision requiring people with gender identity disorder to alter the appearance of their genitals before being able to legally change their gender could be unconstitutional in some cases the Tokyo High Court has ruled.
The ruling was made in a family court case which challenged the rule set in the Law on Special Cases in Handling Gender Status for Persons with Gender Identity Disorder. The provision requires people requesting a legal change to their gender status to undergo genital surgery to alter their physical appearance.
In the decision dated Oct. 31, Presiding Judge Osamu Hagimoto ruled that applying the provision to the petitioner in this case was unconstitutional and approved the change from male to female.
According to the court decision, the petitioner, in her 50s, had experienced gender incongruence since childhood and had lived as a woman for many years. She had undergone hormone therapy to feminize her body for about 27 years and applied for a gender change at a family court in the Kanto Region in January. The petition was rejected on the grounds that the petitioner did not meet the physical appearance requirement, prompting her to make an immediate appeal to the High Court.
The High Court acknowledged that even though there is a legitimate purpose to the physical appearance requirement, such as to prevent confusion in public bathhouses and similar facilities, the requirement effectively forces such people to undergo gender reassignment surgery who cannot undergo hormone therapy due to physical constitution, or whose appearance does not meet the requirement despite therapy. In such cases, the court ruled that the requirement violates Article 13 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom from physical harm.
Furthermore, the court concluded that the petitioner, whose appearance had not changed despite years of hormone therapy, should be granted a gender change even without meeting the appearance requirement.
While the High Court did not declare the appearance requirement itself as unconstitutional, it pointed out that the legislature should consider whether a legal amendment is necessary.
Speaking to The Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday, the petitioner expressed relief.
“I’m glad I got a result I can accept,” she said. “I hope the legislature will act promptly to amend the law and remove the appearance requirement in line with the court decision.”