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FUKUOKA — While debates persist at women’s universities throughout Japan regarding the admission of transgender women, Fukuoka Women’s University has recently declared that it will begin accepting them starting in the 2029 academic year — making it the first institution in the Kyushu area to do so. The Mainichi Shimbun visited the university to understand how it is addressing student concerns.

“It’s completely normal to feel uncomfortable with one’s gender, even if it’s a small group.” In early October, Misaki, a transgender woman who leads the Kyushu branch of an advocacy organization, spoke to approximately 130 students in a lecture hall at Fukuoka Women’s University.

The institution, which currently enrolls students who are “listed as female in the family registry,” has recently stated that it will also accept transgender women who were assigned male at birth but identify as female. In order to assist students in gaining a better understanding of transgender women, the university organized its first major educational session following the announcement and invited Misaki to be the speaker.

Misaki, who had gender-affirming surgery in 2013, stated, “People have said to me, ‘You want to become a woman,’ but that’s entirely incorrect. I have always been a woman since the day I was born. It’s not about wanting to become a woman — it’s about the experience of returning to a female body through surgery.”

Students exhibited signs of transformation following the lecture. A first-year student, who previously stated that information regarding LGBTQ and other sexual minority groups had always seemed like “someone else’s problem,” shared, “The more I interact with individuals from these communities, the more I realize that the biased perspectives I encounter on social media and elsewhere are not accurate.”

Drawing from the experiences of other universities that implemented similar policies in the past, Fukuoka Women’s University formed a review committee during the fiscal year 2023-2024 to evaluate the possibility of admitting transgender women. A significant challenge was the requirement for all first-year students to reside in the dormitory. Each four-bedroom unit is shared by four students, and they also share a kitchen, bathroom, and toilet. The changing area and individual rooms can be secured with locks.

As stated by international law professor Tomoko Fukamachi, who led the committee, surveys and discussion sessions with students highlighted worries—similar to what the committee had anticipated—such as, “Is it acceptable for someone who is physically male to reside in shared dormitories?”

Considering the students’ response, Fukamachi said, “Prominent individuals such as U.S. President Donald Trump express clear-cut statements like ‘There are only two genders: male and female.’ There is a wide range of information accessible, and people hold various perspectives on what a transgender woman represents, and we could observe that some concerns stemmed from misconceptions.”

Ultimately, the university moved towards acceptance, influenced by wider societal changes like the increasing number of municipalities implementing partnership declaration systems that officially acknowledge relationships among sexual minority couples — a development, noted by university president Tsuyoshi Mukai, that “the variety of sexual orientations is slowly being embraced by society.”

How did the students react to the university’s new policy?

A third-year student stated, “If the university provides single rooms for transgender women, it might expose their identity and result in discrimination. I believe it’s crucial to clearly communicate the guidelines for dormitory admissions to students and their families.” A first-year student proposed, “Even if there are no transgender women enrolled, the university could ask incoming students whether they are comfortable sharing a room with a transgender woman, and use this information to assist in assigning dormitories.”

Fukamachi stated, “In terms of living in a dormitory, whether an individual has experienced being accepted and residing as a woman is significant. However, if we make this a requirement, it could lead to categorizing and excluding those who identify as transgender according to the university’s own standards, which raises concerns.”

She stated, “Single rooms have long been necessary to cater to different student situations, and they are expected to be introduced soon. Our aim is to establish a setting that does not impose excessive stress or pressure on any student, including transgender women.”

(Japanese original by Shizuka Takebayashi, Kyushu News Department)