Ai Hashimoto's Idea of Classifying Public Facilities Based on Biological Sex Drew Various Reactions

Ai Hashimoto in her new series 'The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House' (Photo: Instagram @ai_hashimoto)

A Japanese actress, Ai Hashimoto, voiced her concerns about the concept of public facilities, especially bathrooms and toilets, where cisgender and transgender women share the same spaces. The 21st Century Girl (2019) and Pareto's Miscalculation (2020) star posted her thoughts on her Instagram account on March 4.

According to an enhanced translation by Bounding Into Comics, Hashimoto stated:

Photo: Instagram @ai_hashimoto | Enhanced translation: Bounding Into Comics

Her opinion teed off Japan's transgender activists and made her the target of hate speeches. These activists assumed that Hashimoto was a transphobic bigot because she brought up the topic of "transgender in biological women's spaces." They concluded that her attitude amounted to unfair transgender discrimination and that they had to defy it. One activist wrote on his Twitter account as follows:

Photo: Twitter @h_a_t_b_d | Translation: Bounding Into Comics

Similar remarks kept popping up, forcing Hashimoto to take down her post and apologize to those offended by her statement. She posted again on her Instagram on March 5, expressing her regret and commitment to learning from this experience.

Photos: Instagram @ai_hashimoto | Translation: Bounding Into Comics

Meanwhile, many people questioned why Hashimoto apologized for telling the truth. They were the ones who supported and agreed with her idea of classifying public places based on biological sex. They believed men with wigs, make-up, and skirts should not use women's spaces. The president of general associations of LGBT-JAPAN and transgender men, Ryo Tatsuki, was one of these people. He stated his support for Hashimoto through his Twitter account as follows:

Photo: Twitter @Ryotatsuki1 | Translation: Bounding Into Comics

This issue also drew the attention of international netizens, one of whom owns the YouTube channel atraes. He uploaded a video entitled "Trans Mafia Forces Japanese Actress Ai Hashimoto To Bend The Knee" on March 18. In the video, he confirmed his support for Hashimoto's opinion through a potential case example:

"Do you really want to live in a world where your daughter goes into a locker room, and she is trying to take a shower, and there is a man sitting in the back watching her take a shower like this [grinning]? But he has on a wig, so it is cool”

After posting her apology statement, Hashimoto has given no sign of responding to this issue again.

Ai Hashimoto is one of the casts in Hirokazu Koreeda's Netflix original series, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, released last January. She seized fruitfulness early in her acting career by winning the Newcomer of the Year at the 36th Japan Academy Film Prize and Best New Actress at the 86th Kinema Junpo Awards.