Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama voiced support Thursday for amendments to the family registration law aimed at allowing people with gender identity disorder to register their new gender.
"If it is lawmaker-initiated legislation that takes into account the wishes of the people concerned, (measures for a law amendment) would be fast. The Justice Ministry would like to help," she told a subpanel of the House of Representatives Budget Committee.
Moriyama said that an informal study group has been set up within the ministry.
"This is a very serious matter for certain people, but I don't think that the public as a whole has sufficient understanding," Moriyama said. "We need to take public discussions and a wide range of matters into consideration."
Transsexuals have been lobbying for revisions to the family registration law that would allow them to change their registered gender after sex-change operations.
People with gender identity disorder have a wish to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex. They sometimes undergo surgery and hormonal treatment to change their gender.