A transsexual living socially as a female became on Sunday the first person in Japan to register as an election candidate under a gender different from that listed on their official family registry.
Tokyo's Setagaya Ward election administration committee officially accepted candidacy registration from Aya Kamikawa, 35, who has gender identity disorder and now considers herself a woman. Kamikawa will run as a female candidate in the April 27 ward assembly election.
The committee's chief made the final decision on the official registration day Sunday in line with an earlier opinion from the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, which oversees elections in Japan.