As of Sunday, students applying to enter public high schools from next spring will no longer be required to specify their gender on the application form in all of the nation’s 47 prefectures except Tokyo, local education boards said.

The decision comes amid growing awareness of transgender and nonbinary individuals in Japan, many of whom may face psychological distress having to specify a gender they do not identify with.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education will be the only one to retain the gender field because it has established a gender-based quota system for full-time schools with general courses.