Japan’s gender neutrality as a recent social phenomenon to promote diversity

In recent years, the term “genderless” has become more common in everyday speech. It is frequently associated with fashion, yet it is also prevalent in other fields. Some argue that the term “genderless” is widely used for marketing because it is a trending word.

Even if that is true, this trend has been promoting awareness of gender diversity in Japan. Here are two examples of how Japanese people’s attitudes toward gender diversity have shifted.

Gender-neutral names are popular to support gender diversity

In Japan, gender-neutral names are becoming more popular in recent years. Here are some rankings of trending names in 2022. In a survey conducted by Akachan Honpo, at least one gender-neutral name appeared in both the top ten boys’ and girls’ names. Also, other gender-neutral names appeared in these rankings.

In another survey by Benesse corporation in 2022, two gender-neutral names, such as Aio and Hinata were popular as both boys’ and girls’ names. Several other gender-neutral names also appeared in these rankings.

In addition, according to this survey, 4.7% of respondents cared about gender neutrality when they had named their children.

Looking at another survey on child naming conducted by Miki House, the percentage of respondents who said they would choose a genderless name rose steadily from 2.7% in 2017 to 10.7% in 2022. As for the reasons for choosing a gender-neutral name, some think about situations when the biological sex does not match the gender identity. Also, they wish their children to feel free in their lives without feeling restricted by gender stereotypes.

The national TV show of singing battles between men and women, possibly eliminating division by sex

The New Year’s Eve television song contest, “Kouhaku Uta Gassen,” started in 1951, is one of the most well-known TV programs in Japan. In this show, the singers are divided into male and female teams. As awareness of the term “gender diversity” has increased and some singers have shared their gender identities, more and more people are asking why divide teams by sex and are suggesting the program abolish it. In response, they broadcasted the program under the theme of diversity in 2021 and 2022. Although this division system remains, some audiences and singers expect it to be changed shortly.

Japan is known as the only country that does not recognize same-sex marriage in the G7 nations. Indeed, discrimination and gender stereotypes remain. However, the understanding of gender diversity is gradually spreading. Japan may be behind other countries, but I believe that we are heading toward a society that treats everyone equally. We must think of how to proceed from here to achieve the goal.