I am wondering what the proper accepted term for transsexual (MtF specifically - if there is one) is in Japanese? I have been (attempting) playing/learning to play less badly the Japanese bamboo flute known as a shakuhachi for the past 18 years. The shakuhachi bases its origins in Zen Buddhism and for several centuries it was played only by the itinerant monks of the Fuke Shu. These monks were called Komuso (monks of nothingness and emptiness - loosely) and would wander the countryside playing their flutes, begging for alms, and occasionally spying for the Tokugawa Shogunate. Only male Ronin (disenfranchised Samurai) could become Komuso.

I am looking to start a blog to catalog my journey through transition and want to basically come up the name of Transsexual (Japanese) Komuso. I know we have some Japanophiles here at Susan's as well as I believe some members who are in Japan (whether Japanese natives or transplants). I hope someone can let me know the accepted term, rather than the slang or insulting terms (though those may be helpful as well.

If you would also like to post the terms in other languages that could be quite useful to myself and others coming here.

Deanna

This is probably slang and/or derrogatory but in that part of the world I have heard us refered to as "New Half."

In NZ Maori we have Whakawahine - more or less a translation of transwoman. Whaka means accross, or journey or beyond, and wahine is female. You say it Fuk-a-wa-he-ney

The ftm equivalent is Whakatane

Takataapui - an umbrella term for any Maori person who belongs to one of the non-heterosexual communities. It is really a way of saying gay. Today used to describe Māori gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people.

Maori also use Hinehi, Hinehua, and Tangata ira tane. I'm not sure what they exactly mean though. They all describe trans people in some way.

Fa'afafine is traditional Samoan term meaning 'to be like a woman.' The tradition has an extensive and ancient history; Fa'afafine have long been a respected and integrated part of Samoan communities. The tradition is also present, and has similar-sounding names, in many other Pacific cultures. In modern New Zealand Fa'afafine has come to be an all-encompassing term that is inclusive of Samoan cross-dressers, drag queens, gay men, men who are simply effeminate, and any men who 'have the spirit of women.'
Other similar terms are Fakaleiti, Akava'ine, Mahu, Quari, but are all best understood in the context of their own pacific cultures.

WOW!!

Nicky, that is a lot of terminology. Very interesting, very educational. Thanks a lot. Are the Maori generally accepting of Takataapui? or does the term have a sense of being derogatory? I have a friend that I met online who lives in NZ (I believe she is Maori) and is very accepting, but not sure if she is an exception or in the majority.

Jenny, do you know the Japanese/romanji word they use for "New Half"? It sounds like an interesting/peculiar translation. Though I would like a new (second) half to my life.

Keep 'em comin' kids.

Deanna

A search in Aedict gave me "toransukei", with kei meaning "lineage, system".

The next entry was "nyuuhaafu" (new half) meaning "(n) transsexual of transvestite performer"

Edit: トランス系　(toransukei),　ニューハーフ　(nyuuhaafu)

I had seen/found toran sukei associated with transvestite performer. Nyuuhaafu would be a Japanization of "new half" (obviously), though the context still puzzles me.

I had tried to search various translators trying to find a word for transsexual (non-performer). Since I am not a drag queen, or transsexual (not that there is anything at all wrong with them - I have a couple of friends who would fit Toran Sukei), the word would not fit me any closer than calling me a ->-bleeped-<- (don't like that word at all).

I think I'd probably avoid Futanari.  It's fairly well associated with hentai. More ->-bleeped-<- than transexual.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futanari
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The challenge here is finding a term that trans people use themselves that isn't considered a perjorative.
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I've searched a bit, but haven't been able to find much, even in .jp sites.
Since the Kanji alphabet was borrowed from China a couple thousand years ago...perhaps it's something like the following (in character spelling only...Japanese pronunciation would be far different):
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The standard Chinese term for transsexual people is 變性者, (py bìanxìngzhe), literally "one who changes sex". Bìanxìng 變性 is therefore the most common way to say "change one's sex", though not necessarily through sexual reassignment surgery -- bianxing may also include hormonal changes and lifestyle changes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_in_China
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I'm not sure how accurate it is, but here's another site with translations into several languages: http://www.answers.com/topic/transsexual
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Hope this helps,
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Kay

I can hardly claim to be fluent, but I do have a rather handy Japanese elctronic dictionary...
This is actually a problem in Japan, too; most of the possible terms are either not neutral, associated with entertainers or sex work, or refer to people based on a surgery they may or may not get.

The problem here, as previously mentioned, is that many of the terms used are derogatory. The main entry for "transsexual" my dictionary gives is 性倒錯者 (seitousakusha, if I'm reading the kanji right); this basically comes out as "person with a sexual abberation/perversion". A slightly less unfortunate term is 性転換者 (seitenkansha), the Japanese equivalent to "person who changes sex". This, of course, basically links your identity to a sex-change operation.

I'm not sure how frequent the use of seitousakusha is, as I had to fiddle with the potential kanji here to get it to match the dictionary's (there are a number of potential words in kanji that fit those basic characters, probably mostly misspelled/not actual words). Seitenkansha popped right up without difficulty.

Newhalf is less depressing; I remember reading a journal article about that one during a research project, though I can't remember what it was called. As I recall, it was created within the transsexual community as a self-descriptive term, so it's not derogatory outright. However, due to the sexualized lines of work of a great many famous newhalf, it carries something of a go-go dancer/sex-worker quality to it. It's also a little old.

I will second the warning against using "futanari"; it is a genre of manga (comic-book style) pornography, roughly akin to "->-bleeped-<-". I'm not even sure if the word is even used to describe actual real-world people...

The problem is that Japan is not really any more accepting of transsexuals than North America is. It's not really seen as something to be upfront about. As such, most people's exposure to them comes from entertainers, who are quite often more stereotypical than the population at large.