China.org.cn presented their picks for the top 10 transsexual entertainers in Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand). Their number one pick, pictured above, was Regine Wu, a 50-year-old (!) television personality from China.
For what it's worth, the short biographies of nine of the top ten mention that the transwoman being described has undergone sex reassignment surgery.
The bio of Kayo Satoh is the only one that does not mention surgery. "According to Satoh, she began injecting herself with hormones from 15 years-old, something she continues, and besides her injections, she hasn't undergone any surgery." (source Kotaku.com)
Since rising from defeat in World War II, Japan has been a leading source of innovations that have become mainstream throughout the world.
The list of Japanese innovations is long and I will not enumerate them here, but you can view this slideshow to see what I mean. (Yes - I was surprised that the Japanese invented the felt tipped pen, too.)
So which Japanese innovation is going to go mainstream next?
According to a video report from Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), male-to-female crossdressing is exploding in Japan and "is becoming more mainstream in a society that once had rigid gender lines."
I was aware of Japanese femulation, blogged about it here in the past, but I had no idea it was becoming "more mainstream."
According to the ABC report, "Toshinaga Hijikata has published a series of books offering men advice about cross-dressing. Sales have now passed 130,000 copies. He says Japan is slowly learning that not all men want to be macho."
I researched Toshinaga Hijikata and found the following in an article on The Asahi Shimbun website:
"'It started with (manga and anime). I think it lowered the threshold for wearing women's clothing by attracting attention on the Internet,' says Toshinaga Hijikata, editor in chief at WAaI!, a magazine published by Ichijinsha that specializes in covering otokonoko.
"In 2007, Ichijinsha published Onnanoko ni Naritai! (I want to be a girl!), a book with information on how to dress like a woman. Subsequent books have made it into a three-volume series that has sold more than 110,000 copies.
"Hijikata says that most people who like the 'cute boys' that appear in manga and video games are mainly men, many of whom then try to be like these otokonoko.
"'They simply want to be part of the ideal female community they perceive,' says Hijikata.
"Typical fantasies are the images of young girls playing in a field of flowers or whispering secrets in the corner of a classroom, he says. The otokonoko seek out to be part of the group and the beautiful imagery they project, Hijikata says.
"'Perhaps cross-dressing is their ticket to a women-only world,' he says."
I looked for Onnanoko ni Naritai! and found 44 pages of the book on Photobucket. I also found three volumes of Hijikata's magazine, WAaI! (Boys in Skirts), online here: Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3
Gyrlgling, I found femulating Japanese males everywhere! One link led to another with still more Japanese femulators!
My head was overloaded with all this information and I was convinced that crossdressing was indeed going mainstream in Japan.
As they say at Sony, "What's good for Japan is good for the States."
Will crossdressing become more mainstream in the USA, too?
(Thank you, sissyslave4domme, for the heads-up about the ABC story.)
Kasumi alerted me about Propaganda Party, a monthly event in Tokyo for femulators from the whole trans spectrum (and others who like them). The party is held in the Kabukicho district of Tokyo on the last Saturday of every month.
Kasumi wrote, “I don't live in Tokyo and so have not had an opportunity to visit in person, but it looks like fun. From the description on the website (all in Japanese, unfortunately), it seems to be designed for fun and socializing---that is, it's for adults only, but there's no nudity or sex or anything like that.”
Their website has a huge collection of photos (the photo gallery link is the blue box at the top center of the screen). The pictures are not sexual in nature---just people having a good time at the party.
Kasumi concluded, “I'm sure you'll agree that the quality of the femulating is extremely high. I'm certainly envious!”
Kasumi e-mailed me about the Japanese television show, Aniコレ 5 Battle, that I wrote about here on Wednesday. According to Kasumi…
Aniコレ is an abbreviation of two words put together. "Ani" is short for "aniki," which literally means "big brother," but in this case is used as a playful counterpoint to "onee," or "big sister," which is a slang for femulators (it is, in turn, short for "oneesan," which is the conventional term for elder sister). In Japanese, kinship terms like big brother and big sister are commonly used to refer to young men and women in general. It's clear from the context whether one is referring to one's own relatives or (with "onee") to a femulator or a female.
コレ, or "kore," is short for "korekushon," i.e., the English word "collection." This is because the females in the "battles" were part of a group called Tokyo Girls Collection. The 5 is, I think, because there were five contestants on each side. Writing the Japanese "ani" in Romanization and the English "collection" in Japanese is the kind of linguistic fun and games one often sees in Japanese--there's no particular deep significance.
The show in which this segment appeared was organized around the theme of "What if..." What if you had to eat a bunch of really hot peppers? What if you were a comedian forced to pair with someone other than your regular partner? What if you had to wear women's clothes and engage in a beauty battle with a female celebrity?
Thank you, Kasumi, for that information. It ties up a lot of loose ends regarding the television show.
A reader took me to task about Tuesday's "Dreamwear' post, thusly:
Your post said you dreamed of wearing a 'panty girdle and longline bra' but the photo is of a woman in a full, long girdle (panty girdles are only panty length on the bottom) and a regular bra.
My excuse for the photo is that I could not find an image in my vast collection of a woman (or a man) wearing a panty girdle and a longline bra. The handful of longline bra images I have were all combined with open bottom girdles. 
Since I could not find a panty girdle - longline bra combo, I used a panty girdle - non-longline bra image that I liked. (Today I proffer a longline bra image that I like.)
With reference to the reader's contention that the girdle image I used on Tuesday was a "full, long girdle" and not a panty girdle, "panty girdles are only panty length on the bottom," well, allow me to retort.
There are two basic kinds of girdles: open-bottom girdles and panty girdles. Any girdle that has a crotch is a "panty girdle" no matter how long or short the legs may be. You can look it up.
I have not worn an open-bottom girdle in a very long time. I never owned an open-bottom girdle, so the only ones I ever wore were my Mother’s and that was 40 years ago.
Wearing an open-bottom girdle is a different experience.
If the hem of the girdle is long enough, it comfortably hides your private parts while providing a very smooth crotch area, which is perfect for wearing a tight skirt.
You must wear stockings with an open-bottom girdle and attach them to girdle’s garters. This prevents the hem of the girdle from riding up your torso, as well as keeping the stockings from slipping down your legs.
What fun!
I’m getting a hankering for an open-bottom girdle, longline bra, and nylon stockings combination for the next time I wear a retro outfit.
Three years ago, I wrote about "Josou Paradise," a segment of a Japanese television show called Gakkou e Ikou! MAX.
During the "Josou Paradise" segment, a group of people stand on stage in front of an alcove whose contents is hidden by a curtain. When the curtain rises, it reveals a seated pretty young woman and the audience oohs and aahs at her.
The young women who appear in the alcove are actually young men dressed en femme. The oohing and aahing is justified because they look great.
Angelina, whose photo graces The Femulated: spot today, asked me about another Japanese television show in which males appear en femme. The show is called Ａｎｉコレ ５ＢＡＴＴＬＥ. After viewing some online videos of the program as well as reading some poorly translated Japanese text, I believe I have figured out the premise of the program.
It is a competition like Dancing With the Stars or American Idol, except that on Ａｎｉコレ ５ＢＡＴＴＬＥ, the competition is based on the contestants’ ability to femulate.
Five young male contestants are pitted against five young female contestants. Each male chooses the female he wants to compete against in a head-to-head competition.
The contestants get all dolled up and then each contestant struts her stuff on a runway.
After the runway competition, the audience votes on which contestant was the better femulator. In the segments I watched, the females usually beat male femulators, but not always.
The femulations are outstanding. In most of the head-to-head competitions, I was not sure if the contestant was a femulator or a real female until they spoke.
Also, I found it interesting that the two male hosts of the program appeared en femme.
Google Ａｎｉコレ ５ＢＡＴＴＬＥ and you will find videos and images from the show. Here is one example: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTU2MzA5ODg=.html
All I can say is that I wish there was a version of this show on this side of the Pacific.
Caveat Emptor: There is very little information about this program written in English, so I am making some educated guesses about the premise of the program.
I have not figured out yet the English translation of Ａｎｉコレ in the title of the show (one suggestion was "anime").
Also, I don't know if the "5" in the title indicates that this is the fifth season of the show or what?
If anyone has more definitive information, I will gladly stand corrected and if anyone can add anything to what I already wrote, I would be grateful.
Japanese fashion model, game presenter, and cosplayer, Kayo Sato (a.k.a. Kayo Police), revealed her true gender... she is really a male.
"Kayo says that she is all natural, so she didn’t get plastic surgery to look like she does, and she owes much of her success to her talent in applying make-up."
You can read all about it at Tokyohive.
Wow!
(Thank you, Jones, for the news about Miss Kayo.)
Now that I have finally gotten rid of the visions of sugarplums dancing in my head, I have been trying to catch up on my trans-net reading.
During my catch-up, I came across this December 16 Japan Trends story about an e-commerce store that is an offshoot of the crossdresser maid cafes. For those who are unfamiliar with crossdresser maid cafes, they are restaurants where the waitstaff dress as maids and also happen to be male.
The e-commerce store, Lagrangel, sells a variety of feminine finery (including wigs) for Japanese lads who wish to present as ladies. Too bad their size large is about 6 inches too small for me!
I occasionally search YouTube for trans-related videos and in doing so, I found about a half dozen or so from a Japanese television show. 