A 43-year-old male was arrested on November 13 on suspicion of trespassing after he was found in the women’s bathing area of a Japanese hot spring facility.
According to Japan Today, the manager of a hot spring facility in Nagashima, Mie Prefecture called the police after Hayato Shimada allegedly entered the bathing area reserved for female customers.
Police arrested the man at around 8:20 pm. He reportedly admitted to police that he entered the women’s area, but said, "I'm a woman inside, so I don't understand at all why I'm not allowed in the women's baths."
Female customers were present in the women’s baths at the time Shimada entered. Japan's bathhouses are typically separated by gender.
To legally change gender in Japan, a person must be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, be at least 18 years of age, be unmarried, have no underage children, have no functional reproductive glands, and have genitals that resemble the gender they identify as, according to NPR.
In October, Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that a requirement for those seeking to legally change their gender to undergo sterilization surgery was unconstitutional.
