Blue Boy Trial

A forgotten trial in 1960s Tokyo challenges the law, society, and the very right to live as oneself.

Tokyo, 1965. The city is booming from the Olympic-driven economic surge. Amid growing internationalisation, the government introduces new measures to reinforce public morals — particularly public prostitution by women. As police intensify their crackdown, they are confounded by the presence of so-called “Blue Boys” : transgender women who, though still legally registered as male, live and work as women. Unable to charge them under the current Anti-Prostitution Law, which only applies to “female” prostitutes, authorities instead arrest Dr. AKAGI Masao (YAMANAKA Takashi), the surgeon who performed their gender-affirming operations, accusing him of violating the Eugenic Protection Law for rendering his patients infertile.

Meanwhile, Sachi (NAKAGAWA Miyu), a café waitress quietly planning her future with her fiancé (MAEHARA Ko), hides a past she thought she had left behind — she too was one of Dr. AKAGI’s patients. When defence attorney KANO Taku (NISHIKIDO Ryo) asks her to testify in court, Sachi — alongside two other transgender women — is forced to confront her history and identity before a society unwilling to see her for who she really is.

Based on the real-life “Blue Boy Incident,” Blue Boy Trial sheds light on a ground-breaking yet long-overlooked case that questioned the legality of gender-affirming surgery — and, more profoundly, what is means to find happiness by being your authentic self. With empathy and precision, director IIZUKA Kasho (himself a transgender man — Angry Son, JFTFP23) and newcomer NAKAGAWA Miyu (also transgender) bring to life a moment that reshaped Japan’s understanding LGBTQ+ issues and continues to resonate today.