I wonder if your experiences in Gunma may reflect a rural/urban divide regarding PDA. I've never lived far from a a major city in Japan. Also, there might be pressure on people in your line of work to be more reticent about such things in public.

Thanks for this article, Kat. I hadn't known about this. Three things.

To the conclude that she's "A Male-bodied Trans Woman, but Can't Say It" is to have completely misrepresent the conversation. The title is intentionally click-baity.

If everyone had to pay out of pocket, sex reassignment would be a luxury of the wealthy, like non-essential cosmetic surgery. That was indeed the case Back In the Day.

Very much this. Same is true here in Japan.

Sailor Jupiter beat me to it.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. But I didn't know about the drugs and alcohol aspect. Yeah. Hard to see this ending well.

You said it. Not me. You.

Also, you'll never catch me saying that Cara Delevingne is not as attractive as everyone seems to think she is. Because no good can come from such statements.

Thank you for concern trolling in the manner I wanted to but resisted.

I still can't bring myself to watch this, but I'm glad it exists. Just that screen grab alone is enough to make me cry.

Precisely. Presumably for the same reason the "artist" (and I use the word generously here) calls herself "sensei" and invents the non-existent-but-vaguely-Japanese-sounding name "Kasami" for herself.

Hee hee hee hee hee-e-e-e. It's my job as an art school prof to traumatize students with critiques of their work; it's my hobby to trigger flashbacks in former art students.

True. Those were pretty awful.

The perspective from up here is flawless!

As someone who helped establish and teaches in Japan's first and largest cartooning program in a four-year university, I beg to differ with the "beautifully drawn" part. This person would have trouble even passing our entrance exam. And the fact that she calls herself "sensei" indicates either that she doesn't…

Haha! I do that thing with getting into bed with my partner till she falls asleep, so she won't be lonely. And wouldn't you know it: my sleep schedule synced up with hers, and now we fall asleep together (before 11!).

Haha! That's sweet.

He listens!? Now that's just crazy. Seriously, men who really listen are a rare and precious commodity.

I have a partner and frequently have to control my urge to rave about her all the time. That's why I wanted to hear other people rave about their own partners for a while!