Japan’s first transsexual geisha?
UK newspaper the News Shopper has reported that pre-op transsexual Mary Murdoch has become a “geisha” in Japan:
Born Malcolm Murdoch, the 68-year-old says she recently became the first transsexual geisha on a visit to Kyoto.
Mary, of Brownspring Drive, New Eltham, explained: “My ambition was to dress up as a geisha and at first they were reluctant.
“But in the end I convinced them. I was the first person to actually do this. They were very welcoming and put aside the normal rules for foreign tourists.
“Since then the Japanese government has a policy which says if there’s a female name on the passport then you may dress up as a geisha.”
The article appears to refer to an experience with a service that dresses up tourists like geisha, something that does not actually make someone a geisha. The claim about a Japanese government policy is probably also untrue, although I wouldn’t be surprised if individual companies had policies against allowing men to dress up as geisha.
