A Different Kind of Transgender Celebrity: From Entertainment Narrative to the “Wrong Body” Discourse in Japanese Media Culture

Abstract

Scholars have criticized how tarento (television personalities) who might be considered “transgender” have for decades provided comic relief on Japanese mainstream television, but few have considered the recent emergence of a different kind of trans celebrity who rejects the entertainment narrative to embrace the “wrong body” discourse (having mismatched corporeality). This article explores this phenomenon through the example of Nishihara Satsuki, a trans-identified internet celebrity-turned- tarento, drawing mainly on discourse analysis of their blog, memoir, and variety program appearances. I demonstrate how Satsuki’s celebrity departs from narratives of trans tarento as objects of entertainment to align with hegemonic discourses of the wrong body, which govern how trans individuals are understood in Japan and reflect the broader context of heightened trans visibility elsewhere. In doing so, Satsuki offers an important platform for discussing trans issues and experiences today, which I argue has encouraged the media to take trans representation more seriously.