Onryu Kisaragi - Bijin-ryoku. Kirei ni ikiru 69 no hōsoku

2007, Japanese, Onryu Kisaragi,

Original title: "Bijin-ryoku. Kirei ni ikiru 69 no hōsoku" 『美人力。　キレイに生きる69の法則』(Beauty Power: 69 Laws of Living Beautifully) by Onryu Kisaragi 如月音流.

This is the first book authored by Onryu Kisaragi, a charismatic Japanese businesswoman, ASCII artist, TV personality, and vocalist of the visual kei rock band Lily-C[lie]me. She is the President and CEO of New Gauge Co., Ltd. responsible for the development of a popular mobile phone site called "girlswalker.com", as well as she focuses on developing various content businesses such as beauty and fashion.

After starting a small business, she quickly achieved sales of 1 million yen, and her prowess attracted the attention of the Japanese public, making her one of the most prominent transgender activists in Japan.  In addition to her success in the IT industry, she made a regular appearance on Japan TV's "Onee ★MANS" show, inspiring other transgender women in Japanese society.

When she was a kid, she was very negative and dark, as she was constantly bullied because of her femininity until she was in second grade. She didn't understand why she was going through that but she was strong enough to change her life. In her hometown of Hokkaido, she made a brilliant transition from being a chef at the ANA Hotel to being the manager of her parents' ramen shop, and then launching a company only for transsexuals. With her unbridled activities in the Internet world and her beauty shown in TV appearances, she became a representative of charismatic transsexuals who are envied and respected by women in their teens and twenties.

Asked about the main turning point of her career, she said: "There are many turning points, but the most important one was my encounter with mobile phones. I was originally born and raised in the countryside of Hokkaido, and if anything, I think I got a cell phone relatively late. After graduating from high school, I got a chef's license at a vocational school, and then I helped out at my parents' ramen shop. I didn't really feel the need to have a cell phone. The reason why I got a mobile phone was because a friend of mine was working in mobile phone sales (laughs). However, once you start using it, it is very convenient. In particular, I was using i-mode, and when I started making emojis with e-mails on my mobile phone, it was so interesting that I was hooked."

Her life improved when she was finally able to be a woman: "I was able to produce myself objectively, because I was born a man, but I thought that if I was reborn, I would definitely be born a woman, and I thought that I would not be able to do anything about it, and I was going to live a cool life as a man. I thought that if I didn't do that, I wouldn't be able to survive in this world...

I'm lucky, I've been able to make money for cosmetic surgery, and most importantly, society has caught up with me. There is still prejudice, but everyone has gotten used to it, or rather, it has become familiar to transsexuals (laughs). The spread of the Internet has also become a tailwind, and it has become possible to obtain a variety of information and express oneself."

Available via beauty.oricon.co.jp

and Wikipedia

Photos via beauty.oricon.co.jp

and beauty.oricon.co.jp