A random collection of over 1910 books and audiobooks authored by or about my transgender, intersex sisters, and gender-nonconforming persons all over the world. I read some of them, and I was inspired by some of them. I met some of the authors and heroines, some of them are my best friends, and I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing some of them. If you know of any transgender biography that I have not covered yet, please let me know.
Original title: "Re-born" by Kayo Satoh (佐藤かよ).
Kayo Satoh, born in 1988, a Japanese model, YouTube vlogger, and television personality, tells her story of the pain she experienced in a society that didn’t understand her and her male-to-female transition.
She started her hormone therapy at the age of 15. Suffering from gender identity disorder, she had to face a lot of challenges in junior high school, and she ran away from home after graduation. After working part-time at a convenience store, her friend introduced her to the long-sought women's clothing department store. Six months later, she was scouted by a fashion magazine and introduced to the president of a modeling agency.
In 2008, a Nagoya local fashion magazine published her photos and her modeling career started for good. In 2010, she came out as a transgender woman. On June 23, 2011, she released her first book "Re-born", which includes her first semi-nude photos.
2011,
Japanese,
Kayo Satoh,
Original title: "Watashi wa on'na" - 『私は女』(I am a Woman) by Maki Carrousel (カルーセル 麻紀, Karūseru Maki).
This is the third biography of Maki Carrousel, a Japanese actress, singer, and legend of the Japanese transgender community. She was born Maki Hirahara in 1942, in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan. She is said to have been the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery in Japan and a pioneer in changing the family register from male to female.
After dropping out of school, she ran away from home at the age of 15 and started working at gay bars first in Sapporo, and later in Tokyo and Osaka. Ever since she was a teenager, she wanted to be a woman, but gender reassignment surgery was still prohibited in Japan at the time. So when she was 19 years old, she underwent surgical castration i.e. bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles) at a hospital in Osaka.
2007,
Coccinelle,
Georges Burou,
Japanese,
Maki Carrousel,
Original title: "Watashi o nuga sete" - 『私を脱がせて』(Take Me Off) by Maki Carrousel (カルーセル 麻紀, Karūseru Maki).
This is the first biography of Maki Carrousel, a Japanese actress, singer, and legend of the Japanese transgender community. She was born Maki Hirahara in 1942, in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan. She is said to have been the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery in Japan and a pioneer in changing the family register from male to female.
After dropping out of school, she ran away from home at the age of 15 and started working at gay bars first in Sapporo, and later in Tokyo and Osaka. Ever since she was a teenager, she wanted to be a woman, but gender reassignment surgery was still prohibited in Japan at the time. So when she was 19 years old, she underwent surgical castration i.e. bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles) at a hospital in Osaka.
2002,
Coccinelle,
Georges Burou,
Japanese,
Maki Carrousel,
Original title: "Keshō danshi otome, jinsei o 2-bai tanoshimu hōhō" - 化粧男子 男と女、人生を2倍楽しむ方法 (Makeup Boys: Men and Women, How to Enjoy Life Twice as Much) by Miyo Inoue - 井上魅夜.
'If you choose between a man and a woman, do you have to discard one or the other? I want to enjoy my life by going back and forth between my appearance and gender." "I want to be loved as a woman, but I want to be loved as a man at the same time."
A half-life story of a boy who discovered "makeup" at the age of 25!
Miya - chan's openness, full of fun, that's as good as manga!! First of all, I want you to know that there is such a way of life. (Psychiatrist, Director of GID Society Katsumi Harima)'
2012,
Japanese,
Miyo Inoue,
Original title: "Sōmu buchō wa toransujendā chichi to shite, on'na to shite" - 総務部長はトランスジェンダー 父として、女として(The general manager is transgender as a father and as a woman) by Suzu Okabe (岡部 鈴).
Suzu Okabe was born in Nagasaki Prefecture in
1963. She dropped out of the Faculty of Fisheries at Nagasaki University and graduated from Kyushu Computer College. After working as a vocational school lecturer, programmer, and IT department at a cosmetics manufacturer, she worked as an IT staff member and general affairs manager at an advertising agency.
After coming out as transgender in 2012, she started working as a female employee and is currently working as a female director in the finance department. She is an active transgender advocate, providing support to the transgender community via her blog and Twitter.
2018,
Japanese,
Suzu Okabe,
Original title: "Boku wa watashi o umimashita" - 僕は私を生みました。(I gave birth to me) by Genking (ゲンキング).
"If you're going to do a proper performing art, you have to do it by the time you're 20!" This is the motto of Genking, a Japanese media celebrity and fashion model. In July 2014, she established his own apparel brand "BADASS". Two years later, she opened a general beauty shop "KINGs" but closed it in March 2017.
On January 22, 2017, she presented a medical certificate that she was officially diagnosed with gender identity disorder and on January 29, 2018, she announced that she underwent gender reassignment surgery in Thailand. She is one of the most popular transgender women in Japan.
"Seitenka: 53-sai de josei ni natta daigaku kyōju" (性転換―53歳で女性になった大学教授 - Sex Change: A University Professor Who Became a Woman at 53) is the Japanese language edition of "Crossing: A Memoir" by Deirdre N. McCloskey.
"We have read the stories of those who have "crossed" lines of race and class and culture. But few have written of crossing - completely and entirely - the gender line. "Crossing" is the story of Deirdre McCloskey (formerly Donald), once a golden boy of conservative economics and a child of 1950s and 1960s privilege, and her dramatic and poignant journey to becoming a woman. McCloskey's account of her painstaking efforts to learn to "be a woman" unearth fundamental questions about gender and identity, and hatreds and anxieties, revealing surprising answers."
2001,
Deirdre N. McCloskey,
Interview,
Japanese,
Original title: "12-Kai kara tobiorite ichido shinda watashi ga tsutaetaikoto" １２階から飛び降りて一度死んだ私が伝えたいこと (What I Want to Share After Jumping from the 12th Floor and Dying Once) by Mocha (モカ) and Shingo Takano (高野真吾).
The book, co/written by Mocha and Shingo Takano, presents the life of Mocha, a Japanese business owner and cartoonist. In this book, Moca, who is a transgender woman, shares her extraordinary life journey, including surviving a suicide attempt and her subsequent commitment to helping others through free counseling. Her experiences touch on topics such as suicide, gender transition, depression, and loneliness. The book also includes original manga illustrations by Moca herself. Through her story, Moca sheds light on societal issues and offers hope to those who are struggling.
2019,
Japanese,
Mocha,
Shingo Takano,
Original title: On'nanoko tte mahōda yo ne 女の子って魔法だよね (Girls are magic, aren't they?) by Satsuki Nishihara (西原 さつき).
Girls are magical, aren’t they? That’s the sentiment expressed by Satsuki Nishihara in her book “Girls Are Magical, Aren’t They?”. In this enchanting work, Satsuki, an accomplished actress and transgender advocate, shares her experiences and insights. She emphasizes that every girl possesses a unique magic within themselves, allowing them to transform into the person they want to be. Through a combination of illustrations, essays, and photographs, Satsuki weaves a captivating narrative that celebrates the inherent magic of being a girl. The e-book version also includes recent photos and messages from the author.
2020,
Japanese,
Miss International Queen,
Satsuki Nishihara,
Original title: "Haihīru kakumei" ハイヒール革命 (High Heels Revolution) by Natsuki Majikina 真境名ナツキ.
The book was published soon after the success of the movie with the same title "High Heels Revolution" (ハイヒール革命), which made Natsuki Majikina famous in Japan. The book and film are about her journey to self-discovery to become a woman. When she was a junior high school student, she had to fight for her right to dress in female clothes.
The story got viral in the media and became a hot topic in Japan. After graduating from high school, she expanded her LGBT activism work by being the leader of a transgender idol group. She now works as an actress and has become an icon in the Japanese LGBT world.
2016,
Japanese,
Natsuki Majikina,
