Blue Boy Trial (ブルーボーイ事件) (JFTFP26)

Name: Blue Boy Trial (ブルーボーイ事件) (JFTFP26)
Genre: Drama
Released: 2026-03-16
Duration: 1 h 46 min
Cast: Miyu Nakagawa, Ryo Nishikido, Kou Maehara

Screening as part of <a href="https://www.filmhouse.org.uk/japan-foundation-touring-film-programme">The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026</a>, co-organised with the Japan Foundation. A forgotten trial in 1960s Tokyo challenges the law, society, and the very right to live as oneself. Tokyo, 1965. The city is booming from the Olympic-driven economic surge. Amid growing internationalisation, the government introduces new measures to reinforce public morals — particularly public prostitution by women. As police intensify their crackdown, they are confounded by the presence of so-called “Blue Boys”: transgender women who, though still legally registered as male, live and work as women. Unable to charge them under the current Anti-Prostitution Law, which only applies to “female” prostitutes, authorities instead arrest Dr. AKAGI Masao (YAMANAKA Takashi), the surgeon who performed their gender-affirming operations, accusing him of violating the Eugenic Protection Law for rendering his patients infertile. Meanwhile, Sachi (NAKAGAWA Miyu), a café waitress quietly planning her future with her fiancé (MAEHARA Ko), hides a past she thought she had left behind — she too was one of Dr. AKAGI’s patients. When defence attorney KANO Taku (NISHIKIDO Ryo) asks her to testify in court, Sachi — alongside two other transgender women — is forced to confront her history and identity before a society unwilling to see her for who she really is. Based on the real-life “Blue Boy Incident,” Blue Boy Trial sheds light on a ground-breaking yet long-overlooked case that questioned the legality of gender-affirming surgery — and, more profoundly, what is means to find happiness by being your authentic self. With empathy and precision, director IIZUKA Kasho (himself a transgender man — Angry Son, JFTFP23) and newcomer NAKAGAWA Miyu (also transgender) bring to life a moment that reshaped Japan’s understanding LGBTQ+ issues and continues to resonate today. © 2025 “Blue Boy Trial” Film PartnersDramaPT1H46M12A2026-03-16

Miyu Nakagawa

Ryo Nishikido

Kou Maehara

Kashou Iizuka

Hitoshi Endo

Kosuke Oshida

Kenichi Yoshida

San KIM

Arai Mariko

Blue Boy Trial (ブルーボーイ事件) (JFTFP26)"Blue Boy Trial (ブルーボーイ事件) (JFTFP26)"

Showtimes

March 16, 6:00 pm