The Liberty Times reported early on the 30th that a Japanese local lawmaker exposed the private life of author Li Kotomi and that the Tokyo District Court ordered damages. On the 29th the court held that gender history is information with a strong need for confidentiality.
The Liberty Times reported early on the 30th that a Japanese lawmaker exposed the private life of Taiwan-born author Li Kotomi and that the Tokyo District Court ordered compensation. According to Nippon.com, the court on the 29th ordered Hiromi Muramatsu, a city councillor in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, to pay 1.1 million yen. Li had sought 5.5 million yen.
광고 문의 · 300×250Li is a Taiwan-born writer who won the Akutagawa Prize in 2021 for the novel The Island Where Red Spider Lilies Bloom. She publicly said she was transgender in November 2024.
What the court saw as outing
Nippon.com reported that Presiding Judge Yohei Motomura found the councillor's posts amounted to outing, exposing Li's gender history. In May 2024 the councillor posted that Li's body was male and shared, by quoting a third party's post, childhood photos from before transition and the name given at birth. The two had never met.
The court found the information closely tied to physical sex and gender identity, so the need to keep it private was strong, and it saw no reasonable ground for making it public. According to the account of the filing carried by the lawyers' outlet Bengo4.com, Li sued in the Tokyo District Court on June 5, 2025, saying she suffered mental harm from the posts and was diagnosed with adjustment disorder in June 2024.
Similar rulings and reactions from the parties
Courts in Japan have been issuing a string of rulings on revealing sexual orientation or gender history without consent. Unseen Japan reported that on May 27 this year the Tokyo District Court, in a different case brought by the same author, ordered a Kanagawa lawyer to pay 220,000 yen, finding that gender history is sensitive information tied to personal rights and dignity and that disclosure without consent is unlawful.
Nippon.com reported that at a press conference Li said she felt little joy, that society should not need such lawsuits, and asked the councillor to reflect sincerely. The councillor said a response would be decided after consulting lawyers. Whether an appeal will be filed has not been confirmed.