Head over to Ebisu, a plush part of Tokyo just south of Shibuya, where you can visit Total Beauty Salon ZOOM and transform yourself into the opposite sex… temporarily, at least.
It’s not a sex change medical clinic per se but it does offer beauty treatment courses for crossdressers (otoko no ko or josoko), both male or female.
As with lots of things in Japanese sexuality, there’s little black and white here. Leave your preconceptions of transsexuality and homosexuality at the door, since in Japan cross-dressing does not mean you are “gay” and it often merges with more casual cosplay culture.
The strangely named Total Beauty Salon ZOOM offers to make you a ririjo or ririmen: the idea here is that you get a “release” by transforming into either a girl or man respectively (the words mean “release girl” or “release man”).
By changing who “you” are, you can be liberated from the strictures of being a man or woman in codified Japanese society. Whether you are attracted to the same sex or not, or whether you also want to have your actual body parts changed surgically is irrelevant to this service.
A full two-hour course will cost you ¥23,000, or nearly $200. That includes make-up and hair, plus clothes and photos.
Apparently it’s now getting popular, though we are surprised that it’s in Ebisu and not, say, Shinjuku. Saying that, the ongoing gentrification of Kabukicho and the development of Shinjuku Sanchome are apparently having knock-on effects for rents in Ni-chome, so perhaps salons like this will soon be popping up all over the city.
See some transformations here.
And if gender-bending isn’t your thing, you can even venture more into the realm of cosplay and go for a Doraemon look.
Or perhaps a Na’vi from Avatar.
Or how about getting the same look as your beloved Chihuahua?
Or even your pet bird?!
Apparently the options are nearly limitless!
