 The law, known as the "Act on Special Cases in Handling Gender Status for Persons with Gender Identity Disorder" () or simply "Law 111", went into effect in July 2004, and was upheld by the Supreme Court of Japan in January 2019.By that date, 7,000 persons had legally changed gender.The court wanted to prevent "confusion" within parent-child relations, as well as "abrupt changes" in Japanese society.