Asahi.com – By Mayumi Saito, Staff Writer
Nel Kisaragi smiled as she handed over her business card. Slender and fair-skinned, she is the president of Newgauge Inc., an IT marketing and system-consulting company with a dual mission: to make a profit and to improve the lives of members of the transgender community.
Kisaragi, a man until she adopted her female identity two years ago, is now in her late 20s. She started Newgauge in September 2005 with two other transgender executives. Among the company’s 17-member staff, seven are male transsexuals.
The name Newgauge was chosen to convey the idea that new social standards or gauges are needed to enable society to better understand and accept differing sexual identities. Newgauge intends to establish itself, Kisaragi says, as a gender-free corporation competing in the computer and mobile-phone marketplace.