A 39-year-old Japanese man has been described as ‘trans-age’ after reportedly identifying as 28 because it’s an age that better describes his still immature personality.

In the age of ‘self-identified diversity’ where anyone is free to identify as whatever they want, a Japanese man has come out as ‘trans-age’, meaning that he chooses to identify as 28 years old, despite having been born 39 years ago. The Kyoto-based man known only as Jackie appeared on the reality show ABEMA Prime where he explained that he didn’t feel comfortable as a 39-year-old man, so he decided to be 28 instead. Apparently, the trans-age man settled on this particular age, because it strikes a good balance between being an adult and still having a childish side without attracting the judgment of others.

During the program that catapulted him to temporary online stardom, Jackie said that the idea of becoming trans-age and identifying as 11 years younger was inspired by an interaction with his boss at work. During one exchange, his superior asked ‘How can you not know how to do this at your age?” It made him feel bad. so he decided to adopt an age he felt more comfortable at.

Jackie’s story went viral in Japan back in May, but the concept of trans-age has remained a hot topic on social media ever since. Although many mocked the idea of choosing one’s age rather than using their biological one, some believe that the trans-age concept eliminates various restrictions, and can even make life more fun as you can virtually go back to being a child…

 

In Jackie’s case, he chose to identify as a younger self, but being trans-age allows a person to add years to their age all the way to infinity, disregard their age completely, or even use imaginary numbers or equations to describe their age. Apparently, one can even have multiple ages. Basically, anything goes…