The Japanese government has granted more protections to same-sex couples.
According to The Japan Times, the government have decided to recognise same-sex couples as being in “de facto marriages” under nine more laws, including the Disaster Condolence Grant law.
The recent development comes months after the government determined that 24 laws – including the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, Land and House Lease Act, Child Abuse Prevention Act, and Public Housing Act – would apply to same-sex couples, per asahi.com.
Over the last few years, the local LGBTQIA+ community in Japan have been embroiled in a battle for marriage equality.
Currently, the country’s constitution defines marriage as “mutual consent between both sexes” and doesn’t recognise marriage equality.
In March 2021, the Sapporo District Court ruled that the government’s refusal to recognise same-sex marriage was unconstitutional under Article 14 of the Japanese constitution, which bans discrimination based on “race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.”
While the historic ruling offered a sign of hope for LGBTQIA+ equality, the community was hit with a major setback the following year.
In June 2022, a district court in Osaka ruled against three LGBTQ+ couples and their call for same-sex marriage.
“From the perspective of individual dignity, it can be said that it is necessary to realise the benefits of same-sex couples being publicly recognised through official recognition,” the court said on 20 June.
“Public debate on what kind of system is appropriate for this has not been thoroughly carried out.”
A few months later, a Tokyo court upheld the aforementioned ruling.
However, despite the court doubling down on its stance, the presiding judge also stated that the lack of a legal system and protections for same-sex couples infringes on their human rights (per CNN).
While the marriage equality movement in Japan has suffered a handful of setbacks, it has also seen a few notable wins over the last three years.
In May 2023, the Japanese government faced renewed pressure when the Nagoya District Court ruled the country’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional.
Then, in 2024, the Tokyo High Court and the Sapporo High Court issued separate rulings marking the ban as unconstitutional.
Lastly, Japan’s Osaka High Court and Nagoya High Court delivered similar decisions in March 2025.
This is a developing story.
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