The Japanese government has expanded legal protections to same-sex couples.
According to The Japan Times, the government has decided to recognise same-sex couples as being in “de facto marriages” under nine additional laws, including the Disaster Condolence Grant law.
This follows a decision earlier this year to extend 24 existing laws – including the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, Land and House Lease Act, Child Abuse Prevention Act, and Public Housing Act – to same-sex couples.
Japan’s LGBTQIA+ community has long been engaged in a battle for marriage equality.
Currently, the country’s constitution defines marriage as “mutual consent between both sexes” and does not 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 LGBTQIA+ 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 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 unconstitutional.
In 2024, the Tokyo High Court and the Sapporo High Court issued separate rulings marking the ban as unconstitutional.
Most recently, Japan’s Osaka High Court and Nagoya High Court delivered similar decisions in March 2025.
This is a developing story.
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