On Tuesday, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government would establish a system that would recognise same-sex partnerships by the end of the following fiscal year, in March 2023. 

Tokyo would become the largest city to recognise same-sex partnerships, a decision that puts growing pressure on the Japanese Governemnt to recognise same-sex marriage. 

This comes as a Japanese Distirct Court in Hokkaido ruled that a failure to recignise same-sex marriage is unconstitutional in March of this year. The court ruled on the basis that Article 14 of the Japanese Constitution prohibits discrimination “beacuse of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin”. 

The system proposed would recognise same-sex partnerships with a certificate, giving couples limited benefits that are currently enjoyed by married couples. Benefits include greater access to housing, hospital visitation rights, and consenting to a partner’s surgery on their behalf. However, the certificate is not legally binding, and landlords and hospitals are merely encouraged to honour the rights of couples that present this certificate. 

Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno, AFP.

  Human Rights, Japan, LGBTQIA+