Tokyo City Hall on Tuesday began issuing marriage certificates to people of the same sex who live or work in the Japanese capital, a measure long overdue in a country where gay marriage does not exist. Japan is indeed the only G7 country not to recognize same-sex unions, its Constitution stipulating that “marriage can only take place with the mutual consent of both sexes“.
Tokyo city certificates allow LGBTQ partners to be treated as married couples for certain public services related to housing, health or social welfare. The district town hall of Shibuya, a trendy district of Tokyo, was the first in Japan to offer such a certificate, in 2015. More than 200 municipalities or local authorities have since followed.
Not the same rights as a legal marriage
These certificates are far from conferring the same rights as a legal marriage, but the new status proposed by the Tokyo city hall nevertheless represents progress for Miki and Katie, two women who for a long time had no official certificate of their common life. “My biggest fear was that we would be treated like strangers to each other in an emergency.Miki, a 36-year-old Japanese woman, told AFP alongside her American girlfriend Katie, 31. They preferred to be identified only by their first names.
In the absence of a certificate, each used to slip a note into her wallet with the other’s contact details, just in case. “But it seemed to us that official documents validated by local authorities would be more effective.“, explains Miki.
As of October 28, 137 couples have already applied for a union certificate, Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo, said last week. Hopes are high that issuing such certificates, which apply to both Tokyo residents and people living in the suburbs but working in the capital, will help tackle anti-LGBTQ discrimination in Japan.
A “big step forward”
Thanks to this new system in Tokyo, “I sincerely hope that we can accelerate efforts to create a society where the rights of sexual minorities can be protected and made more equalsaid LGBTQ activist Soyoka Yamamoto at a press conference. She and her partner Yoriko have lived together for over ten years. They received their union certificate from Tokyo City Hall on Tuesday morning. “I hope we can now access various places and services, without having to explain our relationshipYoriko said, calling Tokyo’s decision “big step forward“.
A 2021 poll by state broadcaster NHK showed that 57% of respondents were in favor of same-sex marriage. However, the Liberal Democratic Party in power (PLD, conservative right) is very hesitant about a possible legislative reform in this direction.
And the legal debates on the subject seem set to last. Last June, a court in Osaka (West) dismissed three same-sex couples who had filed a complaint against the state, ruling that the non-recognition of gay marriage was not unconstitutional. Conversely in 2021, a court in Sapporo (North) had found that the current situation violated the right to equality guaranteed by the Constitution.