Shibuya is the first place to recognise same-sex couples

On 31 March 2015, the Shibuya ward assembly in Tokyo voted on an ordinance of a kind Japan had never seen before. A clear majority of members stood up to show their approval. Shibuya thus became the first municipality in the country to officially recognise same-sex partnerships.

Cheers broke out outside the ward office. In the middle of it all stood the lesbian couple Koyuki Higashi and Hiroko Masuhara. The two had moved to Shibuya specifically to register there as a couple. They held up a rainbow banner reading "Thank you, Shibuya" in English.

The ordinance promised very practical things. Same-sex couples were to be able to rent a flat together and visit each other in hospital, as married couples take for granted. The certificate was not legally binding. But anyone who discriminated against couples had to reckon with the ward making their name public.

There was resistance nonetheless. Conservative politicians from the governing party opposed the move, and there were protest rallies in Shibuya. At national level, rapid change was not in sight anyway, since the Japanese constitution defines marriage as a union of both sexes.

In the autumn, the time came. On the fifth of November 2015, Higashi and Masuhara received Japan's very first partnership certificate. That same day, the neighbouring ward of Setagaya also began issuing similar certificates.

What began in a single Tokyo ward became a nationwide movement. In the years that followed, numerous cities and prefectures introduced their own partnership systems. A small ward had shown that equality does not necessarily have to begin in national politics, but sometimes in the local council around the corner.