Tokyo recognises same-sex couples
Tokyo issues partnership certificates for the first time. A big step for Japan, but still far from the goal.
On 1 November 2022, the Tokyo metropolitan government issued partnership certificates to same-sex couples for the first time. The Japanese capital thus became the largest municipality in the country to officially recognise such partnerships. A significant step in a country that is the only G7 member not to recognise same-sex couples at national level.
A long process preceded this development. As early as 2015, Tokyo's Shibuya ward had led the way by introducing a partnership system. Over the following seven years, more than two hundred smaller municipalities followed suit. Finally the Tokyo metropolis did too. The scheme was open to adult couples in which at least one person belongs to a sexual minority. Applications could be submitted discreetly online.
Even though the certificates are not legally binding, they make everyday life easier: couples can apply together for municipal housing and find it easier to obtain information about their partner in hospital. How serious the lack of recognition could be before is shown by the experience of activist Soyoka Yamamoto. When her partner Yoriko called the emergency services during a medical emergency, she was told to obtain the consent of Yamamoto's parents first. The two women, who had been together for more than ten years, received their certificate signed by Governor Yuriko Koike on the very first day.
Nevertheless, significant gaps remained. The certificate creates neither inheritance rights nor a right to a visa for foreign partners. A female couple raising a son together also wished for better protection for the children of rainbow families. Trans activist Fumino Sugiyama summed up the mixed feelings: the introduction was a big step – but only the beginning, not the goal.