LGBT rights in Tokyo

On April 1, 2015, Shibuya in central Tokyo announced it would offer same-sex couples special "partnership certificates" ((Japanese: パートナーシップ宣誓制度, pātonāshippu sensei seido, pronounced [paːtonaːɕi̥ppɯ seɰ̃seː seꜜːdo]), also known as "partnership certification system" (パートナーシップ証明制度, pātonāshippu shōmei seido)). While these licenses are not legally recognized as marriage certificates, they may be used in civil matters such as hospital visitation rights and housing.[1][2] The Shibuya city office began accepting applications on 28 October 2015.[3] In response to this action by the Shibuya city office, the "Special Committee to Protect Family Ties" (家族の絆を守る特命委員会, kazoku no kizuna wo mamoru tokumei iinkai) of the federal ruling Liberal Democratic Party was formed in March 2015 to discuss the matter. An officer from the Ministry of Justice who was invited to comment stated that the action by Shibuya is legal because the certificate issued is not a marriage certificate and the current Japanese legal code does not prohibit the "partnership" of same-sex couples.[4] In July 2015, Setagaya announced it would be joining Shibuya in issuing partnership certificates from 5 November.[5][6][3]

in May 2021, 12 municipalities in Tokyo, Adachi, Bunkyō, Edogawa, Fuchū, Koganei, Kokubunji, Kunitachi, Minato, Nakano, Setagaya, Shibuya and Toshima, agreed to mutually recognize each others' partnership certificates.[7] Other wards, including Tama, Kita, Musashino and Arakawa, have established registries since, with the city of Machida set to launch a registry in March 2023.[8]

As of June 2022, 604 same-sex partnerships had been registered within Tokyo's cities and wards.

On June 21, 2023, the Special Wards Personnel and Welfare Affairs Association, which coordinates the salary system of Tokyo's 23 wards, directed the ward governments to treat same-sex partners of ward employees as "spouses", in line with the Tokyo metropolitan government's policy for their own employees.[9]

Cities are bolded:

Measures to allow partnership certificates have been proposed in several other administrative wards in Tokyo, such as Chiyoda, Chūō, Katsushika, Kōtō, Nerima, Shinjuku, and Taitō, as well as the city of Higashimurayama.[30]

On 7 June 2021, the General Affairs Committee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly unanimously accepted a petition, launched by LGBT activists and signed by 18,000 people, to establish a partnership system in Tokyo Metropolis.[31] Governor Yuriko Koike expressed her support for the move, stating it would "respect the human rights of sexual minorities and promote the understanding of Tokyo citizens regarding diversity".[32] The bill, establishing the "Tokyo Partnership Oath System" (Japanese: 東京都パートナーシップ宣誓制度, romanized: tōkyō to pātonāshippu sensei seido) was enacted by the Metropolitan Assembly on 15 June 2022. It calls on businesses and other entities to treat same-sex partnerships as equal to married couples, allowing couples to access family-use housing, the right to visit their partners in hospital, and to respect children designated as members of the household. In addition, same-sex partners of metropolitan government employees were extended employee allowances and nursing care leave. At least one partner must be resident in Tokyo or a commuter for work. It came into force on 1 November,[33] with applications being accepted from 10 October,[34] making Tokyo the tenth and most-populous prefecture to do so. By 31 December 2022, 407 certificates had been issued by the prefecture.[35] The Metropolitan Government also completed a mutual recognition agreement with those cities and wards in Tokyo which had already established their own registries since 2015, ensuring that partnerships registered by these cities since would be recognized and affirmed throughout all of Tokyo's cities and wards.[36] On 30 March, 2023, this mutual recognition was extended to the city of Chōfu and the wards of Sumida, Suginami, Machida and Hino.[37]

The metropolitan government has yet to extend mutual recognition to other prefectures' registries.

A lawsuit was filed by a Tokyo couple on 14 February (Valentine's Day), 2019, and was among several such lawsuits filed that day in other jurisdictions. The plaintiffs, Chizuka Oe and Yoko Ogawa, a couple for 25 years, argued that banning same-sex marriage violates articles 13 and 14 of the Constitution.[38][39]

On 4 March 2020, the Tokyo High Court ruled that cohabiting same-sex couples should be entitled to the same legal benefits as those granted to cohabiting heterosexual couples.[40] This ruling provided legitimacy to the plaintiff's same-sex relationship, allowing the plaintiff to sue her lesbian partner of seven years for infidelity, a move that was previously restricted to heterosexual partners.[41] The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of Japan on 18 March 2021.

Several milestones in LGBT political history have taken place in Tokyo Metropolis.

In 2003, Aya Kamikawa became the first openly transgender politician to be elected to public office in Japan, winning a seat on the Setagaya Ward Assembly. She initially ran as an independent but expressed support for the now-defunct Rainbow and Greens party and later unsuccessfully ran for the National Parliament as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan.[50]

In 2010, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara faced international criticism for controversial comments he made, in which he said that gays and lesbians were "deficient somehow. It may be attributed to something genetic. I feel sorry for them being a minority."[51]

In 2011, Taiga Ishikawa became one of the first two openly-gay men elected to office in Japan, winning a seat in the local assembly of Toshima Ward.[52] He came out publicly in his book Where Is My Boyfriend (2002), and started a non-profit organization that sponsors social events for gay men in Japan. Wataru Ishizaka, also openly gay, was elected in the same election to the Nakano ward council in Tokyo.

At the 2019 House of Councillors election, Ishikawa won a seat in the House of Councillors as a member of the CDP, the first openly gay man to do so.[53][54] After his election, he vowed to legalize same-sex marriage and enact anti-discrimination laws within the six years of his term.[55][56][57]

During the country's 2017 general election, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's newly launched Party of Hope pledged the elimination of LGBT discrimination in its manifesto.[58]