Japan’s government has granted increased legal protections to same-sex couples, recognising them as “de facto marriages” in a series of laws and ordinances.

The move follows a High Court ruling delivered in March 2024, which stated that denying marriage equality to same-sex couples in Japan is unconstitutional and called on the government to take action to address the lack of protections.

As reported by The Japan Times, the government has now recognised same-sex couples as “de facto marriages” under nine more laws. It comes after the government considered recognising same-sex partners under 24 laws, including the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, Land and House Lease Act, Child Abuse Prevention Act, and Public Housing Act.

The Constitution in Japan currently defines marriage as based on “mutual consent between both sexes”, wording that has traditionally been interpreted to exclude same-sex couples. Since 2021, the country has seen a series of court rulings being delivered by lower and higher courts to address the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage.

In March 2024, the Sapporo High Court ruled that not granting same-sex couples the right to marry and enjoy the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts amounted to a violation of their fundamental right to equality and freedom of marriage.

A similar decision was handed down by the Tokyo High Court in October of the same year. This ruling also mentioned how legislation should be amended to grant same-sex couples equal rights to their heterosexual counterparts, including creating a new law to establish such a system.

In recent years, LGBTQ+ activists have stepped up their efforts, filing several lawsuits on marriage equality across regions in Japan. Moreover, hundreds of municipalities all over the country are issuing partnership certificates as a workaround to help same-sex couples in renting apartments or facing other forms of discrimination.

The accumulating rulings are putting increased pressure on the Supreme Court to weigh in on the constitutionality of Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage.

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