On Tuesday, Tokyo began awarding partnership certificates to same-sex couples who live and work in the city, a long-awaited step in a country where marriage equality does not exist.
The certificates allow LGBTQ couples to be classified as married couples for a variety of public services, including housing, medical, and welfare.
Since Tokyo’s Shibuya district pioneered the system in 2015, more than 200 smaller local governments in Japan have taken steps to recognize same-sex partnerships.
While the status does not confer the same legal rights as marriage, it is a pleasant development for couples such as Miki and Katie, who have long been without official confirmation of their relationship.
“My biggest concern has been that we would be considered as strangers in an emergency,” Miki told AFP at her Tokyo home, where images of the Japanese 36-year-old and her American lover Katie, 31, cover the refrigerator.
Without a partnership certificate, the couple, who wished to be identified only by their first names, used to put a letter with the other’s contact information inside their wallets.
“However, these were little, and we felt that official documentation verified by the local government would be more effective,” Miki explained as their grey-and-white cat frolicked in a rainbow necktie.
According to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, 137 couples have requested a certificate as of Friday morning.
The introduction of same-sex partnership certificates, which include both residents and commuters, is expected to aid in the fight against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in Japan.
“I truly believe that through this Tokyo collaboration system, we can speed efforts to establish a society in which the rights of sexual minorities may be preserved and made more equitable,” campaigner Soyoka Yamamoto said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Yamamoto and her companion Yoriko, who have been living together for over a decade, were presented with their certificate that morning.
“I hope we may now access many facilities and services without explaining our connection,” Yoriko added, describing the measure as a “big step forward.”
Japan, which is governed by a conservative ruling party that promotes traditional family values, has taken incremental strides toward embracing sexual diversity in recent years.
More businesses are now publicly stating their support for same-sex marriage, and LGBT characters in television series are more openly shown.
According to a 2021 NHK poll, 57 percent of the public supports gay marriage, while 37 percent opposes it.
However, obstacles continue, with an Osaka court declaring in June that the country’s refusal to recognize same-sex partnerships was constitutional.
This was a setback for campaigners following a historic ruling by a Sapporo court last year, which stated the current status violated Japan’s constitutionally given right to equality.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been wary of legislative measures that would legalize same-sex relationships on a nationwide scale.
Meanwhile, Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party local assemblyman Noboru Watanabe came under fire last month for calling same-sex marriage “disgusting.”
“Some politicians have made incredibly harsh statements about us like we’re mentally ill,” Katie told AFP.
But “Families do not usually consist of a mother, a father, and two children. We need to be more adaptable,” she stated.
Miki and Katie celebrated their wedding last month, but despite their pleasure at the new system’s launch, they recognize its limitations.
The right to inherit in the event of a partner’s death is still not assured, and Katie’s inability to stay in Japan is jeopardized due to her lack of spousal visa status.
“I believe that Japanese people’s comprehension of same-sex marriage is now sufficient,” Miki stated. “All that remains is for policymakers to take it seriously and make changes.”
