Marchers at Tokyo Rainbow Pride proclaim “#Love Wins” in English and Japanese. Image credit: U.S. Embassy Tokyo, Flickr.
Two Japanese courts ruled on 14 March 2024 that the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage violates the constitution.
Japanese law currently excludes same-sex couples from the definition of marriage.
Same-sex couples can enter a partnership agreement in some municipalities — however, these do not offer the same rights as marriage, such as hospital visits and parental rights.
In the nation’s capital, the court ruled that same-sex marriage ban cannot be justified under Article 24(2) of the constitution.
Article 24(2) protects the right to choose a spouse “from a standpoint of individual dignity and the essential equality of the sexes”.
On the northern island Hokkaido, the Sapporo High Court found the Civil Code and the Family Register Act in violation of three articles of the constitution, including 24(2).
Judge Kiyofumi Saito described the ban as “discrimination that lacks rationality”.
The Sapporo High Court is the first Japanese high court to make this ruling.
East Asia researcher for Amnesty International Boram Jang said in a statement that the courts’ decisions “make clear that such discrimination has no place in Japanese society”.
“The Japanese government now needs to be proactive in moving towards legalisation of same-sex marriage so that couples can fully enjoy the same marriage rights as their heterosexual counterparts,” said Jang.
Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) remains opposed to the campaign.
The conservative “family values” LDP is known for their reluctance to promote gender and sexual equality and their ties to right-wing religious groups.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida previously rejected claims that the same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.
“I don’t think disallowing same-sex couples to marry is unjust discrimination by the state,” said Kishida in February 2023.
The Japanese government passed a law in June 2023 to “promote understanding” of LGBTQIA+ people.
Rights groups widely criticised the law for failing to definitively protect LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination.
“There need to be concrete, legal measures in place to protect same-sex couples and the LGBTI community in Japan from all forms of discrimination,” said Jang.
The court ruling cannot overturn the marriage law, and the government can continue to uphold the ban unless the existing law is revised, or a new law is enacted.
Greece is the most recent country to legalise same-sex marriage.
Taiwan is currently the only country in Asia where same-sex marriage is legal.
