In a recent news report, it was revealed that Tokyo municipalities of Setagaya and Shibuya have been issuing domestic partnership certificates to same-sex couples since 2015—an indication that LGBT acceptance is slowly strengthening in Japan.
In the said ordinance (implemented in April 2015), the certificate to be issued to same-sex couples is acknowledging that their “relationship is equivalent to marriage”. This has also encouraged local governments and businesses to take into consideration the rights of LGBT persons and formally grant them their own rights to family discounts, life insurance, auto insurance, corporate policies, mortgages, and so on.
In surveys conducted by Dentsu and the Japan Trade Union Confederation, it was revealed that 8% of Japan’s population identifies themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. That is 10 million people out of a total population of 126 million.
In 2016, the company NTT (currently an Olympic Gold Partner for Tokyo 2020) have been offering wedding bonuses and wedding leave benefits to same-sex couples. In April this year, they have expanded this to treat same-sex couples the same as heterosexual married couples with allowances for dependents, and parental leaves for same-sex couples raising adopted children.
With this big move, there is a major chance that this will spread and sooner or later no one won’t feel left out anymore for being who they are and who they want to love.
Source: Nippon.com