Japan

Global News

Added on: 07/24/2020
Japan’s government should pass the Equality Act ahead of next year’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Human Rights Watch, Athlete Ally, and Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation (J-ALL)…

Global News

Added on: 06/29/2020
06/27/2020
Ikuo Sato knows he will be in trouble if he becomes infected with COVID-19. “I’m over 60, I’ve got diabetes, I’m HIV-positive and I’m on artificial dialysis,”…

Global News

Added on: 06/21/2020
06/20/2020
A total of 900 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender couples have been recognized by municipal and other governments in Japan since 2015, when the use of certificates…

Global News

Added on: 06/10/2020
Japan is beginning to lag noticeably behind when it comes to LGBTQ rights such as adoption and marriage equality, but one region has taken a groundbreaking step…

Global News

Added on: 06/05/2020
06/04/2020
A Japanese district court on Thursday rejected a request by a man to overturn a prefectural commission’s decision deeming him ineligible for victims’ compensation as a surviving…

Global News

Added on: 05/18/2020
05/17/2020
With a new law aimed at stopping harassment in the workplace set to enter into force in Japan in June, freelance workers and sexual minorities are casting…

Global News

Added on: 04/27/2020
04/26/2020
About 20 companies in Japan will start accepting “partnership certificates,” issued to same-sex couples by a nongovernmental organization, from July as a way of providing employees with…

Global News

Added on: 04/21/2020
04/20/2020
A 34-year-old man who lives with his same-sex partner in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, has chosen not to be open about his sexual orientation at his office. But…

Global News

Added on: 03/12/2020
While Hollywood has blockbuster queer films Brokeback Mountain (2005), Moonlight (2016) and Call Me By Your Name (2017), social stigmas and cultural taboos mean that LGBTQ+ characters…

Global News

Added on: 02/19/2020
02/18/2020
Ireland’s groundbreaking marriage equality vote will be five years old this May – but have you seen one major ad campaign to attract the sought after LGBT…

Global News

Added on: 02/13/2020
02/11/2020
A pop-up venue will open in Tokyo to raise awareness of sexual minorities for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Unity in diversity is one of the…

Global News

Added on: 01/20/2020
01/20/2020
Tokyo’s Minato Ward plans to adopt the first ordinance in Japan that gives sexual minorities the freedom to choose school uniforms and work attire based on their…

Global News

Added on: 12/19/2019
12/18/2019
The city of Yokohama near Tokyo began issuing certificates recognizing the partnerships of sexual minority and common-law couples on Monday. Yokohama is the third city in Japan…

Global News

Added on: 11/28/2019
11/27/2019
Ikuo Sato stood in front of a Tokyo court in April and told the world he was gay. To a packed room, he described the anxiety he…

Global News

Added on: 10/05/2019
10/04/2019
A conservative ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for discussion on revising Japan’s constitution to allow same-sex marriage, annoying colleagues in the ruling party who…

Global News

Added on: 09/24/2019
09/20/2019
As the Rugby World Cup got underway Friday, a pop-up venue for LGBT and other sexual minority fans opened in Tokyo, in an initiative organizers hope to…

Global News

Added on: 09/13/2019
US citizen barred from receiving a long-term visa to live with his husband in Japan has sued the country’s government, claiming he is being denied a family…

Global News

Added on: 09/04/2019
09/03/2019
When Tokyo hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics, there will likely be a record number of out LGBTQ athletes competing in the Games. Not only that, it could…

Global News

Added on: 09/04/2019
09/04/2019
A Southeast Asian woman has become the first transgender person to receive a long-term residential permit in Japan, according to her lawyer. The 58-year-old woman, who has…

Global News

Added on: 07/27/2019
07/24/2019
Japan’s first openly gay male lawmaker said on Tuesday he believed the country would legalize same-sex marriage, months after Taiwan became the first place in Asia to…

Global News

Added on: 07/23/2019
07/22/2019
Japan on Monday (22 July) elected its first openly-gay politician to the country’s national parliament. LGBTI rights activist turned lawmaker Taiga Ishikawa won a seat for the…

Global News

Added on: 07/14/2019
07/14/2019
The LGBT community and their allies hope the upcoming upper house election will help advance the national discussion on LGBT rights in Japan and lead to legal…

Global News

Added on: 07/07/2019
07/07/2019
The term “sexual minority” in Japanese refers to anyone who falls under the LGBT+ umbrella, and while lesbian and gay people have been fighting hard for equality…

Global News

Added on: 07/04/2019
07/02/2019
Japan has granted asylum to an LGBT+ refugee on the grounds of homophobic persecution in their home country for the first time. Details including the refugee’s home…

Global News

Added on: 06/24/2019
06/24/2019
Authorities in Ibaraki Prefecture said Monday they would start issuing partnership certificates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples from July 1, in an effort to address…

Global News

Added on: 06/20/2019
06/19/2019
As Japanese lawmakers grapple with a landmark same-sex marriage bill, campaigners fear it may die at the first legislative hurdle as lawmakers pander to aging voters and…

Global News

Added on: 06/17/2019
06/16/2019
When 13 LGBTQ couples sued the Japanese government earlier this year, arguing for legal recognition of same-sex marriage, it made headlines around the world as a historic…

Global News

Added on: 06/14/2019
06/13/2019
As Japanese lawmakers grapple with a landmark same-sex marriage bill, campaigners fear it may die at the first legislative hurdle as lawmakers pander to aging voters and…

Global News

Added on: 06/04/2019
06/03/20219
Japan’s major opposition parties submitted a bill Monday calling for same-sex marriage in the world’s third-biggest economy, a move that comes weeks after Taiwan became the first…

Global News

Added on: 05/12/2019
05/09/2019
In the first five months of 2019 alone, the number of Japanese municipalities with a “partnership system” recognizing same-sex relationships has doubled. While Japan’s national government has…