Japan

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…

Global News

Added on: 05/05/2019
05/04/2019
Tomoyuki Oishi is probably the only LGBTI person living in his small village in Nagano prefecture, Japan. ‘I like the village, but it feels very cramped’ the…

Global News

Added on: 05/01/2019
04/28/2019
With rainbow flags flying high and colorful signboards vividly displayed under a clear blue sky, thousands of members of the LGBT community and their supporters took to…

Global News

Added on: 04/24/2019
04/22/2019
The name of a gay student who died after being outed may remain known to only a small number of people – his immediate family, friends, classmates,…

Global News

Added on: 04/20/2019
04/17/2019
For Tacaquito Usui to marry his partner, Japanese law first requires him to undergo sterilisation surgery and be diagnosed with a mental disorder because he is transgender….

Global News

Added on: 04/17/2019
04/15/2019
In the first oral argument of an unprecedented trial challenging the constitutionality of Japan’s same-sex marriage ban, LGBT couples spoke Monday of their experiences, aiming to highlight…

Global News

Added on: 04/12/2019
04/12/2019
People having their sexual orientation or gender identity revealed without their consent has become a deepening problem in Japan, a country known for its culture in which…

Global News

Added on: 04/10/2019
04/09/2019
Japan’s first transgender prefectural assembly member has been elected in local elections here on April 7. The new member, Ayako Fuchigami, was designated male at birth and…

Global News

Added on: 03/29/2019
Female Japanese footballer Shiho Shimoyamada has come out as gay and has encouraged other athletes to do the same before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The 24-year…

Global News

Added on: 03/28/2019
03/28/2019
Publishers of elementary school textbooks in Japan have included LGBT information in the latest editions of their books. Two out of five government-accredited publishers have included content…

Global News

Added on: 03/24/2019
Tomomi Inada isn’t trying to get Japan to legalize same-sex marriage or ban discrimination against gay citizens. The conservative lawmaker just wants to “promote understanding” of LGBT…