The city government here has issued a certificate of residence to a same-sex couple, listing their relationship in the same way as those in a de facto marriage. Keita Matsuura, 38, and Yutaro Fujiyama, 39, both residents of Omura city, applied to combine their separate households into one. They requested that Matsuura be registered as “head of the household” and Fujiyama as his “unregistered husband.” The city granted their request on May 2. Such a description is used in cases of de facto marriages of opposite-sex couples on administrative documents. The couple said the recognition of their same-sex de facto marriage in administrative documents is of great significance. “The possibility of obtaining rights equivalent to those of de facto marriages will arise,” Matsuura said.