Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Japan have fewer legal protections than in most other developed countries, although some developments towards stronger rights have been made in the 2020s. Same-sex sexual activity was criminalised only briefly in Japan's history between 1873 and 1881, after which a localised version of the Napoleonic Penal Code was adopted with an equal age of consent. Same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the legal protections available to opposite-sex couples, although since 2015 some cities and prefectures, covering over 92% of the population by 2025, offer "partnership certificates" to recognise the relationships of same-sex couples and provide some legal benefits. Japan is the only country in the G7 that does not legally recognize same-sex unions nationally in any form. In March 2021 and May 2023, the Sapporo and Nagoya District Courts ruled that not recognising same-sex marriage was a violation of the Constitution. While in June 2022, the Osaka District Court ruled that not recognising same-sex marriage was not a violation of the Constitution, in November 2022, the Tokyo District Court ruled that the absence of same-sex marriage legislation was an unconstitutional state of affairs but did not violate the Constitution, though the court's ruling has no immediate legal effect. In June 2023, the Fukuoka District Court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage was constitutional. A second ruling in September 2023 concluded that same-sex relationships should not be excluded from Japan's marriage system.
Japan's culture and major religions do not have a history of hostility towards homosexuality. A 2019 poll indicated that 68 percent of the respondents agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, while 22 percent disagreed. Although many political parties have not openly supported or opposed LGBTQ rights, there are several openly LGBTQ politicians in office. The conservative Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's leading political party, remains opposed to same-sex marriage, while two other major parties, the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party and libertarian Innovation Party both favor same-sex marriage. As of 2023, marriage equality movements have been gaining prominence within the nation. A law allowing transgender individuals to change their legal gender post-sex reassignment surgery and sterilization was passed in 2003. The sterilization requirement was unanimously ruled by the Japanese Supreme Court to be unconstitutional in October 2023, removing the requirement. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is banned in some cities, including Tokyo.
Tokyo Rainbow Pride has been held annually since 2012, with attendance increasing every year. A 2015 opinion poll reflected that the majority of its respondents supported the legalization of same-sex marriage. Further opinion polls conducted over the following years have found high levels of support for same-sex marriage among the Japanese public, most notably the younger generation. However, a 2020 survey of over 10,000 LGBTQ people in Japan found that 38 percent of LGBTQ people had been harassed or assaulted.
In 2019, 2022 and 2025, Japan voted in favor of the United Nations independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
History
Homosexuality and same-sex relations have been documented in Japan since ancient times. One Shinto myth describes same-sex love as being introduced by the couple Shinu no Hafuri and Ama no Hafuri, servants of a "primordial goddess", presumably Amaterasu. Following Shinu's death, Ama killed himself, and the two were buried in the same grave.
In the pre-Meiji era, nanshoku (男色) relationships inside Buddhist monasteries were typically pederastic. The older partner, or , would be a monk, priest or abbot, while the younger partner was assumed to be an , who would be a prepubescent or adolescent boy.Childs, Margaret (1980). "Chigo Monogatari: Love Stories or Buddhist Sermons?". Monumenta Nipponica. Sophia University. 35: 127–51. doi:10.2307/2384336. The relationship would be dissolved once the boy reached adulthood (or left the monastery). Both parties were encouraged to treat the relationship seriously and conduct the affair honorably, and the nenja might be required to write a formal vow of fidelity.Pflugfelder, Gregory M. (1997). Cartographies of desire: male–male sexuality in Japanese discourse, 1600–1950. University of California Press. p. 26, 39–42, 75, 70-71, 252, During the Tokugawa period, some of the Shinto gods, especially Hachiman, Myoshin, Shinmei and Tenjin, "came to be seen as guardian deities of nanshoku" (male–male love).
From religious circles, same-sex love spread to the warrior (samurai) class, where it was customary for a boy in the wakashū age category to undergo training in the martial arts by apprenticing to a more experienced adult man. The relationship was based on the typical nenja, who loves, and the typically younger chigo, who is loved.Furukawa, Makoto. The Changing Nature of Sexuality: The Three Codes Framing Homosexuality in Modern Japan. pp. 99, 100, 108, 112. The man was permitted, if the boy agreed, to take the boy as his lover until he came of age.Leupp, Gary (1997). Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan. University of California Press. , p. 26, 32, 53, 69-78, 88, 90- 92, 95-97, 102, 132-135. These relationships were expected to be exclusive, with both partners swearing to take no other (male) lovers.
As Japan progressed into the Meiji era, same-sex practices continued; however, there was a growing animosity towards these practices. The practice of nanshoku began to die out after the Russo-Japanese War. Opposition to homosexuality did not become firmly established in Japan until the 19th and 20th centuries, although it was only criminalized between 1873 and 1880.
Terminology Modern Japanese terms for LGBTQ people include .
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Legality of same-sex sexual activity
There are no explicit religious prohibitions against homosexuality in the traditional religion of Japan, Shinto, or in the imported religions of Buddhism (see "Buddhism and sexual orientation"); however Chinese Confucianism prohibited homosexual marriage which may have also influenced Chinese Buddhism.
Sodomy was first criminalized in Japan in 1872, in the early Meiji era. But this provision was repealed only seven years later by the Penal Code of 1880 (commenced in 1882) in accordance with the Napoleonic Penal Code. Since then, Japan has had no laws against homosexuality. Thus, sexual activity among consenting adults, in private, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation, is legal under Japanese law. Since June 2023, the age of consent has been set at 16 years.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
Article 24 of the Japanese Constitution states that "Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis." Articles 731 to 737 of the Japanese Civil Code limit marriage to heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples are not able to marry, and same-sex couples are not granted rights derived from marriage. Also, same-sex marriages performed abroad are not legally recognized in Japan and bi-national same-sex couples cannot obtain a visa for the foreign partner based on their relationship, though the Ministry of Justice does have a general rule of giving the discretionary "designated activities" visa to same-sex married spouses. Japan and Italy are the only countries in the G7 where same-sex marriages are not performed.
In March 2009, Japan began allowing Japanese nationals to marry same-sex partners in countries where same-sex marriage is legal. The Justice Ministry instructed local authorities to issue key certificates, which state that a person is single and of legal age, to individuals seeking to enter same-sex marriages in areas that legally allow it.
In February 2015, the ward of Shibuya (in Tokyo) announced plans to establish a partnership system that would recognize same-sex couples for situations such as hospital visits and shared renting of apartments. This procedure allows couples to get a "proof of partnership" paper, which does not have any weight under Japanese law but can help in, for instance, getting access to a partner who is ill and in hospital but institutions are under no legal obligation to respect the certificates. The Shibuya system is considered a significant step towards lesbian and gay partnership rights in Japan. In July 2015, Tokyo's Setagaya ward announced that it would be joining Shibuya in recognizing same-sex partnerships from November of the same year. Since then, over 400 municipalities have begun issuing partnership certificates, including highly populated Yokohama, Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Kawasaki, Saitama and Hiroshima, as well as 30 prefectures, including Tokyo, Ibaraki, Osaka, Gunma, Saga and Mie.
On 17 March 2021, a district court in Sapporo ruled that laws or regulations that deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry constitute unlawful discrimination and violate Article 14 of the Constitution of Japan. The court found that Article 24 does not prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages. The ruling did not legalize same-sex marriage in Japan, but is likely to step up pressure on the National Diet to act.
Yasuhiko Watanabe, a law professor at Kyoto Sangyo University, stated that if Japan recognizes same-sex marriage, that would impact the whole of Asia, proving that it is allowed not only in Western societies.
On 26 June 2022, a district court in Osaka brought down a conflicting ruling to the ruling from the previous year out of Sapporo. It ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage is not unconstitutional. The ruling did not change the legal status of same-sex marriage in Japan as it did not occur at a court with the power to set binding legal precedent. The plaintiffs have indicated plans to appeal the decision. Other similar court cases in other district courts in Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka remain ongoing. In addition, the Tokyo metropolitan government recently announced a plan, set to take effect in October, to accept registrations from same-sex couples seeking certificates of their partnerships. On 1 November, Tokyo finally implemented a legally recognised relationship registration scheme for same-sex couples. In August 2023, Wakayama Prefecture proposed to locally introduce Japan's partnership system for same-sex couples.
In July 2022, Japanese video game company Nintendo announced its support for same-sex marriage and that it would recognize employees in same-sex partnerships as identical to opposite-sex marriages, in defiance of Japanese law. The company's policy has been described as a major action in Japan's increasing discussion on its same-sex marriage ban.
On 17 December 2024, then Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba made the following statement about same-sex marriage during a parliamentary session: "I have met concerned individuals, and I can see that being together is the most precious thing to them. While there is no 'scale' for measuring the national happiness, I believe that fulfilling these deepest wishes would have a positive and beneficial impact on the overall well-being of Japan".