page_title: LGBT rights in Japan
section_title: Political support
hierarchical_section_title: LGBT rights in Japan / Political support
caption_attribution_description: English: Sapporo Rainbow Pride 2019, September 2019.
context_page_description: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights in Japan are relatively progressive by Asian standards. Same-sex sexual activity was criminalised only briefly in Japan's history between 1872 and 1880, 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 offer symbolic "partnership certificates" to recognise the relationships of same-sex couples.
  Japan's culture and major religions do not have a history of hostility towards homosexuality. A majority of Japanese citizens are reportedly in favor of accepting homosexuality, with a 2013 poll indicating that 54 percent agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, while 36 percent disagreed, with a large age gap. Although many political parties have not openly supported or opposed LGBT rights, there are several openly LGBT politicians in office. A law allowing transgender individuals to change their legal gender post-sex reassignment surgery and sterilization was passed in 2003.
context_section_description: Most political parties in Japan have formal positions in favor or against LGBT rights in their party's platform or manifesto. The Liberal Democratic Party has indicated opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage, whereas the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party have indicated support for legalization.
  In 2001, the Council for Human Rights Promotion, under the Ministry of Justice, recommended that sexual orientation be included in the nation's civil rights code, but the Diet refused to adopt the recommendation.
  In 2003, Aya Kamikawa became the first openly transgender politician to be elected to public office in Japan, winning a seat on the Setagaya Ward Assembly. She initially ran as an independent but expressed support for the now-defunct Rainbow and Greens party and later unsuccessfully ran for the National Parliament as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan.
  In 2005, Kanako Otsuji, from the Osaka Prefectural Assembly (2003–2007), became the first gay politician to formally come out at the Tokyo Gay Pride Festival. She later briefly served on the House of Councillors in 2013. She won a seat in the 2017 general election and became the first openly lesbian member of the House of Representatives.
  In 2010, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara faced international criticsm for controversial comments he made, in which he said that gays and lesbians were "deficient somehow. It may be attributed to something genetic. I feel sorry for them being a minority."
  In 2011, Taiga Ishikawa became the first openly gay man elected to office in Japan, specifically as the representative for the local assembly of Toshima Ward. He came out publicly in his book Where Is My Boyfriend (2002), and started a non-profit organization that sponsors social events for gay men in Japan. At the 2019 House of Councillors election, Ishikawa won a seat in the House of Councillors as a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), the first openly gay man to do so. After his election, he vowed to legalize same-sex marriage and enact anti-discrimination laws within the 6 years of his term.
  At the 2016 House of Councillors election, the conservative governing Liberal Democratic Party included in its manifesto, that "same-sex marriage is incompatible with the Constitution". However, it also included "promoting understanding of sexual diversity" in its platform, a move that would have been "unthinkable" in earlier times and that lawmaker Gaku Hashimoto attributed in part to burnishing the country's international image in advance of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In 2019, former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said she was unsure whether she would be able to introduce new legislation seeking greater tolerance of same-sex relationships amid opposition from her Liberal Democratic Party colleagues. While Inada announced she wishes to "promote understanding" of LGBT people, she stated she is not trying to get Japan to legalize same-sex marriage or ban discrimination against LGBT citizens. Some Liberal Democratic Party members made controversial statements, such as Katsuei Hirasawa who argued in a speech in February 2019 that the "nation would collapse" if everyone were gay. Another ruling party lawmaker, Mio Sugita, published a magazine article in 2018 describing same-sex couples as "unproductive" because they do not have children.
  In March 2017, Tomoya Hosoda was elected to the Iruma Assembly, in the prefecture of Saitama. Hosoda is believed to be the first openly transgender man elected to public office in the world.
  During the country's 2017 general election, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's newly launched Party of Hope pledged the elimination of LGBT discrimination in its manifesto.
  In January 2019, trans woman Maria Akasaka became a member of the Kameoka City Assembly, in Kyoto Prefecture. In April 2019, another trans woman, Ayako Fuchigami, won a seat on the Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly representing Sapporo's Higashi-ku ward. She became the first openly transgender person to hold a prefectural asse
caption: Sapporo Rainbow Pride in September 2019
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