Issuance of Japan's first same-sex partnership certificate

Eight couples in Tokyo’s Shibuya and Setagaya wards were on Thursday issued with certificates recognizing their same-sex partnerships as equivalent to marriage on the first day of the long-awaited policy change.

As local leaders heralded the milestone, advocates hope it will trigger further discussion about revising nationwide laws.

Although the papers are not legally binding, hospitals and businesses such as real estate firms are requested to treat certificate holders in the same way as married couples.

Shibuya Ward enacted its ordinance on same-sex partnerships in March, stipulating that businesses who fail to comply can be publicly named.

Setagaya has no such disclosure requirement in its policy, which was created in July.

In Shibuya Ward, the first couple to receive the certificates were Koyuki Higashi, 30, a former member of the all-woman Takarazuka Revue troupe, and 37-year-old entrepreneur Hiroko Masuhara.

Koyuki Higashi, left, and partner Hiroko Masuhara display a partnership certificate issued by the Shibuya ward office in Tokyo on Thursday. Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

I want many people to know that same-sex couples are around you,” Masuhara said. Higashi added, “This is a big first step forward.

It was also a day of celebration for Yumiko Takashima, 45, and Sachiko Takano, 44, a transgender male sign language instructor. The two have lived together in Setagaya for 17 years.

Two same-sex couples pose with certificates recognizing their partnerships in Setagaya Ward Thursday . | YOSHIAKI MIURA

“I really appreciate Setagaya Ward for recognizing us as a family,” said Takashima, a sign language interpreter.

“My (deaf) partner is prone to injury. But only family members could sign a surgical consent form. I know he is my family, but generally our relationship had not been (officially) acknowledged,” Takashima said.

Who Are Eligible To Have The Certificates?

Couples applying for the certificate must be at least 20 years old and residents of Shibuya Ward. Before the application, they have to make a notarized document stating that their relationship is based on love and mutual trust.

Companies Offering Insurance and Discounts to "Same Sex Partners"

The certificate issuance came amid other signs of a gradual acceptance of the rights of same-sex couples by Japanese businesses.

Lifenet Insurance said Wednesday it had expanded its services to recognise same-sex partners as beneficiaries of life insurance contracts.

Mobile phone carriers NTT DoCoMo and KDDI have also said in recent months that they would expand family discount services to cover gay partners.

SoftBank, another major mobile carrier, has offered family discounts to those who shared addresses, regardless of their genders.

Source The Guardian, Japan Today, Japan Times