13 Same-sex couples in Japan file suits over denial of marriages

February 14, 2019

Tokyo--Thirteen same-sex couples in Japan filed damages lawsuits against the government on Thursday, claiming that the denial of their marriages violates the country's constitution, which guarantees freedom of marriage.

They sought one million yen in damages per person in the lawsuits filed with district courts in Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya and Osaka.

According to their lawyers, the lawsuits marked the first litigation in the country over the constitutionality of the denial of same-sex marriages.

The plaintiffs are eight male couples and five female couples in their 20s to 50s from eight prefectures.

One of the plaintiffs, Ai Nakajima, a 40-year-old resident of Yokohama, south of Tokyo, said, "I hope that the lawsuits will lead to the start of permission for same-sex marriages in Japanese history."

Article 24 of the constitution stipulates that marriage "shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes." The plaintiffs claim that the article does not ban same-sex marriages as the phrase "both sexes" is used to invalidate the former Civil Code that required the consent of family heads for marriages.

They also claim that the denial of rights and benefits, including those related to inheritance and joint custody, for same-sex couples that are granted to different-sex couples violates the constitutional principle that all people are equal under the law.

More than 20 countries already allow same-sex marriages.

In Japan, 11 municipalities, including Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, have introduced partnership programs that recognize same-sex couples since November 2015.

Even under the programs, however, same-sex couples are not eligible for spouse resident tax deductions and status as partners' legal heirs. Jiji Press