Cheering, flag-waving crowds yesterday gathered in Tokyo for the first full Pride parade in four years, celebrating advances in LGBTQ rights, but also demanding that Japan join other advanced nations in legally recognizing same-sex marriage.
Change is slow in Japan, which is next month to host a G7 summit. It is the only member of the group that does not recognize same-sex marriage.
Growing support from the nation’s top business lobby and major companies is putting pressure on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration and his conservative ruling party.
Photo: Reuters
Organizers estimated that 10,000 people marched in the parade in the downtown Shibuya district.
Participants said they realized how their nation lagged the rest of the G7, but were hopeful of change.
“Japan is really far behind... We will fight until the entire country has same-sex marriage,” said Himama, who was wearing a pink-dyed goatee and declined to give his real name out of consideration for family.
“I think the government is both pretending to see us and pretending not to, but that change will really start happening from here on in,” Himama said.
Masako Mori, a special adviser to Kishida on LGBTQ affairs, attended, but did not mention same-sex marriage in brief remarks before the parade began, instead urging “greater understanding of LGBTQ.”
Crowds lined the sidewalks, waving rainbow flags and shouting “happy pride” at marchers, who included a group from Taiwan — the only Asian nation with same-sex marriage.
Since the last pre-COVID-19 pride parade in 2019, the number of Japanese municipalities allowing same-sex couples to enter partnership agreements has surged from 26 to about 300, covering about 65 percent of the population.
However, the agreements do not allow partners to inherit each other’s assets and deny them parental rights to each other’s children. Hospital visits are not guaranteed.
Kishida in February fired an aide who sparked outrage by saying people would flee Japan if same-sex marriage was allowed, but the prime minister remains noncommittal about same-sex marriage, even as polls show 70 percent of the public in favor.
“Circumstances in each country are different, and I believe it is important to proceed with discussions carefully,” Kishida told a foreign media roundtable on Thursday.
Japan’s constitution refers to marriage as being between “both sexes” and mentions “the equal rights of husband and wife.” Allowing same-sex marriage would require amending the civil code.
Some lawmakers have vowed to pass a law promoting “understanding of LGBTQ” before the summit. Activists and business leaders say this is a good step, but falls short, adding that Japan at last year’s G7 summit also committed to ensuring equal rights and anti-discrimination measures for LGBTQ.
Masakazu Tokura, head of the powerful Keidanren business lobby, said last month that he found the gap between Japan and other countries on LGBTQ issues “embarrassing” during a trip to the US.
The situation has long limited the talent pool for global firms, but even traditional Japanese companies find their international competitiveness endangered without diversity, including LGBTQ rights.
“Basically all the debates would be by Japanese men, and that made it hard to grow as a global firm,” NEC Corp chief diversity officer Chika Sato said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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