Same-Sex Partnership Systems Cover More than 90% of Japan’s Population a Decade After Introduction

Japan Data

Society
Family

Jul 25, 2025

A decade after the introduction of same-sex partnership systems in the Tokyo municipalities of Shibuya and Setagaya, coverage has expanded to 92.5% of the Japanese population.

Growing Coverage

A survey conducted jointly by NPO Nijiiro Diversity and the Shibuya municipal government in Tokyo found that 530 Japanese prefectures and municipalities have adopted same-sex partnership systems as of May 31, 2025. At present, 92.5% of the population in Japan has access to such systems, after a year-on-year increase of 7.4 percentage points. To date, 9,836 partnership certificates have been issued to couples.

Same-Sex Partnership Systems and Registered Couples

Under partnership systems, same-sex couples who live together can register for a certificate recognizing their relationship as equivalent to marriage. Obtaining a certificate makes it possible for same-sex partners to be recognized as family and enjoy the same administrative services as their heterosexual counterparts, such as being able to apply for public housing together.

Local governments have introduced partnership systems to help compensate for Japan not legally recognizing same-sex marriages. The movement received a major boost in 2022 when the metropolis of Tokyo, with a population of 14 million, introduced its own system.

This year’s survey found that 33 of Japan’s 47 prefectures have same-sex partnership systems in 100% of their municipalities. With the introduction of systems in Sendai, Fukushima, Matsuyama, and other cities, coverage extends to all of the country’s prefectural capitals and designated cities.

Same-Sex Partnership Systems by Region

In 2019, same-sex couples filed lawsuits in five district courts, claiming that the current law against same-sex marriage violates the Constitution’s guarantees of freedom of marriage and equality under the law. While decisions were divided in the lower courts, judgements from five high courts in 2024 and 2025 were unanimous in ruling that the current law against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

Data Sources

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Lawyers for the plaintiffs and others hold boards marking the verdict that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional at Nagoya High Court on March 7, 2025. © Jiji.)

partnership
same-sex marriage
LGBTQ