Framing Same-sex Marriage in Japan (original) (raw)
Related papers
Framing Same-sex Marriage in Japan 1
GIS Journal, 2020
This research note reports the first analysis of how same-sex marriage is framed by stakeholders in Japan, in a larger Japan-Hong Kong comparative project examining how same-sex partnership is advocated or resisted, what the implications are for the heteronormative institution of the marriage and the family, and how same-sex couples negotiate marriage and family norms in their everyday life. The analysis shows that whether arguing for or against same-sex marriage, the state as well as civil society reinforce homonationalistic discourses, albeit in a slightly different manner than observed in the West. Further, there is a tendency for advocates of same-sex marriage to construct marriage as the essence of human existence, leaving little room for a critical examination of a gendered and unequal institution, at least as it is practiced in today's Japan. All this provides some preliminary support for the claim that the legalization of same-sex marriage might indeed reinforce rather than undermine heteronormativity.
Despite its apparent gay friendliness, Japanese society has witnessed few public debates or social movements in support of same-sex marriage. It seems that Japanese scholars and activists are only just beginning to advocate the legal protection of homosexual couples. Although Japan has witnessed a few recent developments toward same-sex marriage, an anti-same sex marriage perspective seems to dominate, even among Japanese scholars and activists who are gay and lesbian themselves.In order to understand Japans slow progress toward same-sex marriage, this article examines the legality of same-sex marriage in Japan, Japans apparent lack of the political and historical progress of same-sex marriage in the West, and Japanese societal and cultural features including gay adoption, invisibility and heterosexism at work and in academia. This article also compares the current debates on the legal protection of same-sex couples in Japan and Japanese feminist criticism of the Japanese family, to explain the prevalence of the anti-same sex marriage position. Further, with the notion of familial homophobia by Shulman (2009), the traditional Japanese family is defined as the grounds for homophobia. Lastly, the possibility of legalizing same-sex marriage in Japan is discussed.
Legal recognition of same-sex partnerships: A comparative study of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan
The Sociological Review, 2019
Legal recognition of same-sex partnerships and marriages has been at the forefront of media attention in East Asian societies. For our comparative study, we carried out qualitative in-depth interviews with 31 gay men and lesbians to investigate the nuanced understanding of marriage, family and sexual citizenship within the context of debates on marriage equality across Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. Expanding on the theoretical concepts in Chen’s ‘Asia as method’, Iwabuchi’s ‘inter-Asian referencing’ and Yue and Leung’s ‘queer Asia as method’, we aim to understand how the act of marriage is defined, conducted and rationalized amidst a web of social relations within each research locale. We argue that despite the variations in the structure and practice of kin relations, same-sex unions cannot be detached from the kinship institution in the three research sites. Our study points to a different perspective on same-sex marriage that goes beyond the binary of assimilation to/dismantling of the heterosexual marriage institution by attending to the structural and symbolic significance of the family and community.
Pacific Affairs
This article will examine the determinants of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) policy adoption in Shibuya, one of the twenty-three city wards of Tokyo, by taking an actor-specific approach to the first case of officially recognized same-sex partnership in Japan. How did the sexual minority issue become the subject of official agendas? How did actors both inside and outside the municipal government seize agenda-setting opportunities for government action? The results indicate that key policy makers' entrepreneurship played a primary role in the official recognition of same-sex partnership by linking policy solutions with agenda-setting opportunities. This analysis demonstrates that the adoption of municipal LGBT policy does not necessarily reflect the redistribution of non-material resources, such as citizen values, but rather resembles the patterns of welfare politics.
The progress of LGBT rights in Japan in the 2010s
Beyond Diversity Queer Politics, Activism, and Representation in Contemporary Japan, 2024
The 2010s was am onumental decade for the progress of LGBT rights in Japan. LGBTr ights and discrimination cases became political topics in the mainstream media, attracting public interest.C ontrastingw itht he political climateo ft he 2000s, when it was rather exceptional for politicians and local governments to promote LGBTr ights,4 7l ocal ordinances had institutionalized same-sex partnership certificates and/ora nti-discrimination laws that included sexual orientation and gender identity by March 2020 ("Pātonāshippu seido," 2020). In February 2020, Naruhito became the first Japanese emperor to mention LGBTp eople, advocating diversity and calling for tolerance toward social minorities in ap ress conference on his birthday(The Imperial Household Agency,2 020). These political changes cannots implyb ea nalyzed in terms of the historical discourses of Japanese sexual minorities' activism. In 2016,S hibuyaW ard in Tokyo suddenly introduced as ame-sex partnership certificate system for the first time in Japan. Before that,Japanese LGBTactivists had rarely, if at all, argued for such as ystem, which is highlys ymbolic but,a sIwill discussi nt hisp aper,o ffers nowherenearthe same legal rights as heterosexual marriage(Enoki, 2019). In the 2000s, they had often discussed systems that offered legal rights to same-sex couples,s uch as the French civil solidarity pact (PACS; pactec ivil de solidarité), which is very different from contemporaryJ apanese models such as Shibuya's (Akasugi et al., 2004). Thus, the notable gapi nJ apan between the activist political agenda of the 2000s and the institutionalization of LGBTr ights in the 2010s indicates ad iscursivea nd political transformation. This paper will contextualize Japanese mainstream pro-LGBTr ights discourses and representations-an ew politicization of LGBTissues-within domestic and international political contexts and analyze how general Japanese attitudes toward LGBTissues changed in the 2010s. Firstly, this paper discusses three factors that have particularlychanged LGBT discourses and public attitudes in Japan in the 2010s, contributingt ot he mainstreamingo fL GBTp olitics in society:t he LGBTm arket; the use of LGBTr ights in US diplomacy;a nd the2 020S ummer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo. Secondly, it considers how Japanese local governments have become some of the main actors in the institutionalization of LGBTrights, even though they do not have the legal authority to changet he marriages ystem. Thirdly, it analyzes popular representations of LGBTr ights and visibility in Japan, focusing on whiteness, as Japan faces international, not domestic, political pressure to institutionalize LGBTrights Open Access. ©2 024 the author(s),p ublished by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the CreativeC ommons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Japanese 'LGBT Boom' Discourse and its Discontents
2020
In[1] the summer of 2016, I went inside a small café to talk to the owners about a local LGBT[2] campaign: ‘Excuse me, do you know what LGBT means?’ They didn’t. I tried again, asking aboutsekushuaru mainoriti[3], then seiteki mainoriti[4], then the fully native term, seiteki shōsūsha[5]. The owner somewhat understood the latter, but asked me to be more specific. I explained that I was referring to people who love people of the same-sex or whose gender identity does not match their biological identity. The owner then exclaimed: ‘Oh! Is this about homos[6]?’ From a cross-cultural perspective, Japan is often portrayed as a comparatively tolerant country due to the scarcity of LGBTrelated hate crime and active persecution (Vincent, Kazama and Kawaguchi 1997, 170). However, discrimination exists at a systematic and institutional level, as Japan does not have an anti-discrimination law, same-sex partnerships are only recognised to a limited extent in certain cities, and workplace discrim...
Company Policy VS Domestic : LGBT Discourse in Japan
Proceedings of the 2nd International Seminar on Translation Studies, Applied Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies, STRUKTURAL 2020, 30 December 2020, Semarang, Indonesia, 2021
With the globalization, the idea of recognizing same-sex marriage becomes more expanding throughout the world. Japan doesn't want to be left out, especially the companies. Some Japanese companies have implemented LGBT inclusion policies and benefits for their employees. On the outside, the public seems to show their full support for the LGBT community In Japan. However, in the domestic sector there are still many dismays and disagreement towards the LGBT. Coming out as LGBT to the parents is especially very difficult. Many parents show disagreements and even lash out at their children who are a part of LGBT. This paper will examine the different points of view regarding LGBT in the domestic sector and the company sector using qualitative methods and analyzing the result of the value difference.
Same-sex partnerships in Japan: Bypasses and other alternatives
Women's Studies, 2004
In contemporary Japan, the family remains a strong social and legal entity. The right to make decisions on behalf of another in emergency situations lies with the immediate family. Similarly, immediate family members are legally entitled to claim from deceased family member's estates. One way to ensure that property and inheritance rights are passed on to same-sex partners is for the older partner to adopt the younger, thereby becoming family in the eyes of the law. An alternative that has recently been proposed is for partners to draw up legal agreements and register them with a local notary office. Neither of these options are problem free-the former introduces a parent/child relationship to a domestic partnership; the latter is yet to be tested in a court of law. Both rely on surreptitiously accessing (or appropriating) the existing civil code. This article briefly outlines the current situation in Japan regarding same-sex partnership rights and the alternatives available.
Introduction: An ew ageo fv isibility? LGBTQ+ issues in contemporary Japan
Beyond Diversity Queer Politics, Activism, and Representation in Contemporary Japan, 2024
The 2010s was an epoch-making decade for LGBTQ+p eople in Japan. The cultural and political representation of sexual minorities became mainstream in many areas of Japanese society in ways that werereminiscent of, but considerablydifferent from, earlier periods. While LGBTQ+i ssues in Japan have receiveds cholarly attention since the 1990s¹,t here is little scholarship in English that focuses on developments after 2000,let alone the 2010s. With this volume, we aim to bridge this gapb ys hedding light on political and cultural representationso fa nd by sexual minorities in Japan from the 2010s, making available in English novel perspectives on LGBTQ+i ssues in Japan. In the following sections, we outline the major sociopolitical developments in the Japanese LGBTQ+context during the decades leading up to the 2010s, to provide the necessary context for amore nuanced understanding of the issues discussed in the papers included in this volume.