Couple pursues marriage through courts in Japan

In Sendai, Japan, 63-year-old Koichi Obama and his 79-year-old partner took legal action to gain recognition for their relationship.

Japan does not currently allow same-sex marriage, so couples are turning to the courts for relief. Facing time constraints due to his partner’s age, Obama chose an unconventional legal approach to establish their status as a family. Obama had previously concealed his sexuality, fearing the potential breakdown of the persona he created.

He and his partner began living together in 1993 and found freedom in their shared life, initially not desiring a formal marriage. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought concerns about hospital visitation and medical consent into focus, highlighting the lack of legal protections for same-sex couples. The couple’s desire for legal recognition grew more urgent as they realized the time they had together might be limited.

Around the same time, a district court in Sapporo ruled that the legal system’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, citing Article 14 of the Constitution which guarantees equality under the law. While similar lawsuits were being filed nationwide to pressure the Diet (Japan’s parliament) to revise the law, the government intended to contest these claims, potentially delaying a resolution for years. Obama and his partner, seeking a faster solution, learned about an alternative legal procedure from their lawyer.

In February 2024, they submitted a marriage application to the city of Taihaku, listing his partner as the husband and himself as the wife. The article details this new approach and the resulting judicial decision.