Editing Homosexuality in Japan (section)

==Homosexuality in modern Japan==

Despite the recent trends that suggest a new level of tolerance, as well as open scenes in more cosmopolitan cities (such as [[Tokyo]] and [[Osaka]]), Japanese gay men and lesbian women often conceal their sexuality, with many even marrying persons of the opposite sex.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sodomylaws.org/world/japan/jpnews001.htm |title='Selectively Out:' Being a Gay Foreign National in Japan|publisher=The Daily Yomiuri (on [[Internet Archive]])|author=Elizabeth Floyd Ogata|date=2001-03-24|access-date=2006-08-30 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060617175751/http://sodomylaws.org/world/japan/jpnews001.htm |archive-date = 2006-06-17}}</ref>

===Politics and law===
{{Main|LGBT rights in Japan}}
Japan has no laws against homosexual activity and has some legal protections for gay individuals. While civil rights laws do not extend to protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation, some governments have enacted such laws.  The government of [[Tokyo]] has passed laws that ban discrimination in employment based on sexual identity.

Japan's society and government are predominantly conservative.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |last1=Khalil |first1=Shaimaa |title=Marriage equality eludes Japan's same-sex couples |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66173433 |website=[[BBC]] |access-date=3 October 2023}}</ref> Most political parties in Japan have formal positions in favor or against LGBT rights in their party's platform or manifesto. The [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) has indicated opposition to legalizing [[same-sex marriage]], whereas the [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan|Constitutional Democratic Party]] (CDP), the [[Japanese Communist Party]] (JCP), the [[Nippon Ishin no Kai|Japan Innovation Party]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-09 |title=日本維新の会の国会議員の皆さまと同性婚に関するオンラインでの意見交換勉強会を開催しました！ |url=https://www.marriageforall.jp/blog/20220209/ |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=結婚の自由をすべての人に - Marriage for All Japan - |language=ja}}</ref> and the [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Social Democratic Party]] have indicated support for legalization.<ref>{{cite web|last=Inada |first=Miho |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/09/20/same-sex-marriage-in-japan-a-long-way-away/ |title=Same-Sex Marriage in Japan: A Long Way Away? - Japan Real Time - WSJ |publisher=Blogs.wsj.com |date=2013-09-20 |access-date=2014-06-16}}</ref> In a 2023 survey, [[Pew Research Center]] estimated that nearly 70% of Japanese people support same-sex marriage, the highest percentage of acceptance out of the Asian countries surveyed.<ref name="PewResearch">{{cite web |last1=Gubbala |first1=Sneha |last2=Poushter |first2=Jacob |last3=Huang |first3=Christine |title=How people around the world view same-sex marriage |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/27/how-people-around-the-world-view-same-sex-marriage/ |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=28 November 2023}}</ref>

Some political figures are beginning to speak publicly about they themselves being gay. [[Kanako Otsuji]], an assemblywoman from [[Osaka]], [[coming out|came out]] as a lesbian in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20050911x2.html |title=Assemblywoman Puts Sex on the Agenda - Lesbian Politician Kanako Otsuji Talks About Gender Issues in Japan |last=Tsubuku |first=Masako |date=September 11, 2005 |website=The Japan Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606015227/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20050911x2.html |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref> She became the first elected member of the House of Councillors and of the Diet in 2013 and 2015 respectively to do so.  [[Taiga Ishikawa]] was elected in 2019, becoming the first openly gay man to sit in the Diet. He was out also during his time previously as a ward councillor for Nakano.

The current Constitution of Japan, which was written during American occupation, defines marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman.<ref name=Tamagawa>{{Cite journal|last=Tamagawa|first=Masami|date=2016-03-14|title=Same-Sex Marriage in Japan|journal=Journal of GLBT Family Studies|volume=12|issue=2|pages=160–187|doi=10.1080/1550428X.2015.1016252|s2cid=146655189|issn=1550-428X}}</ref> In an unconventional effort to circumvent marriage restrictions, some gay couples have resorted to using the [[Japanese adult adoption|adult adoption system]], which is known as futsu, as an alternate means of becoming a family.<ref name=Tamagawa /> In this method, the older partner adopts the younger partner which allows for them to be officially recognized as a family and receive some of the benefits that ordinary families receive such as common surnames and inheritance.<ref name=Tamagawa /> In regards to the workplace, there are no anti-discrimination protections for LGBT employees. Employers play a visible role in reinforcing the Confucian tenets of marriage and procreation. Male employees are considered ineligible for promotions unless they marry and procreate.<ref name=Tamagawa />

While same-sex marriage is not legalized at the national level, the Shibuya District in Tokyo passed a same-sex partnership certificate bill in 2015 to "issue certificates to same-sex couples that recognize them as partners equivalent to those married under the law."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/03/31/tokyos-shibuya-ward-passes-same-sex-partner-bill/|title=Tokyo's Shibuya Ward Passes Same-Sex Partner Bill|last=Hongo|first=Jun|date=2015-03-31|website=WSJ|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-26}}</ref> Similar partnerships are available in Setagaya District (Tokyo), Sapporo (Hokkaido), Takarazuka (Hyogo), and over 20 other localities, as well as one prefecture (Ibaraki).<ref>{{Cite web|url =https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/world/asia/japan-gay-marriage.html|title=Japan's Support for Gay Marriage Is Soaring. But Can It Become Law?|last=Dooley|first=Ben|date=2019-11-27|website=NYT|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shingetsunewsagency.com/2019/07/01/ibaraki-becomes-first-prefecture-in-japan-to-recognize-same-sex-couples/|title=Ibaraki Becomes First Prefecture in Japan to Recognize Same-Sex Couples|last=Maffei|first=Nikolas|date=2019-07-01|website=Shingetsu News Agency|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-02}}</ref>

===Popular culture===

====Mass media====
A number of artists, nearly all male, have begun to speak publicly about being gay, appearing on various [[talk show]]s and other programs, their celebrity often focused on their sexuality; twin pop-culture critics Piko and Osugi are an example.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070807a1.html|title=Pride vs. prejudice|first=Jamie|last=Findlay|date=7 August 2007|access-date=8 April 2018|via=Japan Times Online}}</ref> [[Akihiro Miwa]], a [[drag queen]] and former lover of author [[Yukio Mishima]], is the television advertisement spokesperson for many Japanese companies ranging from beauty to financial products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4939796-1.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20100915195608/http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4939796-1.html|url-status=dead|title=On Japanese Tv, The Lady Is A Man Cross-dressing 'onnagata' Are Popul…|date=15 September 2010|archive-date=15 September 2010|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> 
[[File:Razor Ramon Hard Gay.jpg|thumb|right|[[Masaki Sumitani]]]]
Some entertainers have used stereotypical references to homosexuality to increase their profile. [[Masaki Sumitani]] a.k.a. Hard Gay (HG), a comedian, shot to fame after he began to appear in public wearing a leather harness, hot pants, and cap.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://kotaku.com/being-hard-gay-for-laughs-and-cash-5806679 |title=Being Hard Gay for Laughs and Cash |last=Ashcraft |first=Brian |date=May 30, 2011 |website=Kotaku |language=en-us |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref>  His outfit, name, and trademark pelvis thrusting and squeals earned him the adoration of fans and the scorn of many in the Japanese [[gay community]].

After 2010 the situation for people belonging to the LGBT community changed in many ways. They began to be viewed as a market for mainstream Japanese businesses<ref>Kawazawa; Würrer (2024): 6. The market is estimated to be worth around 5.7 trillion yen. </ref> and businesses started to promote LGBT rights protection in their self-marketing. Since then many companies developed environments that protect LGBT rights to attract diverse new employees and increase their brand value in the global market.<ref>Kawazawa; Würrer (2024): 7. </ref>

{{As of|April 2011}}, [[Hiromi (model)|Hiromi]], a [[fashion model]], came out publicly as a lesbian.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110218-00000016-rbb-ent |title=Model Hiromi comes out as a homosexual : 'Love doesn't have any form, color and rule' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221135529/http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110218-00000016-rbb-ent |archive-date=February 21, 2011 |date=February 18, 2011 |website=Yahoo! |language=japanese |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref>

A greater number of gay characters have also begun appearing (with positive portrayals) on Japanese television, such as the highly successful ''[[Hanazakari no Kimitachi e]]'' and ''[[Last Friends]]'' television series.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Min|first=Yuen Shu|date=2011-09-01|title=Last Friends, beyond friends – articulating non-normative gender and sexuality on mainstream Japanese television|journal=Inter-Asia Cultural Studies|volume=12|issue=3|pages=383–400|doi=10.1080/14649373.2011.578796|s2cid=144254427|issn=1464-9373}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=For You in Full Blossom - Ikemen Paradise -|date=3 July 2007|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067118/|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref> Boys' Love drama ''[[Ossan's Love]]'' aired first in 2016 as a standalone TV movie and was expanded to a TV series in 2018. The programme was so successful that a movie sequel was released the following year entitled ''Ossan's Love: LOVE or DEAD''. In 2019 male same-sex relationships became further visible with the popular adapted drama ''[[What Did You Eat Yesterday?]]''. ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' also brought homosexuals into the forefront with characters ''[[Haruka Ten'oh]]'' and ''[[Michiru Kaiou]]'', two female senshi in a committed same sex relationship.

{{Nihongo|''[[The Boyfriend (TV series)|The Boyfriend]]''|ボーイフレンド|Bōifurendo|lead=yes}} is a Japanese [[Reality television|reality]] [[dating show]] on [[Netflix]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Daisy |date=2024-07-09 |title=The Boyfriend review – the gay Japanese dating show that will have you punching the air with joy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jul/09/the-boyfriend-review-gay-japanese-dating-show-netflix |access-date=2024-07-14 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=2024-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714234659/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jul/09/the-boyfriend-review-gay-japanese-dating-show-netflix |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-10 |title=Netflix’s The Boyfriend is not just groundbreaking – it’s the antidote to Love Island |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/netflix-the-boyfriend-japan-b2577321.html |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=2024-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712082409/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/netflix-the-boyfriend-japan-b2577321.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-10 |title=Netflix's groundbreaking gay dating show The Boyfriend is nearly perfect |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a61550326/the-boyfriend-netflix-review/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB |archive-date=2024-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713202105/https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a61550326/the-boyfriend-netflix-review/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is the nation's first [[Same-sex relationship|same-sex]] dating program. It premiered on July 9, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wangu |first=Elah |date=2024-07-10 |title=The Boyfriend: Latest News, Release Date, Cast & Trailer |url=https://screenrant.com/the-boyfriend-latest-news-release-date-cast-trailer/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/japans-first-same-sex-dating-reality-show-is-coming-to-netflix-062024|title=The Boyfriend on Netflix is Japan’s first same-sex dating reality show|first=Emma|last=Steen|date=July 9, 2024|website=Time Out Tokyo}}</ref>

====Media====
The subscription-based gay magazine ''{{Ill|Adonis (magazine)|lt=Adonis|ja|アドニス会}}'' was published from 1952 to 1962.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UrcFreVIyaQC&q=adonis+japanese+magazine&pg=PA133|title=Queer Japan from the Pacific War to the Internet Age|last=McLelland|first=Mark J.|date=2005|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780742537873|language=en}}</ref>

In 1975 twelve women became the first group of women in Japan to publicly identify as lesbians, publishing one issue of a magazine called Subarashi Onna (Wonderful Women).<ref name="vice">{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/lesbian-history-archive-artifacts/ |title=The First Lesbian Porn and 10 Other Revealing Artifacts from Lesbian History |publisher=VICE |access-date=2019-07-11}}</ref>

In the early 1990s many forms of media started to show interest in gay culture and especially the experiences of gay men. They focused on gay men in relationships with heterosexual women. Examples of media being produced in this time are the movies: ''[[Okoge (film)|Okoge]]'' (Fag Hag, 1992), ''Kira kira hikaru'' (Twinkle, 1992), the drama series ''Dōsokai'' (Class Reunion, 1993), and the movie adaptation of Matsu’ura Rieko’s 1987 lesbian-themed novel ''Nachuraru ūman'' (Natural Women,1994).<ref name=":1">Kawasaka, Kazuyoshi; Würrer, Stefan (2024): Beyond Diversity: Queer Politics, Activism, and Representation in Contemporary Japan. Düsseldorf University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110767995 (Open Access). p. 3. 

</ref> Moreover, new gay magazines established themselves such as ''Badī'' (Buddy, 1993–2019) and G-men (1995–2016) and forged new ways in which the gay community could represent and build a community.<ref name=":1" /> Additionally, new magazines about lesbian experiences were published that challenged heteronormativity unlike former publications that often sexualised and pathologised lesbian experiences.<ref>Sugiura, I. (2007): Lesbian discourses in mainstream magazines of post-war Japan. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 11(3–4), 127–144. pp. 129–133. </ref><ref>Welker, J. (2017). Toward a history of “lesbian history” in Japan. Culture, Theory and Critique, 58(2), 147–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735784.2017.1282830. pp. 149–156. </ref> In 1987 the first commercial publication by and for lesbian women ''Onna o aisuru onnatachi no monogatari'' (Stories of Women Who Love Women) was published.<ref name=":1" />

One of famous Japanese director [[Hirokazu Kore-eda]]'s earliest movies, a documentary called ''August without Him'', released in 1994, follows Hirata Yutaka, the first openly gay [[AIDS]] sufferer in Japan. Filmed over a series of months, it contrasts his public life as an outspoken figure on the lecture circuit with his personal descent into illness and death.

With the rise in visibility of the gay community and the attendant rise of media for gay audiences, the [[Hadaka Matsuri]] ("Naked Festival") has become a fantasy scenario for gay videos.<ref>''Male homosexuality in modern Japan: cultural myths and social realities'' By Mark J. McLelland, p.122; accessed through Google Books</ref>{{Vague|date=June 2018}}

[[Bara (genre)|Gei-comi]] ("gay-comics") are gay-romance themed comics aimed at gay men.  While [[yaoi]] comics often assign one partner as a "uke", or feminized receiver, gei-comi generally depict both partners as masculine and in an equal relationship.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbohAAAAQBAJ&q=gei+comi+japan&pg=PA95|title=Naughty Girls and Gay Male Romance/Porn: Slash Fiction, Boys' Love Manga, and Other Works by Female "Cross-Voyeurs" in the U.S. Academic Discourses|last=Bauer|first=Carola Katharina|date=2013-05-17|publisher=Anchor Academic Publishing (aap_verlag)|isbn=9783954890019|language=en}}</ref> Another common term for this genre is ''bara'', stemming from the name of the first publication of this genre to gain popularity in Japan, ''[[Barazoku]]''. Yaoi works are massive in number with much of the media created by women usually for female audiences. In the west, it has quickly caught on as one of the most sought-after forms of pornography. There is certainly no disparity between [[yaoi]] as a pornographic theme, vs [[Yuri (genre)|Yuri]].

Lesbian-romance themed anime and manga is known as ''[[Yuri (genre)|yuri]]'' (which means "lily").  It is used to describe female-female relationships in material and is typically marketed towards straight people, homosexuals in general, or lesbians despite significant stylistic and thematic differences between works aimed at the different audiences.  Another word that has become popular in Japan as an equivalent term to Yuri is "GL" (short for "Girls' Love" in opposite to "Boys' Love"). There are a variety of yuri titles (or titles that integrate yuri content) aimed at women, such as ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', ''[[Oniisama e...]]'', ''[[Maria-sama ga Miteru]]'', some aspects of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' (most notably Haruka and Michiru), ''[[Strawberry Shake Sweet]]'', ''[[Love My Life (manga)|Love My Life]]'', etc.; and there are a variety of yuri titles of anime such as ''[[Kannazuki no Miko]]'', ''[[Strawberry Panic!]],'' ''[[Simoun (anime)|Simoun]]'', and ''[[My-Hime]]''. ''[[Comic Yuri Hime]]'' is a long-time running manga magazine in Japan that focuses solely on yuri stories, which gained merges from its other subsidiary comics and currently runs as the only Yuri Hime named magazine. Other magazines and anthologies of Yuri that have emerged throughout the early 21st century are ''Mebae'', ''[[Hirari (magazine)|Hirari]]'', and ''[[Tsubomi (magazine)|Tsubomi]]'' (the latter two ceased publication before 2014).

===2021 court ruling===
{{Main|Recognition of same-sex unions in Japan}}

In March 2021, the Sapporo District Court of Japan declared and announced that the 1984 law banning [[same-sex marriage]] is [[Constitution of Japan|unconstitutional]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56425002 |title=Japan Court Finds Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional |date=March 17, 2021 |website=BBC News |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref> In June 2022, the Osaka District Court released a ruling which upheld the ban as unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite news |last1=The Associated Press |title=Japan court says ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106313824/japan-court-ban-on-same-sex-marriage-constitutional |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=NPR |date=20 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref>