Partnership oath in Japan

Recognized As of 27 June 2024, 423 municipalities and 30 of 47 prefectures in Japan have established a "partnership oath system" (Japanese: パートナーシップ宣誓制度, pātonāshippu sensei seido, pronounced [paːtonaːɕippɯ senseː seːdo]), also known as "partnership certification system" (パートナーシップ証明制度, pātonāshippu shōmei seido), which provides same-sex (and, in some jurisdictions, common-law opposite-sex) couples with some limited benefits.

The couple is issued a special certificate which may be useful in matters such as housing, hospital visitation rights and consenting to surgery for a partner.

[6] In response to this action by the Shibuya city office, the "Special Committee to Protect Family Ties" (家族の絆を守る特命委員会, kazoku no kizuna wo mamoru tokumei iinkai) of the federal ruling Liberal Democratic Party was formed in March 2015 to discuss the matter.

[1][8][6] In November 2015, the special city of Takarazuka announced it would issue partnership certificates to same-sex couples beginning on 1 June 2016.

[13][14] In April 2016, an LGBT rights group began a campaign for the official recognition of same-sex couples in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture.

[19] On 14 February 2018, the Fukuoka city office announced plans to start issuing partnership certificates to same-sex and different-sex couples from 2 April 2018.

21 cities established a same-sex partnership system in 2019, notably Kitakyushu, Kumamoto, Miyazaki,[27] Nagasaki,[28] Sakai, Yokohama,[29] and Yokosuka.

36 more cities followed suit in 2020, including Hamamatsu, Kawasaki, Kyoto, Minato, Nara, Niigata, Okayama, Sagamihara, Saitama, and Takamatsu.

69 more cities followed in 2021, notably Adachi, Chigasaki, Fujisawa, Funabashi, Hiroshima,[30] Kanazawa, Kōchi, Koshigaya, Nishinomiya, and Toyota.

The system would provide same-sex couples with some limited recognition, including the right to move into prefectural housing and visit each other in hospitals.

[45] On 20 November 2020, Governor Eikei Suzuki of Mie Prefecture announced his intention to introduce a partnership system before the end of the year.

[53][54] On 15 February 2022, Governor Tomikazu Fukuda of Tochigi Prefecture announced he would introduce a partnership system in fall 2022;[55] it was established on 1 September 2022.

[57] Governor Yuriko Koike expressed her support for the move, stating it would "respect the human rights of sexual minorities and promote the understanding of Tokyo citizens regarding diversity".

1 was established in 2019 (Ibaraki), 2 in 2020 (Osaka, Gunma), 2 in 2021 (Saga, Mie), 5 in 2022 (Aomori, Akita, Fukuoka, Tochigi, Tokyo), 9 in 2023 (Shizuoka, Toyama, Nagano, Gifu, Kagawa, Shimane, Tottori, Fukui, Yamanashi), and 11 in 2024 so far (Yamagata, Wakayama, Aichi, Hyogo, Nara, Oita, Tokushima, Yamaguchi, Shiga, Fukushima, Niigata).

[68] On December 2, 2019, the mayor of Yokosuka announced his intention to establish a joint recognition scheme with the fellow Kanagawa cities of Zushi and Kamakura, taking effect on 1 April 2020.

[70] In July 2020, Okayama and Sōja agreed to mutually recognize their certificates and eliminate the need for new procedures when couples move between the two cities.

[74] In early April 2021, the cities and towns of Amagasaki, Ashiya, Inagawa, Itami, Kawanishi, Nishinomiya, Sanda and Takarazuka, all in Hyōgo Prefecture, agreed to recognize each other's certificates.

[75] Likewise, in May 2021, 12 municipalities in Tokyo, Adachi, Bunkyō, Edogawa, Fuchū, Koganei, Kokubunji, Kunitachi, Minato, Nakano, Setagaya, Shibuya and Toshima, agreed to mutually recognize each other's certificates.

[88] On April 1, 2024, the governments of Osaka and Hyogo prefectures established an Partnership System Inter-Municipality Collaboration Network (Japanese: パートナーシップ制度自治体間連携ネットワーク, romanized: Pātonāshippu seido jichitai-kan renkei nettowāku) as a common mutual agreement through which signatory jurisdictions, including prefectures, cities, towns and villages, may recognize and process each other's partnership registries for purposes of travel or relocation, eliminating the need for returning a certificate to a former jurisdiction of residence, the need to submit documentary proof of non-marriage and the need to repeat the oath.

On October 23, 2024, 17 prefectures (Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Fukui, Fukuoka, Gifu, Gunma, Ibaraki, Mie, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Saga, Shiga, Toyama, Wakayama and Yamagata) and 150 cities, towns and villages announced their registries' accession to the network agreement effective November 1.

[90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97] The governments of Fukushima, Kagawa, Nagano, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Yamaguchi and Yamanashi prefectures, all of which have registries, have yet to announce their accession.

Measures to allow partnership certificates have been proposed in numerous areas, including the prefectures of Ishikawa,[572] Iwate[573] and Kagoshima;[574] several administrative wards in Tokyo, such as Chiyoda, Chūō, Katsushika, Kōtō,[575] Nerima, Shinjuku, and Taitō; and the cities of Tōgō,[576] Hachinohe,[577] Matsuyama,[578] Fukuyama,[579] Kumano,[579] Onomichi,[579] Saka,[579] Sera,[579] Azumino,[580] Nagayo,[581] Kamo,[582] Sado,[583][584] Tamano,[579] Itoman,[585] Okinawa,[585] Nago,[585] Nanjō,[586] Tomigusuku,[585] Fujieda,[587] Shimada,[588] Higashimurayama,[589] Nichinan, Yonago,[579] Toyama,[590] Hagi,[579] Hirao,[579] Iwakuni[579] and Shimonoseki.

The following is a list of agreements of mutual recognition of partnership oath registries between jurisdictions (Japanese: パートナーシップ制度の相互利用連携, pātonāshippu seido no sōgo riyō renkei).

Such protections allow for certification of opposite-sex couples who do not wish to be subject to several mandates regarding marriage, including the legal requirement to share the husband's surname.

The partnerships are not currently recognized by the Government of Japan, but aim to create pressure from the private sector for political action to expand LGBT rights in the country.