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July 12, 2026
 

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LGBTQ

According to a survey covering some 2,000 LGBTQ+ people over three years to 2024, 54.9% of respondents said in the final year that their workplaces did not have any specific measures for sexual and gender minorities.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2026
No LGBTQ+ measures at over half of workplaces in Japan: survey
The figure slightly improved from 57.2% in 2022 and 60.4% in 2023, according to the survey.
Setagaya Mayor Nobuto Hosaka (right) speaks during a symposium on partnership systems held on Dec. 10 in Tokyo. Hosaka has described his ward's system as being "connected to human dignity."
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 18, 2026
A decade on, Japan steadily warms to same-sex partners
As lawsuits seeking the recognition of same-sex marriage proceed in courts nationwide, municipalities and others continue to explore how best to protect individual rights.
Gordon Higgins and Chloe Douglas pose for a picture with Shorna-Kay Richards (center), Jamaica’s ambassador to Japan.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Feb 18, 2026
Tokyo LGBTQ fundraiser to raise money for Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa
Organizers blend art, drag and Jamaican cuisine to support marginalized communities still recovering from last year’s devastating storm.
Stonewall National Monument in New York on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2026
‘Outrage’ as LGBTQ pride flag removed from Stonewall monument
The removal of a rainbow flag from the U.S.’s most prominent gay monument after new rules issued by the Trump administration sparked an outcry and noisy protest on Tuesday.
U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn celebrates with her gold medal after the figure skating team competition at the Milano Cortina Olympics in Milan on Sunday.
OLYMPICS / Figure skating
Feb 9, 2026
Amber Glenn insists social media abuse did not impact performance
The three-time U.S. champion was third in the free program in her Olympic debut.
In its second season, "The Boyfriend" allows more time to show the diversity of individual experience.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Feb 6, 2026
Vulnerability, love and the limits of reality TV on ‘The Boyfriend’
Netflix Japan’s same-sex dating show may be several layers removed from reality, but it nonetheless offers an important space for dialogue and representation.
“Heated Rivalry” centers on two male hockey players (Hudson Williams, left, and Connor Storrie) on rival teams who fall in love over the course of a decade. 
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 31, 2026
How ‘Heated Rivalry’ fits into the history of Japanese ‘boys’ love’
The Canadian hockey romance series is television’s latest global hit, but its fandom language goes back to 1970s Japan.
The second season of Netflix Japan's “The Boyfriend” is bringing together a new set of bachelors to find romance and learn more about themselves.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 23, 2026
Second season of ‘The Boyfriend’ lets love take its time
Netflix Japan’s same-sex dating show returns with a season that lets relationships unfold at their own pace.
The English “I” has gendered equivalents in Japanese that give the listener hints as to how the speaker identifies.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 23, 2026
Just between you and me: Gender and Japanese pronouns
Japanese pronouns reveal gender in unexpected ways, complicating how speakers express identity compared with current English.
An Instagram post on Dec. 6 shows Cocona, a member of a popular Japanese pop group XG, coming out as transmasculine nonbinary, assigned female at birth.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 17, 2025
XG member Cocona’s coming out as nonbinary puts spotlight on gender identities
The announcement drew support from fans, but also backlash, which highlights a limited understanding of nonbinary identities in Japan.
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry speaks during an executive commission meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
OLYMPICS
Dec 11, 2025
IOC expects to reach decision on gender eligibility for Olympics in early 2026
The issue has been a source of controversy with no universal rule in place for the participation of transgender athletes at the Olympic Games.
Aryna Sabalenka competes at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Nov. 8.
TENNIS
Dec 10, 2025
Sabalenka says women facing transgender athletes not fair
The world No. 1 said it would be unfair for women to face “biological men” in professional tennis.
Rei Watanabe Prosper (left) and Coralie Prosper attends a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2025
Same-sex international couple petitions for marriage recognition in Japan
The Japanese-French couple says Japan’s refusal to acknowledge their marriage is preventing them from starting a family in France.
Campaigners working for the legalization of same-sex marriages in Japan walk toward the Supreme Court in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 3, 2025
Same-sex marriage campaigners take fight to Japan’s top court
The court has been asked to consider the lives of people who dreamed of marrying but were “consistently excluded from the legal marriage system.”
Plaintiffs and supporters hold up signs reading "unjust ruling" in Tokyo on Friday after the Tokyo High Court ruled Japan’s failure to recognize same-sex marriages is constitutional.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 28, 2025
Same-sex marriage ban constitutional, says Tokyo High Court
The ruling departs from those of five other high court rulings made previously that had deemed Japan’s failure to recognize such unions as unconstitutional.
"Palaver" takes place almost entirely in Tokyo, particularly in Shinjuku Ward and areas including Shinjuku Ni-chome and Shin-Okubo.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 7, 2025
‘Palaver’: A queer story set in Tokyo searches for a home for the heart
A finalist for this year’s National Book Award for Fiction in the U.S., Bryan Washington’s “Palaver” is a gentle exploration of leaving and arriving.
Participants march through Tokyo for the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in April last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Oct 29, 2025
Gender identity law reform stalls despite court rulings
Strong opposition from conservatives in parliament have dimmed prospects for reform.
A couple poses with the rainbow flag, which they brought from their home for a wedding photoshoot in Tokyo in November 2023.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2025
Same-sex partners recognized under more laws in Japan
However, the government maintains the position that same-sex partners are not covered by 120 laws and ordinances, including those related to taxes and social security.
The Sapporo Family Court on Friday ruled that a legal provision requiring individuals to undergo genital surgery to change their legal gender is unconstitutional and invalid.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2025
Court rules sex change appearance requirement unconstitutional
A court said that the world has made advances in medicine since the law was established, so genital surgery may not be necessary in some cases.
Gloria Tsang, a 33-year-old speech therapist, and her wife Jaedyn Yu, a 35-year-old drum school owner, walk on a pedestrian overpass in Hong Kong on Sept. 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 17, 2025
Hong Kong newlyweds lament veto on same-sex rights bill as blow to city
The same-sex bill represented an opportunity to implement what would have been a rare liberal shift in Hong Kong’s legal landscape.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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