A senior U.N. Human Rights official said the Japanese business sector should play a greater role in eliminating discrimination against sexual minorities.

"I think there is less progress both in laws and in public attitudes in Japan than the other six countries of the G7," Andrew Gilmour, assistant secretary-general of the U.N. Human Rights Office, said in a recent interview in Tokyo. "We are hoping that we can encourage better improvement, better acceptance."

One in 13 people in Japan is estimated to be a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, according to a survey conducted in 2015 by the Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Inc.