The LGBTQ community in Japan is waiting on tenterhooks to hear an unprecedented court ruling — slated for Wednesday — on the constitutionality of the nation’s long-standing refusal to legalize same-sex marriage.
The much-anticipated ruling by the Sapporo District Court will mark the first time Japan’s judiciary has made a judgment on whether the current lack of legal recognition for same-sex marriage violates the freedom and equality principles of the Constitution. The world’s third-largest economy is the only one of the Group of Seven industrialized nations that doesn’t give legal recognition to such unions.
Here is a look at the ongoing legal battle, its implications and Japan’s attitude toward same-sex marriage.