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[Japan] Today, a man renamed his partner three times.

To the delivery driver: "my brother." To coworkers: "my roommate." To his mother on the phone: "a friend."

Renamed: three times. Times he could say "my husband": zero.

However many years they live together, the law still calls them strangers.

So the small lies pile up, day after day — not because they are liars, but because the law lies first.

[Japan] At his partner's mother's funeral, there was no seat for him.

For ten years, they cared for her together. Hospital runs, midnight calls. At the end, he held her hand.

On the reception card: "relation to the deceased." Ten years of care, and no word to write.

His partner asked for a seat beside him. The answer: "Legally, a stranger."

Marriage would have made her family in law. Two men are given no such door.

Ten years of care. Zero days as family. That was the final goodbye.

[Japan] For marriage equality, two men have prayed 30 times.

Every New Year, side by side in the shrine line. In a drawer: thirty charms for luck in love.

The wish never changes. "Let us marry the one we love."

The gods are not the problem. This is a matter of human law.

The gods listened every year. The Diet has yet to answer once.

They want to buy the 31st charm as a thank-you, for a wish come true.

[Japan] "Before demanding marriage, just come out first."

Some people really say this. Then look at one government survey.

Among LGB workers in Japan, fewer than one in ten are out to even a single person at their workplace.

Don't call that a lack of courage.

There is still no law in this country that outlaws discrimination against them.

Out to someone at work: barely 10%. Laws that protect them: zero.

"Just come out" is easy to say for those who have nothing to lose.

[Japan] "This again?" — you probably thought.

Another post about same-sex marriage in Japan. And your "again" is fair.

But why does it keep repeating? Because nothing has changed.

70% of the public supports it. Five of six high courts ruled "unconstitutional." Still, the marriage forms don't go through.

You can scroll past when you tire of it. The people in it cannot scroll out.

Behind every "this again?" someone is still asking, "how much longer?"v

[Japan] The morning after his wedding, he filed a "personal day" slip at work.

When a coworker married, it was different. Five days off, a cash gift, applause at the meeting.

His own wedding: zero days. He even spent his paid leave on it.

Marriage leave requires a legal marriage. Two men cannot file one in Japan.

He clapped for the coworker too — with the hands that held his own wedding.

No leave when a partner dies. No celebration when two men marry. The law calls them strangers.

[Japan] "The Constitution says 'both sexes.' So same-sex marriage is unconstitutional."

Here is the strange part.

The government being sued over this has never once argued in court that the Constitution bans it.

The official answer in 2015 went only this far: "It was not envisioned back then."

Meanwhile, 5 of 6 high courts have ruled that denying marriage violates the Constitution.

The ones calling it "banned" are mostly comment sections.

If even the state won't say it, how can you?

[Japan] Three weddings were held at this venue today.

The same vows, the same rings, the same applause for every couple.

But only after the ceremony do they differ.

Two couples will now file their marriage papers. The third couple — two grooms — cannot. Their form will not be accepted anywhere in Japan.

Same love, same promise, same applause. A wedding is allowed. A marriage is not.

Today, three couples received applause. The law will celebrate only two.

[Japan] To anyone who has felt something is off about a country with no marriage equality.

Two men, together thirty years, are still legal strangers today.

It's okay to say: this is wrong.

Five of six high courts ruled it unconstitutional. The Diet still has not moved.

It's okay to say: this is wrong.

70% of the public supports it, yet the marriage forms are still refused.

It's okay to say: this is wrong. Your sense of justice is not mistaken. Please, say it out loud.

[Japan] He learned of his partner's death after the funeral.

Thirty years, one home, one life together.

The hospital called only the "legal family." Relatives absent for thirty years stood at the bedside. The man who slept beside him was never called.

No one told him which hospital. By the time he knew, the cremation was over.

"You are not family." One line ended it all.

Thirty years in his partner's life. Not one second at his farewell.

The only difference: whether two men could marry.

[Japan] "If they want to marry, they can just go abroad."

Over 30 countries let same-sex couples marry. They can hold a ceremony, get a certificate.

But the moment they land back in Japan, the two of them become strangers again. Inheritance, taxes, visas — nothing changes.

Why can't they become a family in the country where they were born and raised?

Before telling them to leave, maybe this country should just change.

[Japan] "Give back the keys to the home two men shared for 30 years."

That is what the family of his late partner told him.

The house was in his partner's name. When he died, it went to his blood relatives. After 30 years, the survivor inherits nothing.

Their kitchen, their ceiling — tomorrow, a stranger's house.

At the funeral, he was only "a friend." Now he must leave their home too.

A wife or husband could have stayed, as a spouse. The only difference: whether they could marry.

[Japan] "Same-sex marriage is pointless — they can't have kids."

An 80-year-old couple files to marry. They will never have children. The form is stamped, accepted, no questions asked.

At the same counter, two men, together thirty years. They have no children either. Their form is refused.

If children were the condition for marriage, that 80-year-old couple should have been turned away too. But no one ever refuses them.

So children are not the condition.

Then the reason to refuse only same-sex couples — can you explain it?

[Japan] Two men have celebrated the same birthday thirty times, in a country where they cannot marry.

Thirty candles, blown out together.

The favorite cake, the clumsy surprises, the way eyes look away when shy — each knows the other better than anyone.

But the law has counted none of those thirty.

One form, and a brand-new couple is family. Thirty birthdays, and two men are still strangers.

Next year, a thirty-first candle will be lit. The law may not count it. This home does.

[Japan] "Same-sex marriage? Just live together." People actually say this.

So let me ask you one thing: Why did you get married?

If living together were enough, you never needed a marriage certificate.

But you filed one anyway — to build a family with the person you love.

Same-sex couples want the exact same thing. They're just not allowed to have it.

If "just live together" is really enough, then your marriage wasn't needed either — was it?

[Japan] Same-sex love is no different from anyone else's.

They meet, they fall in love, they move in together, they promise a future.

Up to here, everything is exactly the same.

The only difference is the very last step: marriage. Same-sex couples alone can't take it.

Even after thirty years, their marriage is refused. To the law, they stay strangers.

Same road, same steps — then a wall, one step short.

This wall wasn't built by fate. People built it. So people can tear it down.

[Japan] Last year, hundreds of thousands married in Japan. Same-sex couples who married: zero.

Two men who've been together thirty years. Two women who cook breakfast for each other every morning. None of them count.

No matter how long they love, their form is refused.

They only want what everyone else takes for granted: to marry the person they love, and become a family.

What's missing isn't their love. What's missing is this country's law.

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