Historic First: LGBT wedding to take place at Saitama’s Buddhist temple

Come 6 April 2023, the first LGBTQ wedding in a Buddhist temple in Saitama prefecture will be held at Saimyoji Temple in Kawagoe City.

The first LGBTQ wedding in a Buddhist temple will be held on April 6, 2023 at Saimyoji Temple in Kawagoe City. The wedding will be an international one, welcoming a male couple from Israel. In May 2020, the “Partnership Oath System” was introduced in Kawagoe City to legally recognize same-sex couples. In response, Saimyoji Temple started offering Buddhist same-sex marriage ceremonies, or LGBTQ WEDDINGS, regardless of sexual orientation. This will be the first LGBTQ wedding ceremony held at the temple.

In Buddhism, the teaching of Buddha is that “may all living beings be happy,” and we promote the spirit of equality that anyone can be happy regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. Saimyoji Temple has been actively engaged in promoting LGBTQ rights and events, such as serving as an online venue for the “SAITAMA RAINBOW PRIDE2021” event (organized by the SAITAMA RAINBOW PRIDE Executive Committee), including an LGBTQ adult ceremony during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, and maintaining a friendly relationship with LGBTQ community members.

In Japan, there are various types of wedding ceremonies, such as Christian, civil, and Shinto weddings. Buddhist weddings held in temples are called “Buddhist weddings” and are a ceremony in which the couple promises to love each other in front of the Buddha and show gratitude to the Buddha for the “fate” that brought them together.

In Saitama prefecture, 40 cities and towns, the largest number in Japan, have implemented partnership systems as of March 2023, and efforts are being made to create a society that respects sexual diversity, such as the enforcement of the “Saitama Prefecture Ordinance on the Creation of a Society that Respects Sexual Diversity” in July 2022. Against this background, as a Buddhist temple that has accepted diversity, we hope to support couples from all over the world regardless of their sexual orientation and hold the wedding ceremony.

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