Coming out is a life-changing experience that requires courage and the right timing. Many LGBT people find that the process of job hunting in Japan can force that timing and expose them to a non-understanding environment. More than 40% of...
In June, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party distributed a booklet in an intra-party panel meeting that stated that “homosexuality is a mental disorder.” This discriminative thinking runs counter to current Japanese and global acceptance of...
In Japan, a very high 98.8% of students enter high school. There, most of them are required to wear school uniforms that typically are differentiated by gender and designated according to the sex the student was assigned at birth. As not all...
The social recognition for LGBTQ people is growing, and moves toward equal rights for LGBTQ people are progressing. In Japan, same-sex marriage is not recognized yet. However, some local governments have recently introduced partnerships, and...
Although there is still much work to do, educational institutions in Japan are slowly starting to acknowledge and, in some cases, celebrate the LGBT community. The first to make these changes have been some international schools and universities...
Young LGBTQ people are more likely to suffer from depression since they have had less time to create connections to the world other than their homes and schools, especially if those environments fail to provide the social and emotional safety and...
The Tokyo Rainbow Pride Parade and Rainbow Festival return this year as in-person events. The significance of this celebration was demonstrated in a social media post a few years ago in which the writer said that it was the only place they could...
This is the first article in a series that will introduce services available in Japan for people who enjoy diversity of expression, including gender diversity. It includes, but is not limited to, the LGBTQ community and their allies. As an example...
In an era of diversity of lifestyles, painting one’s nails is no longer a habit only for women. This change is taking place even in Japan, where a questionnaire by nail salon reservation app Nailbook shows that 40% of men who paint their nails have...
Same-sex marriage is not currently recognized in Japan. Some local governments, such as Shibuya Ward in Tokyo, have introduced a partnership system, the equivalent of marriage for same-sex couples, which allows them to publicly prove their...