Tokyo moves to allow same-sex partnerships, but not as legal marriage

TOKYO — The Tokyo metropolitan government on Wednesday adopted legislation recognizing same-sex partnerships, which will extend some rights that apply to married heterosexual couples but falls short of allowing same-sex unions as legal marriages.

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Tokyo is the ninth of Japan’s 47 prefectures to make the change. The recognition has been slow to be adopted nationwide, amid very gradual cultural acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Japan and throughout Asia.

Japan is the only country in the Group of Seven largest economies not to recognize same-sex marriages. Taiwan is the only Asian nation or territory to legalize them.

Still, the policy change is noteworthy in Japan’s largest prefecture, which has 14 million residents and is home to the nation’s capital. It also reflects changing attitudes toward the LGBT community. A poll by the Asahi newspaper last year found that 65 percent of voters nationwide supported same-sex marriage, up from 41 percent in 2015.

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