On April 13, 2021, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto (“MHM”) gave its endorsement of “Business for Marriage Equality (BME),” a campaign for realizing marriage equality (same-sex marriage legislation).

MHM announced on February 14, 2019 that it has endorsed the Viewpoint of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (“ACCJ”) to the effect that the right of marriage should be granted to LGBT couples, and our endorsement of BME this time reconfirms our recognition of the necessity and importance of marriage equality in order to support active movements for marriage equality in recent years.

Yuto Matsumura commented as follows.

“MHM was the first among the law firms based in Japan to endorse the ACCJ’s Viewpoint supporting marriage equality, and since then, we have expressed our commitment to the realization of the legal system under which all individuals are equally granted the right to marry regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

We believe that, it is important for Japan, which is the only G7 country that does not recognize the legal status of same-sex partners, to enact the same-sex marriage legislation to realize economic development as well as a diversified and vital society going forward. On March 17, 2021, the Sapporo District Court made a historical ruling that the fact that the existing law does not offer to homosexual individuals any legal means to enjoy even a degree of the legal benefits arising from marriage is in violation of Article 14, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution and is therefore unconstitutional. This ruling is considered to be an important step toward the realization of such marriage equality.

We sincerely hope that our endorsement again this time will raise the awareness of society as a whole regarding the issues faced by LGBTQ+ individuals, and that in turn it will lead to the early realization of marriage equality through the same-sex marriage legislation.”