Austria >> Japan, Recommendation, 42nd Session, January 2023

Noted. As political parties are preparing to submit a bill to promote LGBT understanding, the Government will respect the legislative process and wait for it to conclude. … Article 14, paragraph 1, of the Constitution of Japan states that “[a]ll of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin,” thus stipulating equality under the law and prohibiting unreasonable discrimination. Based on this principle, in areas that are closely linked to people’s lives and highly public in nature such as employment, education, healthcare, and transportation, relevant laws and regulations in respective areas provide for broad prohibition of discrimination. For example, regarding education, Article 26 of the Constitution and Article 4 of the Basic Act on Educations stipulate that all people shall have opportunities that correspond to their abilities to not be subjected to discrimination on account of race, creed, sex, social status, economic position, or family origin. (See II, A.3 and 4). ... The decision on whether to introduce same-sex marriage required careful consideration as it was an important issue related to the nature of families in Japan.