Japan’s Support for Gay Marriage Is Soaring. But Can It Become Law? www.nytimes.com

TOKYO — Ikuo Sato stood in front of a Tokyo court in April and told the world he was gay.
To a packed room, he described the anxiety he had felt as a young man, struggling to express his sexuality in Japan’s restrictive society.
Lawsuits filed this year by Mr. Sato, his partner and five other couples seeking recognition of same-sex marriage are the first of their kind in Japan.
Public support for same-sex marriage has surged in the last few years, making it seem suddenly within reach.
Local governments are increasingly recognizing same-sex partnerships, and even Japan’s famously rigid companies have begun coming out in favor of them.