‘It’s like we don’t exist’: Japan faces pressure to allow same-sex marriage

Diplomats add their voices to Japanese campaigners in demanding LGBTQ+ rights as Hiroshima prepares to host the G7 summit

Akane Kousaka and her partner live in fear of the day when one of them falls ill or is injured in an accident. The LGBTQ+ couple have a partnership certificate" issued by their ward office in Tokyo, but it comes with none of the legal guarantees afforded married heterosexual couples - including the right to visit a spouse in hospital.

We might be able to get special permission, but we shouldn't have to rely on other people's goodwill ... it's not right," Kousaka told the Observer. Other countries were leaving Japan behind, she added.