TOKYO – Marriage equality campaigners urged Japan’s top court on Dec 3 to rule the country’s failure to recognise same-sex unions “unconstitutional”, following a recent setback at the Tokyo High Court.

The Tokyo court ruled last week that

Japan’s refusal to acknowledge same-sex marriages

More than a dozen couples have filed claims across Japan, seeking damages from the state for preventing them from getting married.

In five of the six lawsuits, high courts ruled the same-sex marriage ban was “unconstitutional”.

The ruling in Tokyo was the first loss in a high court for those seeking equal marriage rights, and they have filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.

On Dec 3, plaintiffs from the northern island of Hokkaido to the southern region of Kumamoto gathered with their lawyers to file a letter to the top court.

“I’m truly shocked by the high court ruling,” Mr Shinya Yamagata, one of the plaintiffs, told reporters.

“I never imagined that the judiciary would discriminate against us and would wound our hearts so deeply,” he said.

“What we seek is simply the ordinary right to marry,” another plaintiff Haru Ono said.

Ms Ono, who raised three children together with her partner, said she “faced various hardships” including hospital visits that only one parent was able to join.

The letter requested that the Supreme Court “exercise its authority and responsibility as a bastion of human rights and deliver a clear ruling of unconstitutionality”.

It asked the court ...