Nintendo Japan now offers benefits to employees in same-sex unions despite Japanese law

Japanese gaming conglomerate Nintendo recently updated their corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines to offer the same benefits to employees in same-sex unions as those in heterosexual marriages.

On July 12, the company added to its Introduction of a Partnership System post, first introduced in March 2021, that while same-sex marriage is not recognized under Japanese law, “this system ensures employees who are in domestic partnership with a same-sex partner have the same benefits as employees in opposite-sex marriage.”

Nintendo added that it had also taken steps to better address harassment.

“We revised our internal regulations to clearly prohibit discriminatory comments bassed on sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as disclosing someone’s privately held sexual orientation against their will,” the company assured.

The announcement ends with the principle that, “By improving our company systems,” Nintendo would “work to create an environment where each of our many diverse employees can fully realize their talents.”

Same-sex marriage has not been legalized in Japan as a whole; however, several districts within the country, including Tokyo, Osaka and Saga, have or will introduce a system that recognizes same-sex partnerships in order to grant access to many of the same rights heterosexual couples benefit from under marriage.

Japan remains the only member of the Group of Seven (G7) — an assembly of the world’s most industrialized economies — to not recognize same-sex marriages.

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