In the current state of the world today, many people can't go very long without seeing some sort of update on the state of LGBT rights around the world. Even though many countries have slowly legalized same-sex marriages in the last few years, other countries have not. Japan is one of the countries remaining that have yet to legalize same-sex marriage in any fashion, and Nintendo of Japan has announced that it plans to recognize same-sex employee couples through a partnership system.
Japan has always been relatively strange when it comes to real-life LGBT relationships. While many fans of anime should be familiar with how genres such as "Boys Love" anime are rather popular, the country as a whole tends to shy away from allowing everyday same-sex relations to receive any kind of legal support. In the meantime, companies such as Sega have openly made sure they offer resources to their LGBT employees in place of the government to the best of their ability, and Nintendo seems to be joining in that fight.
In a recent update to Nintendo of Japan's corporate social responsibility policies, one of the first things people will see on its dedicated "diverse environment" page is a post about introducing a "Partnership System." This notice states that the system will ensure that same-sex couples working with Nintendo will have the same benefits as the opposite-sex couples also employed under them. It also states that common law marriages will be "observed in the same way as a legal marriage."
While the post also says that this partnership system may have been introduced in 2021, it seems that what the partnership covers has been expanded following a recent court ruling in Osaka, Japan on June 20, 2022 that declared that same-sex marriage is still seen as "unconstitutional" in the country. Nintendo might have updated its policy to bring peace of mind to its LGBT employees, similar to how other gaming companies added policies to support their workers following the recent Roe vs Wade overturn in the US.
Alongside the partnership system, the notice also details Nintendo of Japan's efforts to eliminate all discrimination based on gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, and more. It details that regulations against harassment were expanded to prohibit rude comments about co-workers' sexual orientation and gender identity, including outing them without consent.
The fact that Nintendo of Japan updated its offerings in such detail makes it seem as if the company wishes to do more for its employees, but its hands are tied without official legislation from the Japanese government. This may be enough to make same-sex couples within Nintendo feel more comfortable at work as the fight for gay marriage in their country continues.
Source: Nintendo.co.jp