Another Japanese City recognises Same-Sex Partnerships

[fountainhall]

Joining the Councils of Shibuya and Setagaya wards in Tokyo and Iga in Mie Prefecture, the city of Takarazuka near Osaka has enacted legislation earlier this month acknowledging same-sex partnerships. Now same-sex couples will be eligible for the same public services as married couples. Although the Japanese Constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman, any gay couple in Takarazuka aged 20 or older will be entitled to a special ceremony and personal authority signed by the city's mayor.

Takarazuka is famous as the home of the wildly popular cross-dressing Takarazuka Reviews, a form of musical theatre with lavish sets and costumes where an entire show of women dress as both sexes. They are a mix of Busby Berkeley Hollywood, glitzy Broadway and up-market drag shows as this excerpt illustrates -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_FEOB67UQM