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© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Panasonic to recognize employee same-sex marriages
By YURI KAGEYAMA TOKYO©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
41 Comments
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Yubaru
Kudos to Panasonic, hopefully other zaibatsu will follow their lead, and then the country will as well!
some14some
Wish Panasonic could have spent that much time on merchandise business and prevented heavy financial losses for so many years. may be changing times...from merchandise to matrimonial business?!
gokai_wo_maneku
Totally gay Gokai wil be buying Panasonic from now on (well, as long as they make good stuff). But the fact is that the competition for talent is so severe in Japan (and the world), that you take talent practically no matter what the package is. If you can do the job, you've got the job.
kawabegawa198
Great way for Pansonic to find out which of their employees are gay, so that everyone knows who to bully.
Yukiii
Not only this flexibility based on current situation in the world but also other arrangements or new regulation will satisfy people in company.
Gerard van Schip
I don't get the negative comments. Japan is not a country where people stick their neck out. This is a great move and due to their size and standing it is now much easier and acceptable for others to follow them. About time.
nath
Good on Panasonic. Nice to see this grassroots movement in Japan.
How are you doing over there with your half-empty glass of water?
papigiulio
Something that should not HAVE to be recognized in the first place. It should be natural and a private matter who marries who.
nath
This is one way change was driven in the U.S.--corporate recognition of the need to stay competitive by accepting diversity in hiring and benefit practices. This won't affect their employees in Japan much, but it's a great statement to make. I wonder how long it will be before the corporate headquarters recognizes an official LGBT employee organization?
gogogo
It's a step I give it that but they recognize it? You still can't legally get gay "married" in Japan so what are they "recognizing"? The fact you might want to get married?
nath
It would appear they are intending to extend the benefits they provide to straight marriages to gay marriages.
danalawton1@yahoo.com
Good for Matsushita Elec Industries! In a country where 97% of the people are actually Japanese, and with a culture over 2,000 years old, it will be interesting to see how any transition to acceptance plays out. I've always found individual's in Japan to be very intelligent and accepting..... its media in Japan that seems to want to freeze time. Sure they have their token individuals.... but that has been about as far as they've wanted to go.
dcog9065
That's great news! Hopefully now some more cities follow Shibuya and Setagaya and more companies follow Panasonic's lead in recognition and acceptance
nakanoguy01
cool that they want to do this, but since gay marriage is not legal, will they just recognize gay couples then?
Wolfpack
What about the guys who marry robots? I hear that's a new thing in Japan too.
ghoneim mohamed
Japan has its own special culture and traditions thousands of years ago,we all know that,and should accept that,as they accept others.No one has the right to criticize.if there will be a change,this will come by time.We dont have to push others to be like us.No ones values or beliefs are better than others.If we really realize and respect this,the world will be much better.
nath
Sure they do.
Sometimes they are.
Ian Robertson
Excellent news - well done Panasonic!
Roger Jolly
It is funny how sometimes Japanese rush on the first cart the see passing by to sound modern and competitive, showing themselves at the same level with the rest of the world. I frankly doubt that Panasonic suffer from production losses and disadvantages for having so many sam-sex worker suffering from lack of family policies. I hope they really understand the meaning of it, but I doubt, since most companies have still a very male oriented attitude, female discriminatory job policies, no care for family needs such as women or men needing to stay home caring for kids; etc. What will it really change for Panasonic...? Isn't it just advertising hype? And they do not even allow employees go on holiday when they want how long they want according to most accepted standards. I do not mean to be polemic, but frankly I do not understand these new trends... why not a bunch of three or four friends as a family, then? Me and my dog... A farmer and his animals... All love each others and depend on each other.
Gary Raynor
gokai_wo_maneku
Totally non-gay Gary Raynor will also be buying Panasonic from now on and I have to order 3 x 55 inch flat screen TVs next week.
Well done Panasonic and for those who criticize such a move, get a life. People shouldn't be discriminated against for their race, color or sexuality.
SenseNotSoCommon
Panny (which ceased being Matsushita a decade ago) has the clout to lead a movement that goes beyond gender politics.
It speaks to the individual being valued in a Japan that is starting to embrace diversity, something central government monolith cannot begin to understand, never mind realise.
Schopenhauer
The population of Japan will decrease further if this trend goes wider.
goldorak
PR coup or not, this is a good initiative.
Joshb1991
So this only applies overseas where same-sex marriage is legal? I know in Shibuya you can now get a "certificate" that grants some basic rights to same sex couples but I am not really understanding it Will Panasonic be helping those couples too?
On a broader scale, Japan is really very lacking when it comes to LGBT awareness. Some of the ignorance I have seen is astounding. I am pretty sure your average Japanese citizen equates all of the LGBT spectrum under "okama", or some kind of transgender-ism. While I am not trying to single out transsexuals, the average gay male or female in Japan does not belong to that group what-so-ever. I have also heard the "every gay man is a carrier of AIDS!" before, too. A little bit of education of the subject would go a long, long way to resolving some of the issues LGBT people face here
Yubaru
While in a Utopian world this is so, we live in a very different one and it is going to take a generation or two for this country to accept diversity.
Looks like someone is still in the dark ages, the name changed to Panasonic in 2008.
Why would Panasonic be helping those couples in Shibuya. Which btw has a very discriminatory practice of forcing the gay couples to get a notarized copy of their union prior to being recognized by the ward. Heterosexual couples do not have the same requirement.
More like they are very open and willing to accept it so long as it isn't in their family. LGBT people are on TV and in the news daily here, people know. It isnt awareness per-say, but acceptance of difference and diversity.
Joshb1991
But are they really on TV? Sure there are a few trans women or "new halves" as they like to call them here. Maybe there are also a few celebrities who crossdress and are a bit eccentric. That is great for transgender people, of course. but do you know any famous gay or lesbian celebrities on TV in Japan who aren't shown for laughs? Or any gay storylines in TV dramas or major characters? Becuase I haven't seen any yet.
Also, I wouldn't say they are open to accepting it. In Tokyo, perhaps so. However, outside of Tokyo it isn't all that great. I can't imagine me coming out as gay in the school where I teach going down very well. At the very least I would get some dirty looks and whisperings of "kimochi warui"
Jimizo
"No ones values or beliefs are better than others.If we really realize and respect this,the world will be much better."
Tell that to homosexuals facing persecution, jail or even execution in certain cultures. I have no respect for that kind of barbarism.
True Okinawa
this is so foolish...
nath
True, you only need to file taxes for your 1st year after that they are done by your Company. Bit trickier if you got a house or other big loan.
Brian Wheway
I think that this is a grate idea and a good initiative on Panasonics behalf, I wonder how many more Japanese companies now follow suit in light of this news?
Christopher Glen
A fair point
Kabukilover
Good for Panasonic.
Yubaru
Some in the links below are bi-, and it is also a large well known rumor that Johnny Kitagawa of the Johnny's Jimsho fame (SMAP, V-6, Arashi etc etc) is also gay, rather bi- as he does have a daughter, and that he has had a number of relationships with his "boys". It was a huge thing for Johnny's to let Kimura Takuya get married, he is the only member of SMAP, whose members are close to or over 40, and Kimura being the only one married.
http://onehallyu.com/topic/135333-japanese-male-celebrities-well-known-to-be-gay-part-3/
http://onehallyu.com/topic/134752-japanese-male-celebrities-well-known-to-be-gay-part-1/
Brian Wheway
True Okinawa, you say this is foolish, can you explain your self as to why its foolish? any step forward is better
Akula
Discrimination makes no sense from a company perspective, after all they want to sell their products to as many people as possible.
That said, given Japan's dire demographic situation, anything that promotes non-heterosexual relationships is against the national interest.
CruisinJapan
Great win for equal marriage. Now let's get equal rights for women in the workplace as well!
Christopher Glen
No such thing
Manuel Moreira
Amazing news!!! Well done Panasonic :D
ShinCebu
Panasonic will fall after many years....... 同性愛者は大きな罪である。
tinawatanabe
This is only for employees benefits, nothing to do with what the marriage should be.