A city in Japan has a new plan to counteract declining birth rates by making it easier for couples to get married. The twist? It’s become the first local government whose financial incentives are inclusive of LGBTQ couples.
Financial schemes to counteract the declining birth rate are nothing new. Both the central government and municipalities are sponsoring multiple programs to support newlyweds and new parents. Some, like Tokyo, have even rolled out their own dating apps.
According to Tokyo Shimbun, the city of Ichikawa in Chiba Prefecture is also dedicating 100 million yen (USD $660,000) out of its 2025 budget to give newly married couples rent subsidies. The plan, the city announced, will also be open to LGBTQ couples looking to settle down. It’s the first time in Japan that a marriage incentive program in Japan has recognized sexual and gender minorities.
The plan will give qualifying couples 20,000 yen ($132) a month towards the rent for their first year of marriage. It will also give a first-time payment of 50,000 yen ($330) toward first-time rental fees, such as realtor fees and so-called “key money” (礼金; reikin), a non-refundable honorarium paid to landlords.
The subsidy will be available to any couple under age 39 who leases an apartment in the city from March onwards.
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The central government of Japan does not recognize marriages between two people of the same gender. However, local partnership systems that grant some of the benefits of marriage cover most of Japan’s population. According to Asahi Shimbun, Ichikawa passed its partnership system in 2022. The city publicizes its partnership system on its website with PDF brochures in Japanese, Chinese, and English.
Mayor Tanaka Ko, in an apparent rebuke of US President Donald Trump’s war against the country’s transgender citizens, said, “We implemented this because we view Ichikawa as a place that recognizes LGBTQ people.”
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