We will report on the progress so far in the case "We can't wait any longer - Sendai Domestic Relations Court ruling on same-sex marriage."

On February 14, 2024, a petition for a domestic relations arbitration was filed with the Sendai Family Court requesting acceptance of the marriage registration of Koji Obama and his male partner.

In response to this, the Family Court requested the Sendai City Taihaku Ward Mayor to submit a written opinion in accordance with the provisions of the Domestic Relations Procedure Act. The Taihaku Ward Mayor requested an extension of the deadline, which was set as June 28th, but just before the deadline he requested an extension (the defense team opposed this, but the court granted it), and submitted a written opinion on July 9th. The content of the opinion was that an intention to marry is necessary for a marriage to be established, but that this did not exist between Obama and his partner.

In order to refute this opinion, the legal team decided to seek the opinion of a researcher who believes that same-sex marriage is recognized under the current Civil Code and Family Registration Act, and held multiple meetings with Associate Professor Machado Daniel of Gakushuin University.

On the other hand, due to the nature of family court cases, no hearings are held in open court. In order to let people know about the status of the proceedings and the content of our arguments, Ms. Obama and her legal team held an event in Sendai City on October 26, 2024, titled "We want more people to know about the Sendai family court case regarding same-sex marriage!"

During 2024, the first preparatory brief on social facts was submitted on October 1st, and the second preparatory brief on constitutional theory was submitted on December 27th.

Then, in 2025, Professor Machado's opinion was completed. It is written in a persuasive style, outlining the changes in the provisions of the Civil Code from its establishment to the present, and how this has led to the situation in which same-sex marriage is recognized. The legal team submitted this opinion on March 27th, and submitted the third preparatory brief explaining its contents on April 23rd (in addition, the fourth preparatory brief explaining other high court decisions and the fifth preparatory brief supplementing social facts were also submitted).

The legal team believes that they have presented all of their arguments at this point, and has requested the family court to hold an early hearing for Mr. Obama. The reason for this request is that Mr. Obama's partner has been hospitalized due to illness, and they want to reach a decision to recognize the marriage as soon as possible.

However, the family court declined to implement the law early, stating that a decision on the matter would be made after the Taihaku ward mayor's opinion, whose deadline for submission is the end of September, is submitted.

Although the legal team is dissatisfied with the way the family court is proceeding, we will continue to engage in dialogue and work toward realizing Mr. Obama and his wife's marriage as soon as possible.