While Japan’s policies around same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights, in general, may be lagging behind, Nintendo is leading the way with equal support for employees no matter what their sexuality is. While the news was widely circulated recently, this update was added to Nintendo’s site in June last year.
It said that its aim is “to create a work environment that supports and empowers each and every one of [its] unique employees”, so they’ve introduced a “system [that] ensures employees who are in a domestic partnership with a same-sex partner have the same benefits as employees in an opposite-sex marriage.”
Considering that same-sex marriages aren’t recognised in Japanese law, this is a very big statement from Nintendo. This attitude is in their code of conduct, which states, “we do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, nationality, ideology, religion, creed, origin, social status, class, occupation, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” You can find the full statement here.
You can see a tweet in Japanese that recently circulated below.
【去年導入】任天堂が「パートナーシップ制度」を公式サイトで紹介https://t.co/Mxq7Gcn9mf
この制度は「婚姻関係に相当する同性パートナー」および「事実婚関係にある異性カップル」を社内制度において法律上の婚姻と同等に扱うもの。幅広く社員をサポートする狙いがあるものと見られる。 pic.twitter.com/8XV4GrSA19
— ライブドアニュース (@livedoornews) July 13, 2022
For Nintendo’s next big game, check out our Xenoblade Chronicles 3 preview to see why we think it’s “game of the year material.”