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Japan's new Prime Minister and Marriage Equality

At some point in his political career, Shigeru Ishiba was asked to open a new pop culture museum. He arrived a little late, and when the organizers handed him an outfit to wear, he had no time to think, let alone say no.

Image courtesy of Twitter, photographer unknown.

The costume was that of a character from the Dragonball universe, a pink-fleshed magician named 魔人ブウ (Majin Bū), and although I do not follow Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) closely (for reasons that will eventually become a more extended essay that pulls in the Unification Church, yes, the Moonies, and the CIA), I have to admit I find it delightful to see a politician with so little ego as to not worry about being photographed in such an outfit. For the record, I love capes, and a purple cape? Sold!

Yesterday, I learned that after five internal elections, Mr. Ishiba (whose family name, 石破, gloriously means breaker of rocks) won the LDP’s leadership role and will become Japan’s new Prime Minister. He had been the Minister of Defense in former Prime Minister Kishida’s elections. One of the first things I learned about Mr. Ishiba’s political leanings was that he is on the hawkish end of the spectrum and hopes to even out the off-kilter relationship with the United States, proposing, for example, that the US bases in Okinawa become joint property of both countries’ militaries.

But then, this morning, I learned two new things about him, both surprising me.

The first regards his allegiances within the LDP.

His opponents in the leadership election were two very different candidates.

Shinjirō Koizumi comes from a long line of politicians. His father was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, his grandfather Junya (who married into the family and took his wife’s name—his original family name, 鮫島, literally shark island, is cooler, to my ears, than 小泉, little spring) led the Ministry of Defence in the mid-1960s, and his great-grandfather Matajirō (famous for his tattoos—he was born into a working-class family, however, and had no yakuza ties that I could cursorily find) led the Ministry of Posts and Communications in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Despite this lineage, Shinjirō is not one of the LDP members who descended from samurais or feudal lords (as former Prime Minister Abe did). Like his father, Shinjirō is neoliberal, that is, right of center but not far right.

Sanae Takaichi, who placed first in the first of five leadership elections, could have become Japan’s first female prime minister. However, she is a member of the LDP’s far-right claque, which many in Japan see as an ongoing source of corruption and cronyism.

That corruption and his inability to eliminate it might have led former Prime Minister Kishida to step aside. But it was Kishida who, in yesterday's final leadership election, directed all one hundred members of his faction to vote for Ishiba, pushing him over the top and soundly defeating Takaichi.

But the surprise came in learning the different far-right factions (all of whom have steadfastly opposed marriage equality for queer Japanese people) within the LDP despise Ishiba. So perhaps I am hoping that an enemy of my enemies will be my friend.

And that is where the second surprise came in.

Marriage for All Japan, a Twitter account for marriage equality, reported on remarks made by Ishiba during a TBS Radio interview with Chiki Ogigami.

石破茂 自民党 新総裁 の同性婚についての考え
■荻上：では、同性婚についても伺います。今同性婚については訴訟も行われており、同性婚を認めるべきだという判決も出始めているところではあります。最高裁判断はこれからになりますが、石破さんいかがでしょうか？
■石破：私は、世の中にはLGBTという方々が相当数おられる、ですね。 それは、同性しか好きになれない、同性としかそういう感情が芽生えない人がいる。 それが同性婚を認められないことによって、いろんな不利益を受けているとすれば、それは救済する道を考えるべきだと思っています。
■荻上：その救済策というのは、平等な権利を与える、すなわち婚姻制度を同性にも開くということでよろしいでしょうか。
■石破：そういうことで結構です。
（以上）

Thoughts of Shigeru Ishiba, the new leader of the LDP, on same-sex marriage:

• Ogigami: I’d like to ask you about same-sex marriage. Several court cases are underway specific to that issue, and some court decisions have already indicated that such marriages should be recognized. Although no ruling has yet to come from the Supreme Court, what are your thoughts on the matter?

• Ishiba: I know that there are significant numbers of LGBT people in Japan. They are people who only feel attraction to or fall in love with members of the same sex [sic]. And if we consider that a lack of recognition of same-sex marriages can negatively impact them in various, I think there is a need to consider a path that would remedy those impacts.

• Ogigami: And by remedies, is it safe to include equal rights and to open marriage registries to persons of the same sex?

• Ishiba: I would say so, yes.

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Friends in Japan have shared their belief that marriage equality is on the not-so-distant horizon. The Ishiba administration might be the one to overcome the remaining legislative hurdles.

But, as Hiro reminds me, the far-right members of the LDP aren’t down for the count. And they remain as opposed to marriage equality as their long-time friends in the Unification Church do.

Let’s see how Mr. Ishiba fares.