Current location:business >>
VOX POPULI: Sapporo court’s same
business22People have gathered around
IntroductionA small book titled “Sekai ga Moshi 100-nin no Mura Dattara” (If the World Were a Village of 100 Peo ...
A small book titled “Sekai ga Moshi 100-nin no Mura Dattara” (If the World Were a Village of 100 People) became a best-seller in Japan in 2002.
Retold in Japanese by Kayoko Ikeda with a side-by-side English translation by C. Douglas Lummis, the book’s message was that we are not seeing the world in its entirety.
It goes on: If 100 people lived in this village, 52 would be women and 48 would be men; 20 are undernourished and 14 cannot read.
Of the wealth in this village, six people own 59 percent; one has a college education.
In the last two decades since the book’s publication, the population of the world has ballooned from 6.3 billion to 8 billion.
I believe we need to take another look at the “village” now, based on the latest numbers.
Ikeda said she has done just that, but from a little different perspective. She divided the population into heterosexuals and homosexuals.
When she gave a lecture on this subject and explained their ratios, a young member of the audience asked her: “Don’t I exist in this village? I’m bisexual.”
Since then, advances have been made in society’s understanding of the diversity of people’s gender identification and sexual orientation.
But the legislature is still stuck in its ways and does not recognize same-sex marriage.
However, the Sapporo High Court on March 14 unequivocally stated that Japan’s lack of legal provisions for same-sex marriage is in violation of the Constitution.
In the ruling, the court empathized with same-sex couples whose “human activities” are being impeded and called for swift remedies.
The judge also explained that this was a matter of personal dignity.
This feels as if dawn is breaking over a dark road.
The plaintiffs must have sought only one thing: To be treated like everyone else in their village.
The Diet must get moving.
One in 10 Japanese people are sexual minorities such as LGBT, according to a survey by advertising and public relations giant Dentsu Inc.
That percentage is said to be about the same as that of left-handed people in Japan.
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 15
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“International Iterations news portal”。http://www.videocameralive.com/html-213a399783.html
Related articles
Kristin Cavallari, 37, ignores critics of her age
businessKristin Cavallari is enjoying a romantic rendezvous with her much younger cowboy lover Mark Estes in ...
【business】
Read moreTourism featuring ASEAN cultures heats up in border region
businessPeople walk out of the venue of the 18th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, capital of south China's G ...
【business】
Read moreGeopark listed in UNESCO network
businessPeople visit snow-covered Changbai Mountain in northeast China's Jilin Province, March 7, 2021. ...
【business】
Read more
Popular articles
- Adams, Reyna, Turner, Ream are US concerns ahead of Copa America
- Harbin extravaganza boosts China's ice
- AP PHOTOS: Paris Olympics venues mix history and modernity and showcase cultural heritage
- China's Hou breaks world record at IWF World Cup
- Burglar hurled stolen mobile phones at police from the top of 60ft high roof during nine
- Harbin extravaganza boosts China's ice
Latest articles
LINKS
- Scenic spots keep locals coming back
- Prehistoric ruins dig into cave
- Art reshapes rural scene in SW China village
- Traditional Ewenki handicrafts hot souvenirs amid thriving winter tourism
- Xuzhou Museum (II)
- Roof of the world inhabited since 50,000 years ago: archaeologists
- China's development promotes global prosperity
- Prehistoric ruins dig into cave
- FBI opens criminal investigation into Baltimore bridge collapse, AP source says
- Scenic spots keep locals coming back