A majority of Japanese support changing the country’s laws to allow same-sex unions, with the highest backing coming from younger respondents, according to a poll. Fifty-one percent of people polled by researchers from universities and the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research back such partnerships, the Asahi newspaper reported. Support exceeded 70 percent among respondents in their 20s and 30s, while 38 percent in their 60s and 24 percent in their 70s were in favor, the Asahi said. This year, Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward became the country’s first local authority to recognize same-sex partnerships and this month started issuing “equivalency to marriage” certificates to gay couples. While the move has helped build momentum for same-sex marriage, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and some senior members of his party are cautious on the issue

And by cautious, we mean Abe is resistant but knows which way the wind is blowing and running out of excuses not to.

Well, they can either go with what the people want or find themselves unemployed.

Well, they can either go with what the people want or find themselves unemployed.

Depends on how strongly they feel about that issue, in relation to other policies the party supports. It's complicated.

But I think there's mounting pressure both external and internal to allow it, and attitudes toward what it means to be gay or lesbian are changing. So it's a matter of time.

Still a bit of a way to go I'm afraid. From the corresponding article in the Japan Times:

A majority of Japanese are accepting of romantic feelings between same-sex couples but are not so tolerant when it comes to having homosexual friends, researchers say.

IIRC there are now two wards in Tokyo that give foreign same-sex marriages the full legal status (Setagaya joined Shibuya in July). So I am somewhat hopeful that things will continue to change, at least in Tokyo. Given that the first certificates recognising foreign same-sex marriages were only issued earlier this month, I expect it may take a few more years though...

Is there a link to the poll or an article about it?

Is there a link to the poll or an article about it?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-29/majority-of-japanese-support-same-sex-marriage-poll-shows

Japan is now in that grey area that the US was in about the year 2010. They are warming up to the idea but not there completely yet.

equality don't even exist in het marriage in japan...