Anal sodomy was decriminalized in 1881 when the provision was dropped from Japan's Penal Code. It was eliminated by supervision of Gustave Boissonade, a French legal scholar who served as an advisor to develop the legal system in Japan.

Same-sex marriage failed to be recognised legalization pending

In Japan, there are no laws restricting to discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics.

Amended Act No.111 of 2003 requires for transgender people to change their legal gender, (1) be at least 18 years of age, (2) not currently married, (3) no child less than 18 years, (4) infertile (no gonads or persistent lack of gonadal function), (5) and has a body which appears to have genital parts of those of the opposite sex. And also requires medical certificate by two or more psychiatrist.

On October 16th 2023, a Japanese transgender man won his case in court to allow him to change his legal gender without sterilization. The law was deemed unconstitutional. It remains to be seen what changes will be made to the law and when they will come in effect.

Non-binary gender is not legally recognized in Japan.

However, the city of Yokosuka recognizes the relationships of people of all genders, including "x-gender", the common term for non-binary in Japan.

Though a new law was passed in June 2023, this law merely "promotes the understanding of SOGI" and only refers to anti-discrimination in principle. It does not specifically ban or illegalize LGBTQ discrimination.

Laws in force in Japan do not offer protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in employment. In 2019, Japan amended its labor policy law to prevent workplace harassment, but the law only mandates the prevention of harassment and is not an inclusive law protecting individuals from discrimination based on SOGI.

In a 2008 report by the UN Human Rights Committee, they expressed concern about discrimination against LGBT people in several areas, including housing. According to Article 23(1) of Japan’s Public Housing Law, it only applies to married and unmarried different-sex couples. However, in October of 2012, the Japanese government stated that Article 23(1) was abolished and, therefore, same-sex partners were no longer excluded.

However, the Human Rights Committee report states that in reality, "municipalities decide who can rent public houses under the amended Public Housing Law and few municipal policies allow same-sex couples to qualify. Thus, in practice same-sex couples remain excluded from public housing."

The US State Department states: "there are no laws regulating or addressing same-sex couples adopting in Japan."
It was reported in 2016 that many same-sex couples have been rejected by public authorities and are told “Children will never be fostered” by same-sex couples and “couples of friends are not accepted.”
There is however one documented case from 2016 of same-sex foster parents in Osaka.

Japan has a Self Defense Force in place of a traditional military. There is no specific policy either banning or encouraging LGBT participation in the Self Defense Forces. Research by Sabine Fruhstuck has shown that many Japanese do not object to open LGBT service in the military provided it does not interfere with their performance.

Red Cross Japan reduces deferral for high HIV risk individual from 12 months to 6 months.

There are no laws banning conversion therapy in Japan.

The national age of consent is equal for both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. Cities and prefectures may set higher ages of consent.