A row of cameras waits outside the Shibuya ward office. Security officers try to contain the gaggle of journalists, but more keep coming as the clock ticks closer to opening time on Thursday morning.
The nondescript city office is familiar to any couple seeking a marriage certificate in Shibuya. But no couple like Koyuki Higashi and Hiroko Matsuhara has ever walked through the office doors.
When the two women appear, smiling and holding hands, camera clicks and flashes follow them as they go inside, where cameras are not allowed.
Higashi, a Japanese model and television personality turned LGBT activist, wears a dress and heels.
Her partner of four years and fellow activist, Hiroko Matsuhara wears a colorful scarf and dark suit. Both hold hands and smile as they enter the ward office at 8:22 a.m. and leave exactly 20 minutes later carrying Japan's first-ever certificate recognizing a same sex union.
Japanese couple Hiroko Masuharda and Koyuki Higashi celebrate in front of Shibuya's Hachiko statue on November 5, 2015.
"I'm so happy," Higashi says. "When they gave us the certificate, I cried. Our friends cried."
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