Richardson Law’s Global Reach with Japan Pride Month Research Presentations

Joshua D. Faumuina (ʻ26) and Dr. Brandon Marc Higa (J.D. ʻ19, S.J.D. ʻ24) recently completed a research tour in Japan as featured speakers for a series of Pride Month events, advancing the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law’s longstanding commitment to international engagement and justice.

Faumuina and Dr. Higa met with prominent lawyers and marriage equality advocates from the Lawyers for LGBT & Allies Network (LLAN) and Marriage For All Japan. Their discussions supported the pair’s forthcoming publication analyzing five High Court decisions that reflect growing judicial support for marriage equality in Japan, and builds upon their former partnership with LLAN and Marriage For All Japan on their case comment in the Asia-Pacific Law and Policy Journal featuring the five district court decisions on same-sex marriage in Japan.

As part of their research trip, Faumuina served as a panel discussant at Chuo University School of Law’s International Conference on Law, Gender, and Indigeneity: Academic Conversations from Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan, and Hawaiʻi. Dr. Higa delivered the keynote address, “Constitutional Currents: International Perspectives on the Legal Framework for Marriage, Indigeneity, and Freedom of Expression in Tōkyō, Okinawa, and Hawaiʻi,” based on his doctoral dissertation.

The conference was organized by Dr. Kazuki Matsuda, Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and Associate Professor Fumiaki Kobayashi of Meiji University’s Faculty of Law, who recently completed a two-year visiting fellow appointment at Richardson.

During their visit to Okinawa, Faumuina and Dr. Higa were hosted by Dean Emi Yano of the University of the Ryukyus Graduate School of Law, where they participated as visiting scholars in a week-long series of academic discussions. Their research culminated in joint presentations on marriage equality at the International Symposium on Sexuality, held in conjunction with Ryudai’s Rainbow Pride Month events.