Japan's bar on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the high court in the northern region of Sapporo said on Thursday, the first such ruling by an appeals court on a matter that has divided the lower levels of the judiciary.

Japan is the only Group of Seven nation without legal protection for same-sex unions. Despite the ruling, the Sapporo High Court dismissed the plaintiffs' claim for damages from the government.

The debate whether Japan's laws against same-sex marriage are unconstitutional has split lower courts, with one district court holding the bar to be constitutional but others saying it is unconstitutional in varying degrees.

Although opinion polls from 2023 show about 70 percent of the public backs same-sex marriage, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida opposes it.

(Cover: The Asakusa underground shopping center is pictured in Taito Ward, Tokyo, March 7, 2024. /CFP)