Japanese beer giant is recognising employees' same-sex marriages, even though Japan doesn't

Japanese beverage company Kirin has gotten a lot more inclusive.

The second-largest beer producer in the country is one of the latest companies announcing a change in diversity guidelines to include LGBTQ employees.

The guideline change came into effect on July 1, and will grant marriage benefits to employees with same-sex and common-law marriages, according to a press release picked up by SoraNews24.

The company has around 20,000 employees in Japan -- half of its global workforce -- will also grant medical leave for procedures such as hormone therapy, and gender confirmation surgery. It has also pledged to hold workshops to raise diversity awareness amongst employees and customers.

"We hope it will be highly motivating [and eradicate] any discrimination," a Kirin spokesperson told Mashable. The company added that the move is based on its human resources principles, and that it also had a policy that prohibited discrimination.

Kirin did not comment about the number of people who have since benefited from the policy.

Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Kirin is a big name to join in a trend of large Japanese corporations to put up their hand in support of LGBTQ employees.

Electronics manufacturer Panasonic said in February last year it would begin recognising same-sex marriages for its 250,000 employees. Sony announced that it would also do the same right after Panasonic's announcement.

Other companies have since followed suit: IBM Japan offers employees who declare that they have same-sex partners, benefits like cash wedding gifts and relocation travel expenses.

These moves are a big deal in Japanese society, which remains conservative. Same-sex marriage isn't recognised there yet, although some cities, like Sapporo, Shibuya, and Setagaya, have offered some marriage equality benefits to same-sex partners.

LGBTQ acceptance still has a ways to go Japan's corporate culture. In a 2015 Dentsu survey, only 2.4 percent of LGBTQ respondents surveyed had come out to their boss, while only 4.8 percent of respondents came out to their colleagues.

UPDATE: July 28, 2017, 4:37 p.m. SGT Updated with Kirin's response.