Construction of a Demography of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (Part 1)

This special issue introduces research on constructing a demographic framework for studying sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in Japan. The project, initiated in 2021, builds upon previous work to address the lack of official statistics on SOGI in Japan. Despite growing policy interest, including discussions in government committees about gender statistics and the 2023 LGBT Understanding Promotion Act, systematic data collection on SOGI remains absent. The research team conducted Japan's first random sampling survey on SOGI in Osaka City (2019) and subsequently expanded to a nationwide survey in 2023. The methodology emphasizes developing survey questions that accurately capture SOGI regardless of respondents' minority status. This issue presents findings from cognitive interviews with participants aged 60 and above, examining how older adults understand and respond to SOGI-related survey questions, contributing to the development of standardized measurement tools for demographic research on sexual and gender minorities in Japan.