Japan’s capital has announced it will start recognizing same-sex partnerships to ease the burdens faced by residents in their daily lives, but the unions will not be considered legal marriages.

Support for sexual diversity has grown slowly in Japan, but legal protections are still lacking for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Japan does not legally recognize same-sex marriages, and LGBTQ people often face discrimination at school, work and at home, causing many to hide their sexual identities.

The Tokyo government said applicants for a partnership certificate will be limited to adult residents of the capital but will include foreign nationals.

Tokyo’s metropolitan government will begin accepting registrations in October.

The Shibuya district in Tokyo became the first Japanese municipality to issue partnership certificates in 2015.

Now, about 12% of the country's municipalities have taken similar steps.

ATLANTA — To feel underrepresented is, so often, to feel at a distance from the wider world: on the fringes of discussion, distilled into stereotypes and assumptions.

Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood is standing in the Kids Zone at an event called SouthEATS. It’s a celebration of Asian American culture in the heart of Midtown Atlanta, a city where, like in so many cities, that culture is often pushed to a distance.

“I think it's just so important for us to be able to build an identity for our communities that goes beyond just existing,” Mahmood said.

Each May brings Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. For the last three, it’s also brought the STAATUS Index, a survey from The Asian American Foundation about perceptions towards Asian Americans.

Norman Chen runs the foundation. This year they found nearly 80% of Asian Americans do not completely feel are accepted in America. More than half felt unsafe in America. And when non-Asian Americans were asked to name a famous Asian American figure, the top three responses were Bruce Lee, who died 50 years ago, Jackie Chan, who’s not American, and at the top, “I don’t know.”

“If you do research on hate and violence, a lot of times it starts with stereotypes of one group versus another and seeing them as others,” Chen said.

A separate survey from the Asian American Journalists Association found nearly a quarter of stations in the top 20 local TV markets had no AAPI individuals on the air. Nearly three quarters didn’t have enough AAPIs to represent the population of the market.

“The number one source of information about Asian Americans still remains news,” Chen said. “It’s mostly stories about trauma, about attacks. But there are more and more stories to celebrate, right? Over 50 ethnicities, over 100 cultures … that makes a wonderful kaleidoscope.”

Atlanta is an example of the kaleidoscope expanding. The foundation hosting SouthEATS is among those working to empower more AAPIs to vote. In the last decade, their voting share in Georgia has tripled.

Restaurants fill not just international corridors but the busiest neighborhoods. Jane Ewe, who spoke at the event, owns a restaurant and bakery in the heart of the city.

“Hopefully," Ewe said at the event, "my foreign cultural background won’t feel so foreign to people anymore.”

Shortly after noon Thursday, police officers arrived outside Oriental Wok on Buttermilk Pike in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, in response to a reported threat made against the restaurant and its employees.

It wasn't the first time the staff has received threats, the restaurant said in a Facebook post, but in light of the recent Atlanta-area mass shooting that law enforcement officials believe targeted people of Asian descent, the owners weren't taking any chances.

"Our homes and cars have been egged, we are pummeled with daily calls telling us to 'go back to China' along with other crude and violent threats. We walk our staff to their cars to ensure safety every night," the statement reads.

The mass shootings in Georgia that left eight people dead -- the majority of whom were of Asian descent -- is a painful reminder for leaders in the Tri-State's Asian American and Pacific Islander communities of what a difficult year it's been.

"We're shocked, and we're saddened," said Leo Chan, executive director of the Midwest USA Chinese Chamber of Commerce, of Tuesday's shootings.

Early Tuesday evening, sheriff's deputies said a gunman, later identified as 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, visited multiple Atlanta-area spas and opened fire, killing eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent. Counterterrorism officials later said they believed the region's Asian American community was being targeted in the shootings.

Chan and others in Greater Cincinnati say they've seen an uptick in anti-Asian sentiments and aggression since the coronavirus pandemic began last March.

"I was very disheartened and very, very sad," said Yen Hsieh, honorary chair of the Mason, Ohio-based Asian Community Alliance.

But they also emphasized that, while the problem might be getting worse, it's nothing new.

"The anti-Asian, anti-Pacific Islander sentiment in the United States goes back centuries," said Cody Hefner of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Data from the group Stop AAPI Hate reports nearly 3,800 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders over the last 12 months.

"Some of these activities have definitely been on the rise, and it has been very, very difficult for the community to deal with," Chan told WCPO Thursday.

Lawmakers in Columbus, Ohio, are trying to create a state commission and state office for AAPI affairs, hoping that will help address some of these issues against the community. That bipartisan bill is still in the state senate.

Meanwhile, Chan said he just wants to see a conversation start.

"Just come out and talk to us," he said. "There's nothing that cannot be talked about, right?"

FORT MITCHELL, Ky. — Mike Wong met some new customers Friday at his restaurant, Oriental Wok on Buttermilk Pike, when he and his staff served a packed house. The surge in customers, many said, was meant as an act of support for the business after it received a series of anti-Asian threats.

"This is one or two people," Wong told WCPO. "Totally, the community will support me."

Local police camped outside the restaurant much of the day Thursday after Wong reported a series of threatening messages aimed at his staff in the aftermath of Tuesday's Atlanta-area mass shootings that left eight people dead, the majority of whom were of Asian descent.

Rob Pieper (WCPO)

The shooting renewed focus on what has been a measurable increase in anti-Asian and anti-Pacific Islander rhetoric and aggression over the last year. What was already a pervasive problem, local leaders say, has been made worse throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think it's horrible," said first-time customer, Judy Cosset. "It's just a horrible thing that these people had to deal with because of what going on with the virus. We literally read what was going on and felt like we needed to come and support the organization and the community."

The restaurant posted a message on Facebook Thursday explaining why police were called to their premises and how hateful threats are nothing new.

"Our homes and cars have been egged, we are pummeled with daily calls telling us to 'go back to China' along with other crude and violent threats. We walk our staff to their cars to ensure safety every night," the statement reads.

"It breaks my heart because nobody deserves..." said another customer, Amy Bostic. "Hate, to me, is just ignorance, and these people definitely do not deserve it. They've done nothing wrong."

Cosset said part of her motivation to visit the restaurant Friday evening was to send a message that the threats they've received do not align with her community's values.

"That's just not the way that we think," she said. "That's not the way that we feel, and we wanted them to know that."

Wong said the response from the community was overwhelming.

"We love all the people, the country," he said.

The San Francisco Board of Education has voted to remove its vice president after tweets she posted in 2016 that were critical of Asian people resurfaced.

KPIX-TV and KRON-TV in San Francisco report that the board voted 5-2 on Thursday in a vote of no confidence of Vice President Alison Collins.

The tweets resurfaced last week amid rising instances of hate against the AAPI community and in the wake of a mass shooting in Atlanta, where eight people — including six Asian women — were gunned down at three separate spas in the region.

In the 2016 tweets, Collins told her followers that she was looking to combat anti-black racism in the Asian community at her daughters’ school

Later on in her thread, Collins accused many Asian Americans of believing that they benefit as the “model minority.”

“In fact many Asian American [teachers], [students], and [parents] actively promote these myths. They use white supremacist thinking to assimilate and "get ahead",” she wrote. “Talk to many @thelowell parents and you will hear praise of Tiger Moms and disparagement of Black/Brown "culture.”

In a statement released to the San Francisco Chronicle, Collins apologized said her tweets had been “taken out of context.”

“A number of tweets and social media posts I made in 2016 have recently been highlighted,” Collins told the Chronicle. “They have been taken out of context, both of that specific moment and the nuance of the conversation that took place. I acknowledge that right now, in this moment my words taken out of context can be causing more pain for those who are already suffering. For the pain my words may have caused I am sorry, and I apologize unreservedly.”

After the tweets resurfaced, Collins was denounced by several local politicians, including Mayor London Breed and several California state assembly members.

CHICAGO — Forty-two percent of Americans can’t name a well-known Asian American, according to a recent study from nonprofit advocacy group LAAUNCH. According to the education research organization, the Conscious Kid, out of all racial groups, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders receive the least attention in school curriculum and textbooks.

When actor and mother Sheetal Sheth searched for a storybook to read to her first-born child that reflected her Indian American identity, she couldn’t find one.

“There's very little representation. If there was, it was either culturally insensitive, inappropriate or inaccurate,” explained Sheth.

So, she wrote her own story.

Her first book, Always Anjali, tells the story of a 7-year-old girl who finds that none of the souvenir license plates at a carnival bear her name.

“Then, a boy comes and starts making fun of her and not just makes fun of her for not having it, turns it into a racist moment and says to her, ‘They're not going to have a plate for someone like you,’” said Sheth.

The book cuts deep into the idea of identity and belonging in America.

“All of my books feature just the growing pains of children because we have the same ones, and the cultural part is just folded in,” said Sheth.

And now, more Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are sharing their stories to younger audiences through the Conscious Kid , an educational organization that aims to "promote healthy racial identity development in youth."

“We are often left out and we are the most underrepresented when it comes to narratives, especially in schools, and so, they thought let's do something about it,” said Sheth.

Teaming up with Asian-owned media company Wong Fu Productions, they’ve also produced a series of YouTube Kids-hosted AAPI for the books series. Spearheaded by actor Harry Shum Jr., the story-time read alouds feature notable Asian Americans like Randall Park, Padma Lakshmi and Ming-Na Wen.

“When we talk about exposing kids of different cultures, I think at the same time it's also making sure that people, kids are also proud of who they are,” said Shum Jr.

The books include representations of a dozen different Asian American communities and their contributions to the United States.

“You're able to listen to them read the stories. So, it's a great kind of thing to be with your families. Watch Padma Lakshmi read a book to you. I mean, that's amazing,” said Sheth.

With funding from Google, the 10-series book set is being offered for free to Title I pre-school and elementary schools across the country.

“I hope that people will donate, and we can do more of these series,” said Shum Jr.

At the same time, AAPI leaders are calling for more representation in classrooms and curriculum, creating just one way to counter anti-Asian bias and stereotypes.

“I think it's really time or past time to make sure that our students, our kids, are learning more about the diverse contributions of different communities to this country,” said U.S. Representative Grace Meng of New York’s 6^thdistrict.

Earlier this month, U.S. Congresswoman Meng reintroduced legislation to promote the teaching of Asian Pacific American history in schools across the U.S.

“We have been part of this country for a long, long time and literally helped build this country into what it is today,” said Meng. “It's important that our students and fellow Americans know and understand this rich and diverse history.”

Sheetal Sheth’s second book in the Anjali series takes on culture and gender.

“I'm really proud of it. I'm excited for it to be out there, said Sheth. “I think it'll allow for conversations again for boys and girls to be having to deal with things that they may be feeling that they don't know how to express and to just talk about them.”

It’s expected to be released in time for the start of school in September.

The 2017 death of an Asian American teenager in her Colorado home is now being investigated as a hate crime, according to the FBI.Maggie Long's body was found after officials responded to a house fire in Bailey, Colorado, the FBI said. According to 911 calls, there reportedly were people inside the residence causing damage, the FBI said. The report said at least one male was on the property.The crime scene investigation, the FBI said, revealed a physical altercation took place between Long and her assailants before the fire started. The agency reported the suspects stole a Beretta handgun, an AK-47-style rifle, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, a green safe and jade figurine.The El Paso County Coroner's Office ruled Long's death on Dec. 1, 2017, as a homicide, the FBI said.The FBI's Denver office didn't say which form of bias is being investigated in Long's case. The agency defines a hate crime as criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by the offender's bias against a religion, disability, ethnicity/national origin, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity.Sisters were initially surprisedCNN affiliate KUSA-TV spoke with the victim's sisters, Lynna and Connie Long, who said they were initially surprised when they learned the murder was being investigated as a hate crime."We just haven't experienced that type of violence firsthand, but knowing what happened to Maggie and just the nature of the violence, it is something that should be taken into consideration," Connie Long said. "Her race, her gender, you know, all of those are contributing factors for why these perpetrators thought it was OK to do that to her."Lynna Long added: "The crime that was committed against my sister is a crime that was committed against an Asian American woman." Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw, whose office is also investigating the murder, said treating the case as a hate crime allows his department to qualify for more funding and resources.McGraw said there are no known suspects. He said the sheriff's department, as well as the FBI and Colorado Bureau of Investigations, are pursuing leads whenever they are presented.The FBI and the Long family have pooled a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the murder case."The biggest thing to get out is if you know anything, please call. You don't know how far something little will go," McGraw said.Lynna Long said the circumstances since the murder have changed, and she hopes that could incentivize people to come forward with information."Maybe now the people who may have known something in December 2017 are now in a place where they can speak to their truth," she said.

CNN —

Video above: The Fred Korematsu Story: The man who defied internment camps for Japanese Americans

Imagine getting through this pandemic without Zoom. Or not having any days off work, toiling seven days a week with no overtime pay.

Asian Americans have improved the lives of fellow Americans in countless ways. But some of the biggest contributions don't end up in history books.

Here's how five Asian Americans of different ethnicities helped shape America:

Larry Itliong bolstered farm workers' rights and working conditions

After losing three fingers working at an Alaska cannery, Larry Itliong spent decades fighting for better pay and treatment for agricultural workers.

His work as a pioneering union leader helped generations of farm workers to come. Yet many Americans don't know his name.

"Itliong became the great Filipino American historical omission," reads a blog post for the Asian American Legal Defense Education Fund.

"While (Cesar) Chavez is remembered as the farmworker icon, his name emblazoned on schools, parks, and roads, Itliong has been generally forgotten, treated by society as it seems Filipinos have always been treated. As nothing. But labor movement writers know that without Itliong, there would be no Chavez."

In the 1960s, many California farmworkers toiled in abysmal conditions. The late Dawn Mabalon, professor of history at San Francisco State University, described field crews sharing just one tin cup of water.

"You still had no bathrooms in the fields, poor wages, no workers' comp, no unemployment, no Social Security," she told the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

Itliong said Filipinos in the fields were paid particularly low wages -- often netting less than 75 cents for an eight-hour day. (That's about $5.47 a day now, when adjusted for inflation.)

So Itliong, who was the leader of the AFL-CIO's Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, led farm workers on a strike. He also reached out to Chavez, leader of the National Farm Workers Association, which later joined the strike.

"That became the grape strike of 1965 that drew worldwide attention and support and ultimately led to the unionization, at long last, of California's farm workers," wrote longtime labor writer Dick Meister.

"It was Larry Itliong and his Filipino members who started it all, and who played an indispensable role throughout the struggle," Meister said.

"Without them there could not have been a strike. Without them, there could not have been the victory of unionization, without them no right for the incredibly oppressed farm workers to bargain with their employers."

Ai-jen Poo is fighting for domestic workers, the elderly and disabled Americans

By age 40, Ai-jen Poo had already launched several organizations to protect and improve working conditions for some of the most vulnerable Americans.

She started Domestic Workers United, which fought for the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in New York state. The groundbreaking law, signed in 2010, guaranteed at least one day off from work each week; three paid days off a year; and overtime pay for those who worked extra hours.

"The bill was a historic victory. For the first time in any state, domestic workers were included in all of the major labor laws protecting other workers," according to the National Domestic Workers Alliance, an organization for which Poo, a Taiwanese American, now serves as executive director.

But the work is not done.

"Many domestic workers do not earn a living wage and work without access to health care, paid sick days or paid time off," the alliance says.

"Because of domestic workers' unique workplaces -- inside other people's homes -- the struggles domestic workers face are largely out of the public spotlight. Domestic workers take care of what is most important to us, yet they are often the least valued and the most vulnerable."

About 2.5 million domestic workers take care of children, keep houses clean and provide care for disabled and elderly Americans, according to the alliance. And as Baby Boomers age, the need for domestic workers and fair conditions are paramount.

So Poo also co-founded Caring Across Generations, which works to expand accessibility to quality care and ensure care providers are able to support their own families.

"We're living longer than ever before, and we can't always expect family members to give up everything to care for us," the nonprofit says.

"It's time for policies that support both seniors and people with disabilities who need care, and the families and professional caregivers who care for them."

Ajay Bhatt got 'rock star treatment' for helping invent USB

Imagine hauling around discs or messing with chunky plugs and cords when you wanted to transfer data between computers or simply use your mouse.

Those annoyances could have lasted much longer if not for Ajay Bhatt, coinventor of USB (universal serial bus) -- a compact technology that connects many types of digital devices and computers.

"I was totally surprised by how it has impacted everybody," Bhatt told CNN in 2013.

"I truly get a rock star treatment and that is quite unusual to me -- people asking for your signature, people asking for your picture."

Bhatt, an Indian American, said he wanted to make it easier to use digital devices by nixing excess equipment and improving mobility.

Before USB technology, plugs and ports were often huge. A computer could have one cable communicating with the keyboard and another with a modem. A different cable talked to the printer, while yet another linked the hard drive to the monitor.

"It was more difficult than it needed to be," Bhatt said.

"It was very difficult for the average person to use it. All the technology at that point was developed for technologists by technologists."

For six years Bhatt lobbied colleagues at Intel and then other computer firms, trying to get support for the USB idea.

"Initially, it was difficult for them to understand the merits," Bhatt said. "We had a big tent and we included everybody, we listened to everybody's input and tried to address them to the best of our abilities. And that's why USB is successful."

While he's most famous for the invention that streamlines much of our technology, Bhatt has helped create far more than just USB.

He currently has dozens of patent applications either pending or already granted.

Yuri Kochiyama helped get justice after Japanese American internment

As a young woman in her early 20s, Yuri Kochiyama's life came to an abrupt halt when the U.S. government forced more than 100,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II.

She spent several years interned, even as her twin brother was risking his life as a U.S. soldier during World War II, wrote Diane Fujino, author of "Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama."

Kochiyama started an extensive letter-writing campaign for thousands of Japanese American soldiers fighting for the U.S. -- even as their family members suffered discrimination and internment back home.

Despite exceptional bravery on the battlefield, many "Japanese American soldiers, such as the 100th (Infantry Battalion) and the 442nd (Infantry Regimental Combat Team) are often overlooked in the history of World War II," according to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation.

After the war ended, Kochiyama spent several decades fighting for civil rights. In the 1960s, she befriended and worked with Malcolm X. She was the one famously photographed cradling Malcolm X's head after he was fatally shot.

She pushed for passage of the Civil Liberties Act, which formally apologized and gave reparations to surviving Japanese Americans who were interned. The act was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

But Kochiyama also drew ire and widespread criticism, especially in her later years when she said she admired Osama bin Laden.

Despite her divisive comments and complicated legacy, one of Kochiyama's most famous quotes offered a blueprint for understanding other points of view:

"Don't become too narrow. Live fully. Meet all kinds of people," she said. "You'll learn something from everyone."

Eric Yuan helped us Zoom with loved ones we couldn't visit

What started as a way to host business meetings unexpectedly became a crucial way for Americans to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to Zoom, families saw loved ones they weren't able to visit. Students could keep up with their schoolwork even when their schools were shut down. Friends and relatives safely attended weddings, funerals and birthday parties when they otherwise might not have been able to.

Zoom Video Communications was started in California by a Chinese immigrant whose attempts to come to America were repeatedly denied.

Eric Yuan applied for an H-1B visa to come to the U.S. but was rejected. And then again. And again after that. Yuan applied eight times before finally accepted into the U.S. in 1997. He was 27 years old.

"I knew two things from my father: keep working hard, stay humble, and someday you'll be OK," Yuan told CNN Business last year.

He could barely speak English when he first got to the U.S. and still has a thick Chinese accent. Former colleagues at WebEx, where Yuan worked before launching Zoom, said he was repeatedly overlooked during his first years in America.

"I saw a tremendous amount of unconscious bias against Eric because he didn't look the part, he didn't sound the part," said David Knight, a former VP of Product Management at WebEx, the corporate predecessor to Cisco Webex.

After Cisco acquired WebEx in 2007, Yuan "spent a lot of time talking to customers and found out that most customers using WebEx were not happy," he told Forbes columnist Peter High in 2017.

So Yuan repeatedly asked to overhaul the platform, but his pitches were rejected. After a year of nagging his bosses to let him rebuild Webex, according to Forbes, Yuan left Cisco in 2011.

"We thank Eric for his time at Cisco," a company spokesperson told CNN Business last year.

Yuan took his ideas for improvement and started Zoom.

"We are a very proud American company," Yuan said. "I'm a Chinese American. I truly believe ... as long as you do the right thing, sooner or later they will know it."

But just as millions of Americans have relied heavily on Yuan's platform, Asian Americans have been spat on, attacked and erroneously blamed for the pandemic. Some have been violently beaten in public or even killed as racism and ignorance spread.

In reality, many Asian Americans are trying to make life better for all Americans during this pandemic. That includes Yuan.

"In 10 to 20 years," he said, "when people write the history of COVID-19, I want them to write that Zoom did the right thing for the world."