TOKYO: Gay employees at Japan’s Panasonic will soon be offered the same family leave as their straight counterparts, the electronics giant said on Thursday, in the latest boost for same-sex couples in Japan. Panasonic is one of the first major corporations in the country to provide equal benefits for sexual minority employees, along with Dai-ichi Life Insurance. Japan still lags behind the US and many other western nations in terms of gay rights and marriage, despite greater public acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in recent years.