In Japan, sodomy was restricted by legal prohibition in 1873. However, the provision was repealed only seven years later by the Penal Code of 1880, which relied on the Napoleonic Code. Confucian thought and the government's desire to appear "civilized" influenced the way that homosexuality was viewed by both the Japanese state and by the population at large during the Meiji period. Despite recent trends that suggest a new level of tolerance, as well as open scenes in more cosmopolitan cities (such as Tokyo and Osaka), Japanese gay men and lesbian women often conceal their sexuality, and many marry persons of the opposite sex to avoid discrimination. Japan has no laws against homosexual activity and has some legal protections for gay individuals, but the Japanese government does not recognize same-sex marriage. In 2008 however, a law was passed allowing transgender people who have gone through sex reassignment surgery to change their sex on legal documents. Consensual sex between adults of the same sex is legal, but some prefectures set the age of consent for same-sex sexual activity higher than for opposite-sex sexual activity. Despite recommendations from the Council for Human Rights Promotion, the Diet has yet to include protections against discrimination for sexual orientation in the country's civil rights code. Although national civil rights laws do not protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation, some local governments have enacted such laws. For example, the government of Tokyo has passed laws that ban discrimination in employment based on sexual identity. The major political parties express little public support for gay rights issues. In the years since the world first became aware of the AIDS virus, like most industrialized nations, Japan has not suffered the high rates of AIDS disease and death that characterize some nations in Africa and South-East Asia. As of 2007 only about 100 people die each year in Japan due to AIDS. In 1992, the government of Japan justified its continued refusal to allow oral contraceptives to be distributed in the country on the belief that it would lead to reduced condom use and increased transmission of AIDS. As of 2004, condoms accounted for 80 percent of birth control used in Japan. This might explain Japan's comparably lower incidence of AIDS. Sexual desire and sexual activity have been declining in Japan for years, and this is a cause of Japan's decreasing birth rate. Because Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world and its population is on course to shrink dramatically by the middle of the century, every five years the government carries out a detailed survey of attitudes to sex and marriage. The studies and surveys have reported loss of sexual drive across several demographics, from adolescent men and women, to married couples.