Japan: UN report offers hope for married surnames issue

A United Nations report on gender equality, combined with the recent defeat of Japan's conservative-minded Liberal Democratic Party, has triggered renewed optimism that legal changes can be forced through to permit women to retain their maiden names after marriage.

The first review of equality in Japan by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in eight years has, however, met with a backlash from traditionalists demanding that the organization stay out of Japan's domestic affairs.

The debate has persisted for decades, despite an advisory panel to the Justice Ministry recommending in 1996 that the Civil Code, which serves as Japan's foundational legal framework, be amended to permit separate surnames.

Even though 57% of Japanese people supported a selective surname system for married couples in a June poll by the Mainichi newspaper — with only 22% opposed — many conservatives in politics insist that allowing women to keep their maiden names would undermine the family unit.

The broad acceptance that the wife should adopt the man's name is a consequence of a male-dominated society, cricits sayImage: RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP/Getty Images

Resistance from the right

"There is no need to change the law as it would only cause confusion in society," said Yoichi Shimada, who won a seat in the October general election for the far-right Conservative Party.

"The most important issue to consider is the children, who would end up having a different name to one of their parents, which undermines the sense of family," he told DW.

Campaigners opposed to the current system claim Japan is the only country in the world that still requires married couples to have the same family name. Most of the time, it would be the husband's name — just 5.5% of newly married couples chose to take the wife's family name according to a 2023 survey by the Ministry of Health.

Critics say that the expectation for the woman to adopt the man's name comes stems from the male-dominated society in which the small number of conservative politicians in the lower house of Parliament, the Diet, stick to outdated positions. But many of those critics are already becoming more optimistic.

"It may be slow, but I think that change is beginning to happen," said Sumie Kawakami, a lecturer at Yamanashi Gakuin University and author of a book on gender issues in Japan.

"Earlier this year, the leader of Keidanren [The Japan Business Federation] expressed support for a change in the law to allow women to keep their maiden name because it is having a negative impact on businesses," she told DW.

Challenges for women in business

Keidanren highlighted queries and complaints from foreign firms about women facing issues with travel and identification when their professional and legal names differ. The women are often refused entry at security checkpoints or denied accommodation when their identity documents do not match.

Kawakami believes the Keidanren position put the issue back in the spotlight, but the UN report issued in October has given the campaign extra impetus. The UN committee is made up of 23 international experts and conducts periodic assessments of gender equality in the 189 countries and regions that have ratified the convention.

Still, the committee's recommendations have attracted criticism in the Japanese media, with the conservative-leaning Sankei newspaper declaring in an editorial published on November 4 that the UN's position is, "Nothing but arrogant interference in Japan's internal affairs."

"It shows a woeful lack of knowledge of the facts and depreciates Japanese culture and customs," the editorial added. "It has nothing to do with gender equality or discrimination against women. That the UN body should even discuss this issue in such a wrong context is unacceptable."

Momentum for change

Yet with the conservative LDP losing the election. the momentum for change is growing.

The Democratic Party for the People, the Japanese Communist Party, and even centrist members of the LDP and its political partner Komeito have all expressed support for changing the law.

"For the first time, I would like to think that there is hope that we can finally make this change," said Kawakami.

"Change is very slow in Japanese politics and it might not happen immediately, but with the support of the majority of the public, business leaders and more and more politicians, it can happen."

Edited by: Keith Walker