Photo/Illutration A couple in a same-sex relationship in which one of them was allowed by a court to change his surname to that of his partner (Toshinari Takahashi)

How would the stories of “Hamlet” and “Othello” have ended, had their respective protagonists been switched?

That was a politics exam question I had to answer when I was a student at a British university. It was so unexpected, my mind went momentarily blank.

After racking my brain, the answer I somehow managed to come up with was, “Both would have averted their respective tragedies (if their roles had been switched).”

My reasoning was this: Hamlet, being cautious and wise, would not have believed his subordinate’s lie about his wife having an affair, so neither he nor his wife would have had to die.

Othello, on the other hand, is impulsive and brave, so that instead of wavering over whether “to be or not to be,” he would simply have gotten rid of his uncle and lived happily ever after with his lover.

I presumed at the time that the intent of this test question was to make us students understand that even a tragedy could have a happy ending if things got switched around a bit.

However, I had a rude awakening of sorts when my classmates and I compared our answers after the test.

One of my classmates envisioned Hamlet getting a divorce, while another anticipated Othello arguing in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage.

How pathetically lacking in imagination I was!

That was three decades ago, and same-sex marriage is legal today in Britain and elsewhere.

In Japan, which continues to lag behind other countries in this regard, the only form of marriage allowed under the law is for “two individuals of different sexes taking the same surname.”

But families are becoming diverse, and more people today are starting to opt for common-law marriage or live free of the gender they were assigned at birth.

Against this backdrop, the Nagoya Family Court on May 9 allowed a man to change his surname to that of his same-sex partner in the family register.

The couple had faced all sorts of obstacles, and it did my heart good that the court ruled their relationship to be “equivalent to marriage.”

However, this is not the same as legalizing same-sex marriage.

If I were asked that politics exam question now, how would I answer? I would like an ending that represents freedom and tolerance, not a tragedy.

I wonder what types of families would suit the Hamlets of today.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 11

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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