Photo/Illutration The Liberal Democratic Party's working team to discuss the surname system for married couples holds a meeting on Feb. 12. (The Asahi Shimbun)

In “Meiji Jibutsu Kigen” (Origins of things of the Meiji Era), author Kendo Ishii (1865-1943) recalls how his father gave surnames to people in his neighborhood in the early Meiji Era (1868-1912).

At first, he was able to come up with an array of names, but eventually ran out of ideas. In desperation, he “borrowed” the surnames of two of the Tokugawa Shogunate’s top retainers—Honda and Ii.

The people who were given these names were fearful of getting into trouble for taking on such illustrious names, according to Ishii.

I am sure that similarly humorous situations occurred around Japan back then: In 1875, the Meiji government obliged all Japanese citizens to have surnames. That was on Feb. 13, exactly 150 years ago.

When an inquiry was made by a local government about the surnames of married women, the Meiji government responded to the effect, “Women who marry are to keep the surnames of the families into which they were born.”

In other words, the Meiji government officially proclaimed that married women are to retain “their own” family names, meaning that married couples should have separate surnames.

But under the civil law that entered into effect about 20 years later in the Meiji Era, married couples were required to share the same surname. Political scientist Toshiko Nakamura said in The Asahi Shimbun that this revision was largely influenced by the West.

Anyway, the current system of “one family name per married couple” is nothing more than a “newly started tradition” that came into being about 130 years ago.

And yet, conservatives insist that allowing married couples to choose separate family names will “destroy traditional family values.” How so?

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party resumed discussions on Feb. 12 concerning this issue, but the party’s entrenched conservatives remain just as stubborn.

What is being called for is that every couple should be free to decide whether to share the same family name or not. Nobody is being forced to do anything they don’t want to do. 

Personally, I would like all my family members to have the same surname. But that is entirely my own preference, and I am fully aware that many couples think otherwise for all sorts of reasons.

They must be fully respected. It’s decision time now.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 13

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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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