Photo/Illutration Takahiro Kuroiwa of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan goes over the outline of a bill he submitted for dual surnames during the Lower House Committee on Judicial Affairs' meeting on May 30. (Takeshi Iwashita)

The Lower House Committee on Judicial Affairs began discussions on May 30 on multiple opposition party bills that would allow married couples to have different surnames, the first time it has met on the issue since 1997.  

The three bills vary in framework and were submitted by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People and the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin). 

Even though all three bills are unlikely to pass, any making it to the voting stage would mark a first for any piece of dual surname legislation and put the pertinent party's convictions to the test.

One past instance where resolve crumbled was in 1991 when the justice minister at the time requested the ministry's Legislative Council to review the single-surname policy.

Japan's ratification of the United Nation's Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) prompted this request because the CEDAW committee usually demanded its member parties to correct their domestic laws discriminating against women.

The Legislative Council then proposed allowing each spouse to choose their last names in 1996 and the government responded positively with a plan to submit a bill to revise related civil laws.

The plan was shut down after opposition from conservative members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. 

The next push for dual surnames saw more success when the now-dissolved Democratic Party of Japan’s bill made it to the Lower House in 1997. However, the Judicial Affairs Committee discussed the bill but didn't hold a vote and the bill was abandoned. 

Although married couples can choose to adopt either spouse's last name, more than 90 percent of women change their surname to their husband's. 

This has prompted four separate instances, as of last year, where the CEDAW committee has recommended that the Japanese government revise the civil law around family names.

SAME INTENT, DIFFERENT APPROACHES

The ruling LDP has lawmakers who both support and oppose the issue. This internal division has led to the party postponing its decision on whether to submit its own bill and no set timeline on when this would occur.

The three bills submitted were discussed simultaneously during the Lower House committee session, with lawmakers from each party outlining each of their respective bills.

Of these, the bill of the CDP of Japan most closely matches what the Justice Ministry's Legislative Council proposed and would grant married couples the freedom to either share or keep their respective surnames.

If a couple opts for separate last names, the legal marriage process will include a required step where they must choose which name their children will use should they have any.

Regardless of their choice of a single or separate surnames, the couple and their children are registered as the same family. 

The DPP's bill is also based on the Legislative Council's outline. 

Its key difference is that couples must choose who to register as the head of the family and this will dictate the surname of any future children. The party tailored its bill to better suit couples without children in recognition that not every married couple has them.

Nippon Ishin, meanwhile, is the outlier. Its bill maintains the one-surname policy but also provides legal assurances for the official use of maiden names as the practice currently has no legal framework. 

Its outline indicates that spouses have the option to also register a maiden name that can be used for the My Number Card system without having to also list their registered surname.

Further discussion on the three bills will occur next week and requests for expert testimonies are also expected. 

The CDP currently chairs the committee and the party appears to be seeking a vote, a contrast to the LDP's current indecisiveness.

Related News