FIGHT FOR IDENTITY IN JAPAN
Women want to overturn law that forces married couples to share same surname
Women in Japan are going through an identity crisis.
They’re fighting to overturn a law that bars married couples from having different last names, which creates complications for women who have established careers and reputations.
About 600,000 Japanese couples wed every year. The law says that after marriage a couple must have the same surname.
Technically, men may take their wives’ family name. Yet in practice, only about four per cent do. Some women say they feel like they’re wiping away their identity after getting married.
“Being forced to change your name is nothing more than a violation of human rights,” said Miki Haga, 29, who is planning to study in the U.K. this year. She legally became Miki Ishizawa two years ago when her husband didn’t want to change his name.
The issue roared into the public debate during the campaign for the recent upper house election, with opposition parties making gender equality a key part of their platform against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
In a striking moment, Abe was the only person on a debate stage earlier in July who didn’t raise his hand when asked about support for changing the law. His conservative party argues that the current law is equal to both men and women, and it’s a matter of tradition.
“If you believe traditions are important, then there’s no need to change the law,” said Shigeharu Aoyama, an upper house LDP member.
But others point out that it’s not exactly an ancient tradition.
Before the current law was passed in 1898, Japanese people didn’t typically use surnames.
In 1948, it became legal for couples to choose either spouse’s surname, but they still had to stick with one. And marriages to foreigners aren’t subject to the law.
The surname issue is only one of a number of ways Japan lags behind on gender. Japan has the third-highest gender-pay gap among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Women are poorly represented in business and politics. They hold only four per cent of managerial positions, two per cent of seats on boards of directors and about 10 per cent of the seats in the lower house.
The #Metoo movement has had difficulty gaining traction.
A government survey released last year showed 42.5 per cent of adults supported changing the law, while 29.3 per cent opposed the move. The United Nations has pressured Japan to lift the restriction on surnames.
It’s led to some unusual marital arrangements. Some choose to live in the equivalent of a domestic partnership. But they can’t take advantage of the same tax deductions as married couples. And legally, only one parent is allowed to have custody of children.
The law has prompted some people to go by their birth names in public, while using their spouse’s last name on official documents.
Courts in Japan recently have upheld the law several times. In 2015, Japan’s Supreme Court said the law didn’t violate the constitution.