A single surname for everybody

Every single Japanese person will have the same surname – Sato – in 500 years’ time, unless the country allows married couples each to retain their birth names, an academic study has concluded.

By the year 2531, the country’s thousands of surnames, it suggests, will have been whittled down to one, in a Sato tsunami that will spread social chaos. The author of the report, Hiroshi Yoshida, a respected economics professor, conjures up a world in which everyone in a sports team, classroom or company will have to be referred to as “Sato-san”.

The apocalyptic scenario is a consequence of a peculiarity of Japanese law in which Japanese people who marry must adopt the surname of one or the other of them. In 95% of cases, this means that women give up their maiden names and take on the name of their husbands.

A series of legal challenges have failed to overturn this requirement, despite complaints about the way that it stifles individuality and disadvantages women. Until the study, however, none had recognised the unstoppable rise of the Satos.

Sato is the Smith of Japan, its most popular name. Prominent Satos include former prime minister Eisaku Sato, wrestler Jackie Sato, actor Koichi Sato, racing driver Takuma Sato, and Reiko Sato, the American actress who starred in The Ugly American with Marlon Brando.

The name Sato belongs to 1.53% of the population. By Yoshida’s calculation, the number of Satos is growing at 1.0083% a year. If that trend continues, more than half of Japanese will be named Sato by 2446. The last Suzukis, Takahashis and

Tanakas, the next most common names, will die out in 2531.

If the law is changed to allow couples to have different names, then the Sato apocalypse will still take place, according to the professor – but not until 3310.

“Considering that a family name has a family history and is also a cultural symbol, its loss would mean that the history of the family name would also cease to exist,” Yoshida said. “If everyone becomes Sato, we may have to be addressed by our first names or by numbers. I don’t think we can call that a good world to live in.”

Opinion polls suggest that most Japanese – at least 60% – support a change in the law to allow people to keep their surname after marriage. But conservative members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party fear that it will compromise close family bonds.