Japanese Business Lobby Advocates for Married Women's Right to Keep Names

11 Jun, 2024

Japanese Business Lobby Advocates for Married Women's Right to Keep Names

Japan’s big business lobby has urged the government to allow married couples to have separate surnames, highlighting that current laws forcing married women to adopt their husbands' names for certain purposes pose a business risk.

Keidanren, traditionally supportive of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, proposed on June 10 that the government should swiftly present legislation to Parliament allowing for surname choice.

“With women becoming more active and the number of female directors increasing, this name issue is not just a problem for individuals – it’s becoming a business risk,” said Mr. Masakazu Tokura, head of the organization. Debate should begin as soon as possible, he added.

Mr. Tokura cited problems faced by women whose passports and credit cards do not always match the names they use for business activities. Difficulty signing legal contracts has also been raised by some women.

The renewed pressure on the government comes months after a series of lawsuits challenged the single-surname system, long criticized for perpetuating gender inequality.

Although technically a man can take his wife’s surname, in reality it is predominantly women who adopt their partners’ surnames, with 95 percent of married couples following this pattern in 2022. Yet court challenges have failed in the past.

Japan is the only country that still enforces such a rule, according to Keidanren’s research, despite multiple calls from a United Nations committee on discrimination against women.