Tag - marriage

 
 

MARRIAGE

A bill on joint custody passes during a Lower House plenary session in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 16, 2024
Bill allowing joint custody after divorce clears Japan's Lower House
The move would bring Japan closer to adopting a practice seen in other countries.
Transfers usually take place in March at the end of the Japanese business year, but each family's reasons for living apart are different.
COMMUNITY / Voices
Apr 8, 2024
When your job separates the family
Japan's “tanshin funin” system sees married company employees leaving their families behind when they are transferred to faraway posts.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (right) with then-wife Dasha Zhukova in 2014. Zhukova's mother, Elena Zhukova, is engaged to media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2024
The oligarch, his ex-wife, her mother and Rupert Murdoch
Were it not for other stories coming out of Russia, Rupert Murdoch's engagement to Roman Abramovich's ex-mother-in-law would have made more headlines.
Plaintiffs in a suit against the government over a law that requires married spouses to have the same surname arrive at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo on March 8.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 1, 2024
By 2531, everyone in Japan could have the surname 'Sato'
The forecast is based on the premise that the current practice of requiring married couples to share the same surname continues.
Thailand's parliament passed a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday, paving the way for the kingdom to become the first Southeast Asian nation to recognize LGBTQ marriage equality.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 28, 2024
Thailand passes bill to legalize same-sex marriage
Legalizing same-sex marriage could also have positive impact on tourism, which contributes about 12% to the nation’s $500 billion economy.
Among those who experienced physical abuse from their spouses or partners, 12.6% said they felt that their lives were in danger, according to the government survey conducted late last year.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 27, 2024
Record 1 in 5 in Japan report partner abuse, government survey shows
Among married couples, the rate is even higher at 1 in 4.
Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's administration has made LGBT marriage a signature issue.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 27, 2024
Bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Thailand heads to parliament
Taiwan and Nepal are the only places in Asia that currently recognize same-sex marriage, and efforts elsewhere in the region have had mixed results.
Plaintiffs and their lawyers on survivors benefits for same-sex partners smile after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of them on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2024
Same-sex partners should get spousal survivor benefits, Supreme Court rules
It is the first time the Supreme Court has reached a judgment on survivors benefits for crime victims who have same-sex partners.
Eri Nakaya, one of the plaintiffs who have appealed a high court ruling on same-sex marriage, speaks to reporters in Sapporo on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2024
Same-sex couples appeal Sapporo court ruling rejecting compensation
The court upheld a verdict that said nonrecognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional but rejected a claim for damages totaling ¥6 million.
Participants take part in a matchmaking event organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government at Jindai Botanical Gardens on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 23, 2024
Tokyo, Tokyo, make me a match! Metropolis hopes AI app will spur marriages
The app will ask matrimonial hopefuls more than 100 questions as the capital seeks to curb declining numbers of marriages and births.
Nearly half of married couples in Japan are “sexless,” a recent survey shows.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 18, 2024
Nearly half of Japanese married couples are 'sexless,' survey finds
The most common reasons include “my partner doesn’t respond to my advances" for men, and “it’s too much hassle” for women.
Plaintiffs of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a ban on same-sex marriage and their supporters hold a banner calling for authorities to allow such unions in front of the Tokyo District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2024
Ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, Sapporo High Court rules
This is the first such ruling by a high court in Japan in favor of plaintiffs challenging the ban.
Plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit over Japan's separate surname rule head into the Tokyo District Court on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 8, 2024
Group files lawsuit over Japan law that mandates couples share a surname
Similar lawsuits have been filed before, but public opinion appears to be shifting in favor of allowing couples to have separate surnames.
Chai Wanrou at the Daming Palace National Heritage Park, in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. The 28-year-old is part of a growing movement that envisions a future with no husband and no children.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 7, 2024
More Chinese women choosing singledom as economy stutters
Chinese President Xi Jinping last year stressed the need to "cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing."
Japan is aiming to reverse the trend of people marrying later in life, or not at all, as depopulation progresses throughout the country.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 27, 2024
AI plays cupid as Japanese authorities try to boost marriage rate
Some systems being used recommend partners based on an applicant's internet browsing history.
Members of the LGBTQ community and supporters celebrate in front of the Greek parliament, after a vote in favor of a bill that approved allowing same-sex civil marriages, in Athens on Thursday.
WORLD / Society
Feb 16, 2024
Greece among first Orthodox Christian countries to legalize same sex marriage
While the ruling party abstained or voted against the bill, it gained support from the opposition in a rare show of cross-party unity despite tense debate.
Stella Belia (right), a member of the Rainbow Families of Greece, an organization which focuses on LGBTQ parents, poses for a portrait with her son, Yannis, in Athens, on Jan. 30. Greek lawmakers are set approve a historic bill legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption this week, having previously been condemned for anti-gay discrimination by the European Court of Human Rights in 2013, after gay couples were excluded from a prior civil unions law in 2008.
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2024
No longer invisible, Greek same-sex couples await landmark law
The issue is a strong taboo for a large part of Greek society — and for the powerful Orthodox Church of Greece.
Japan is the only country with a law requiring married couples to adopt the same surname. In 95% of cases, it is women who take their husband's name.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 7, 2024
The land where single surnames are the only option
The business lobby recently joined calls for Japan to accept separate surnames after marriage. What, then, is standing in the way of change? Politics.
The family law subcommittee of the Legislative Council, at the Justice Ministry on Tuesday
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2024
Government to submit bill allowing joint custody after divorce
The draft outline calls for a new provision obliging both parents to respect each other, and for divorce negotiations to determine parental authority.
Unfortunately, statistics are not favorable when it comes to mixed marriages. With the proper communication, however, no challenge is insurmountable.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 26, 2024
Know how to talk about divorce in case your relationship goes south
It's a sad fact that more than a few international relationships don't work out in Japan. Be armed with the proper vocabulary just in case.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores