Opposition party Nippon Ishin no Kai on Monday submitted to parliament a bill aimed at giving legal validity to maiden names, as a counterproposal to the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's bill to introduce a selective dual surname system.
With the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which is divided within the party over how married couples' surnames should be, considering postponing the debate on the matter, Nippon Ishin aims to stimulate discussions by submitting the bill.
Nippon Ishin's bill, submitted to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, proposes giving legal validity to the surname before marriage by allowing it to be recorded in the family register as a commonly used name, while maintaining the principle that persons of the same family register shall have the same surname, which conservative lawmakers emphasize.
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