National Nov 27, 2020
The names, for boys and girls respectively, rose from fourth and second place the previous year, a survey has shown.
National | FOCUS Nov 22, 2020
Suga’s remark sparks hope for letting married couples use different surnames
When Suga was asked about his past call for creating the option, he said, "As a politician, I bear a responsibility as I have said such things."
National / Social Issues Oct 1, 2020
Worried about coronavirus, unmarried couples pursue legal protection
Without being formally married, couples risk losing hospital visitation rights and permission to give medical consent.
National / Crime & Legal Feb 26, 2020
Tokyo High Court rejects appeal over law forcing Japanese couples to use same surname after marriage
by Magdalena Osumi
The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday rejected a damages suit filed by four people arguing that a national law forcing couples to use the same surname after marriage is unconstitutional. Yoshihisa Aono, the 48-year-old president of software development firm Cybozu Inc., and three others had ...
National Feb 5, 2020
Japan to improve how its passports show birth names of married citizens
The Foreign Ministry will change the way it records birth names in passports for those who adopt the surname of their spouse, in order to display both names more clearly, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Wednesday. "The current method of using parentheses makes it hard ...
National / Politics Jan 28, 2020
Heckling at Diet meeting may spur dual surname debate in Japan's LDP
The party’s Fumio Kishida has said that “we should hold discussions as needed” on whether to allow married couples to continue using their respective surnames.
National / Politics Jan 25, 2020
Shinjiro Koizumi backs different surnames for Japanese couples
In a major break with Japanese tradition, Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi expresses support for enabling married couples to use different family names.
National Nov 28, 2019
The National Police Agency said Thursday it will allow people to print their maiden name alongside their married name on driver's licenses starting Sunday. The move is in line with a similar measure taken for the My Number social security and tax identification card. People can ...
National / Crime & Legal Nov 14, 2019
Tokyo court rejects damages suit over law forcing married couples to share a surname
The Tokyo District Court on Thursday rejected a damages suit filed by three couples who argued that the country's law forcing married couples to use the same surname is unconstitutional. The Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court upheld the constitutionality of the relevant provisions ...
National Oct 25, 2019
Government to put Japanese family names first when using Roman alphabet from Jan. 1
The government will write family names first when using the Roman alphabet for Japanese names on official documents from Jan. 1, the education minister said Friday. Respective ministries and agencies will notify related industries in the private sector of the government's decision, which breaks from ...
National / Politics Sep 10, 2019
LDP's Shinjiro Koizumi says he would use dual surname system
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi, who made headlines recently by announcing his marriage with television anchor Christel Takigawa, stressed on Monday his eagerness to work for the introduction in the country of a dual surname system for married couples. If there were an established ...
National Sep 6, 2019
It's official: Government to put Japanese family names first when using Roman alphabet
In a break from the long tradition of adopting the Western name order in Roman script, the government Friday decided to put surnames first when writing Japanese names in official documents. "In a globalized world, it has become increasingly important to be aware of the ...