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September 10, 2025
 

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NAMES

An advisory panel to the education ministry will consider how the Japanese language should be transcribed into the Latin alphabet, including unifying different romanization styles currently in use.
JAPAN
May 15, 2024
Japan to review romanization system for first time in 70 years
The review is due to be submitted as early as next spring.
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.
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.
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.
Gender-neutral names were more popular for Japanese babies born in 2023, a survey has found.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 5, 2023
Popularity of gender-neutral Japanese names rose in 2023
The annual ranking by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, released Monday, showed that unisex names have risen in popularity.
Yuuki Matsumoto, formerly Yuni, at his residence in Yokohama on Aug. 24. Japanese children with unconventional names can face societal and practical challenges unique to their country and its written language. Matsumoto, 24, was bullied over his name to the extent he dropped out of school, and had it legally changed this year.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 3, 2023
Unusual names can complicate life in Japan. Now parents are being reined in.
As such names have increased, so has attention to cases of people unhappy with them. But critics say new rules may infringe on the right to be creative.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 23, 2023
61% in Japan back separate surnames for married couples
A think tank sent forms to 16,470 households in July last year and analyzed responses from 5,518 women with spouses.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 17, 2023
Firms and authorities stop requiring staff to display names amid harassment
Concerns have been raised that name tags showing full names can lead to people identifying workers' personal information on social media.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 7, 2023
Across Japan, baby names are getting more creative
Despite a government-managed list of acceptable kanji, parents are choosing more unique readings for their children than ever before.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 17, 2022
WHO vows nothing 'ridiculous' as public submits ideas to rename monkeypox
Often disease names are chosen behind closed doors by a technical committee, but this time the WHO has decided to open up the process to the public.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2021
Japan's main opposition CDP focuses on progressive issues in party platform
The largest opposition party said it would stand for rights like supporting same-sex marriage and different surnames for couples, marking out differences with the conservative ruling LDP.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 31, 2021
What's in a surname? In Japan, a whole lot
The Supreme Court doesn't budge on its stance on surnames, even though the Japanese public is moving in the opposite direction.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2020
Tokyo High Court rejects appeal over law forcing Japanese couples to use same surname after marriage
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.
JAPAN
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.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2019
Japan to allow printing of maiden name on driver's license
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2019
Survey finds women in Japan mostly rely on day-care centers to care for their children while working
Day-care centers for children and other public facilities are the most important places for mothers in Japan have their children looked after when they are at work, replacing their parents, a survey of married women by a government-affiliated institute on Friday showed.
JAPAN / 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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 31, 2019
Passports, maiden names, brackets: Japan Foreign Minister Taro Kono wades into a minefield
When Foreign Minister Taro Kono wrote on Twitter that he would order his ministry to look into the contentious issue of maiden names on passports in response to a tweet in early June, he may not have been aware of the minefield he was about to step into.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2019
Women in male-dominated Japan fight for their identity — starting with their names
The nation's women are going through an identity crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 31, 2019
Moves are afoot to push media to switch Japanese name order in English, but will it work?
Some laugh it off as a First World problem. But others say the topic touches upon issues of identity, sovereignty and press freedom.
Japan eyes two types of 'hometown resident' registration
People buy groceries from a mobile supermarket in a rural area of Nagomi, Kumamoto Prefecture. The government is considering a new "hometown resident" registration system to help strengthen regional revitalization measures.
Ed Sheeran teams up with Tokyo’s Oedo Line
The “Oh! Ed! Collaboration Campaign,” launched on Tokyo's Keio Line to celebrate the Friday release of Ed Sheeran’s latest album, “Play,” includes a eight-car train dedicated to the pop star's music and trivia related to his career
Workers say corporate South Korea was warned about questionable U.S. visas before Hyundai raid
Activists holding signs that reads "No one is illegal!" protest against a huge immigration raid last week in the U.S. state of Georgia, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday.
Three Japanese nationals among those detained by ICE at Hyundai plant in Georgia
Investigators from the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations at a factory being built by South Korea's Hyundai Motor in Georgia on Friday
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.
Shizuoka farmers fight to preserve sustainable tea method that’s steeped in tradition
As of August 2024, the number of confirmed chagusaba farmers had fallen to 302, just over half the 582 reported in 2015, according to the Shizuoka Chagusaba Farming Method Promotion Council.
Search is on for loopholes in Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick argues that U.S. President Donald Trump has sole authority to invest Japan's promised $550 billion.
In rural Hokkaido, the stops and starts of tourism revival on full display
Redevelopment plans for Kawayu Onsen have hit some snags — an example of how bringing tourists back to declining rural communities is far from easy work.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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