Akiko Saikawa found herself entangled in bureaucratic hurdles shortly after her marriage. As an office worker from Tokyo, she embarked on a tedious journey of changing her name on passports, official documents, and even her social media profiles—all due to the legal requirement for married women to change their surname.
While couples in Japan have the freedom to choose which surname to adopt upon marriage, statistics reveal that in 95% of cases, it’s the woman who opts to change her name, often reluctantly.
“It was incredibly time-consuming and inconvenient,” Saikawa recounts. “But the most cumbersome aspect was having my name altered on our family register to match my husband’s. This meant I had to assertively request to continue using my maiden name at work.”
Attention is now shifting towards the outdated law that prohibits married couples from using separate surnames, with frustration mounting over nearly three decades of inaction since a government panel drafted proposals for change in a civil code dating back to the late 1800s.
Beyond the inconvenience, activists argue that the insistence on a shared surname is emblematic of Japan’s sluggish progress in achieving gender equality.
Machiko Osawa, a professor specializing in labor economics at Japan Women’s University, attributes the lack of progress to “outdated patriarchal attitudes” within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and among supreme court justices who staunchly support a conservative status quo.
For years, the LDP faced mounting pressure from not only rights campaigners but also senior business leaders who highlighted the rule’s hindrance to Japanese firms conducting business abroad. Masahiko Uotani, CEO of cosmetics giant Shiseido, revealed instances where female executives faced obstacles such as being locked out of hotel rooms or denied entry to meetings due to name discrepancies on their identification documents.
The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), a prominent business lobby, has backed the campaign, citing the growing need to support women’s working styles. Despite some progress, with nearly 84% of companies allowing women to retain their maiden names in the workplace, challenges persist, particularly on overseas trips requiring additional documentation.
While the government has permitted maiden names to appear alongside married names on certain official documents, Japan remains the only country mandating spouses to share the same surname.
Conservative LDP members argue that amending the civil code would undermine traditional family values and cause confusion among children. However, Osawa dismisses this argument as an “excuse for inaction,” pointing out that Japan’s divorce rate is comparable to that of other countries where separate surnames are allowed.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has urged caution, citing the need for broader public support before implementing changes. However, Saikawa hopes that other women won’t have to navigate the bureaucratic maze she faced after marriage, emphasizing the significance of having separate surnames to preserve one’s identity and family history.