Separate surnames for married couples needs careful thought: Japan PM hopeful Suga

TOKYO -- Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, frontrunner in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s leadership election to replace outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said during a TV program on Sept. 13 that introducing a system to allow married couples to choose between the same last names or separate ones "should be examined carefully."

"It's an issue concerning families, and opinions are significantly divided. Basically, I believe it's something that should be examined carefully," the top Japanese government spokesperson commented during the Fuji Television Network program. He added, "The use of pre-marriage family names at workplaces could be expanded, though it is quite widespread already."

Under Japan's Civil Code, a married couple must have the same, single family name -- the last name of either the husband or wife -- unless it is an international marriage.

Meanwhile, another candidate, the LDP's former Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba, expressed starkly different views on the issue, saying, "I think it (a framework to choose between adopting the spouse's surname or keeping one's pre-marriage surname) should be in place. We should introduce the system even if it means we need to revise a law."

The other candidate, LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida, commented, "I have been seeing increasing numbers of petitions for (separate surnames) as people want to keep their original family name (due to the declining birthrate). We must think about sorting out debate over the issue."

(Japanese original by Yusuke Mizuwaki, Political News Department)