Separated Surname Bill Is Unlikely to Pass in Current Session

The Liberal Democratic Party decided not to submit its own bill to current ordinary session of the Diet, which would revise the Civil Code to approve selective separated surname for married couples. Defying growing demands among the people for legal approval for a married couple to use different surnames, the LDP leaders considered persistent opposition from the conservative powers within the party. Some opposition parties are going to accuse the leading party of its rigorous rejection of changing the shape of family. 

Article 750 of the Civil Code of Japan stipulates that a husband and wife shall share the same surname and Family Register Act requires that the couple shall submit a notification of marriage indicating the surname they are going to hold. Although there has been a requirement in business sectors for workers who use maiden name to be legally guaranteed their legal status, the conservative lawmakers are firmly against the idea, arguing different surname would destroy family ties.

 

LDP Secretary General, Hiroshi Moriyama, and some board members had a meeting to coordinate procedures in the Diet on May 8th. They concluded that they would not submit any bill to approve legal status of a couple who use different surname in their life in current session of the Diet. Moreover, they agreed on binding LDP lawmakers not to vote for the bill sponsored by the opposition parties.

 

Upholding dual surname to ensure human rights for married couples, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) submitted its own bill for revising the Civil Code to the Diet on April 30th, which would enable married couples to choose single surname or dual ones. The bill requires the couples to decide the surname of their children at their marriage. Their children would have the same surname.

 

The bill made by CDPJ was based on a proposal of dual surname by Legislative Council of Ministry of Justice in 1996, which demanded a married couple to decide their children’s surname at their marriage. The CDPJ, Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and Japan Communist Party (JCP) once hosted a bill to determine children’s surname at their birth in 2022. However, some lawmakers in DPP uphold an idea to expand use of maiden name. DPP and Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin-no Kai) is going to submit their own bill.

 

The conservative lawmakers argue that the problem of single surname can be solved by expanding use of maiden name. Their idea is to add maiden name in passport, family register or driver’s license. However, Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) made a proposal in 2024 that there were a lot of problem which cannot be solved with extended use of maiden name.

 

Given LDP’s consideration of conservative protest and disagreement of the opposition parties on details of dual surname system, it is unlikely for a dual surname bill to pass the diet by the end of current ordinary session.

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