TOKYO - Opposition parties submitted three bills to the Diet on May 30th seeking to introduce a system allowing married couples to retain separate surnames—a topic that returned to parliamentary deliberation for the first time in 28 years.
Representative Kuroiwa of the Constitutional Democratic Party noted, "It has been 29 years since the Legislative Council submitted its report, and 28 years since the last Diet deliberation on the separate surname system."
Both the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Democratic Party for the People submitted bills supporting the introduction of a selective separate surname system, but they differ on how to determine the surname of children. The Constitutional Democratic Party’s proposal stipulates that the surname of children born to such couples be determined at the time of marriage. In contrast, the Democratic Party for the People’s version designates one spouse as the head of household on the family register, with the child’s surname following that of the designated head.
Meanwhile, the Japan Innovation Party submitted a separate bill that maintains the current same-surname requirement but grants legal validity to the use of pre-marriage surnames as common-use aliases.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which remains divided on the issue, has refrained from submitting any legislation.
Although these developments mark the first committee-level discussion on the matter since 1997, none of the proposed bills appear likely to secure a majority, making passage during the current Diet session uncertain.
Source: TBS
