Japanese Women Have Lost a Supreme Court Battle to Keep Their Own Surnames

A bid by Japanese women to forge independence in a male-dominated society failed on Wednesday, when the country's Supreme Court upheld a law requiring married couples to use the same surname.

The law — which is the only one of its kind in a G7 nation — does not specify which name a couple must take but, as is the case in many parts of the world, in practice the vast majority of women take their husband's.

Five women — three individuals and a couple in a civil partnership – filed a suit in 2011 to change the law which dates back to 1898, arguing it was discriminatory and archaic. Critics say it takes away women's personal identities.

But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative party argued separate surnames could destroy family ties.

The Supreme Court said in its ruling that "it is only reasonable for family members to have the same name," Kyodo news agency reported. The court also noted that many women are able to use their maiden names in daily life, so their situation has improved, and it called on parliament to debate the issue.

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Some couples don't register their marriage so they can keep separate names but doing this creates legal headaches around parental and inheritance rights.

Public opinion is divided, with support for separate surnames much higher among younger people.

"It is only reasonable for family members to have the same name," the Supreme Court ruled, according to Kyodo news agency. The court also pointed out that many women are able to use their maiden names in daily life.

But Kyoko Tsukamoto, an 80-year-old married plaintiff who wants to use her maiden name legally, said: "My identity was Tsukamoto Kyoko. What happens to a person who loses that identity? I can't live as Tsukamoto Kyoko, and now I won't be able to die as Tsukamoto Kyoko."

Support for separate surnames is much higher among younger people but public opinion is divided. "It's not like the old days where there's a fixation on which family you are married into. It's the age of the individual so I want things to go in that direction," said 52-year-old company employee Miyuki Tanaka. Her 49 year old husband, Nobuyuki Tanaka, also agrees.

Some young Japanese people support the law. "From a guy's perspective, I want the surnames to be the same as otherwise, it won't feel like I'm actually married to that person," 20-year-old university student Keisuke Murata said.

In a more progressive ruling, the court said that a law forbidding women from remarrying six months after a divorce was unconstitutional. No such law had applied to men.

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