Japan opposition party submits selective surname bill for married couples

The Mainichi

01-05-2025

TOKYO -- The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) submitted a bill April 30 to revise the Civil Code to introduce a selective surname system for married Japanese couples.
The fellow opposition Democratic Party for the People (DPFP) and Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party) have also announced plans to submit separate bills. The opposition parties hope to see the legislation passed during the current Diet session, possibly spurring discussions among parties after the Golden Week holiday period, but there are still gaps between their proposals.
The CDP's bill is based on a 1996 proposal by the Legislative Council of the Ministry of Justice. It stipulates that the surname of children -- a focal point of the separate surname issue -- will be decided when couples get married. In 2022, a bill jointly submitted by the CDP, the DPFP, the Japanese Communist Party and others had stated that the surname of children would be "decided at birth" in consideration of circumstances faced by each couple.
DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki and others, however, have raised concerns about the possibility of siblings having different surnames. The CDP therefore aims to gain understanding from the DPFP and other parties by upholding the Legislative Council's 1996 proposal to mandate that children's surnames be decided when their parents marry.
DPFP policy chief Makoto Hamaguchi, meanwhile, announced April 30 the party plans to submit its own bill during the current Diet session. He told reporters in the Diet, "We are aiming to introduce (a selective surname system), but given that there are various opinions (within the party), we need to reach a consensus." The party is poised to begin consultations to draft the bill after the Golden Week holidays.
According to several senior DPFP officials, the party decided to submit a bill to the Diet during a party board meeting on April 28. While some party members have insisted expanding the use of maiden names instead of introducing a separate surname system, Hamaguchi stated, "I don't think those voices are large within the party." He suggested that the proposal to expand the use of maiden names is "not included" in the separate surname system advocated in the party's campaign pledge for the House of Representatives election last fall. Hamaguchi revealed that the DPFP bill is expected to be different from the CDP's.
Nippon Ishin Secretary-General Ryohei Iwatani also suggested on April 30 that the party is set to submit a bill after the Golden Week holidays to legislate the use of maiden names as common names for business and other occasions.
Kiyomi Tsujimoto, head of the CDP's headquarters for the realization of selective surnames for married couples, told reporters following the party's submission of its own bill to the House of Representatives, "This is one of the reforms that have long gone unrealized. I hope the Diet will deliberate on the issue of whether to continue to force people to decide whether to use common or different surnames, or allow them to select their surnames at their own will."