Hi everyone, this is Emma from Nikkei Asia. I’m on the audience engagement team.
I wanted to share an excerpt from the above article, if it’s of interest:
*Support is growing in Japan for allowing couples to keep their own surnames after marriage, a Nikkei poll shows, with more than half of the married women surveyed saying they would have taken the option if they could.*
*In the online survey conducted ahead of International Women’s Day on Saturday, 63% of all 2,347 respondents across genders and age groups said that separate family names should be an option.*
*Among married respondents overall, 45% said they would have wanted to use separate surnames. The figure rose to 52% among married women alone.*
*Japanese law requires spouses to use the same family name. Women take their husband’s surname about 95% of the time, according to Japan’s Cabinet Office.*
*”I think the survey shows that those who change the surnames often only do so because there’s no other option,” said attorney Masami Kittaka, an expert on the issue.*
*If the option were available, 29% of respondents said they would want to go back to their original surname.*
*Another 41% said they would not. Of them, 40% said it had been too long since they had taken their spouse’s name, while 35% cited the likely hassle involved in making the switch.*
My anecdotal experience with this is due to low birth rates, a lot of family names are disappearing. My brother in law is considering changing his surname to my mother in law’s maiden name as there are no more males born that side of the family.
2 comments
Hi everyone, this is Emma from Nikkei Asia. I’m on the audience engagement team.
I wanted to share an excerpt from the above article, if it’s of interest:
*Support is growing in Japan for allowing couples to keep their own surnames after marriage, a Nikkei poll shows, with more than half of the married women surveyed saying they would have taken the option if they could.*
*In the online survey conducted ahead of International Women’s Day on Saturday, 63% of all 2,347 respondents across genders and age groups said that separate family names should be an option.*
*Among married respondents overall, 45% said they would have wanted to use separate surnames. The figure rose to 52% among married women alone.*
*Japanese law requires spouses to use the same family name. Women take their husband’s surname about 95% of the time, according to Japan’s Cabinet Office.*
*”I think the survey shows that those who change the surnames often only do so because there’s no other option,” said attorney Masami Kittaka, an expert on the issue.*
*If the option were available, 29% of respondents said they would want to go back to their original surname.*
*Another 41% said they would not. Of them, 40% said it had been too long since they had taken their spouse’s name, while 35% cited the likely hassle involved in making the switch.*
My anecdotal experience with this is due to low birth rates, a lot of family names are disappearing. My brother in law is considering changing his surname to my mother in law’s maiden name as there are no more males born that side of the family.