Japan’s Supreme Court rules married couples must adopt one surname

Japan’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that laws requiring married couples to have the same surname are constitutional, dismissing a challenge by three couples seeking to keep their original names.

The decision to affirm a 2015 Supreme Court ruling was a major disappointment for rights activists who say the laws violate the constitution’s guarantee of gender equality since women almost always sacrifice their surnames.

The three couples challenged provisions of the Civil Code and the family registration law after they were unable to register their marriages at local government offices using separate surnames.

The decision by the Supreme Court’s 15-member grand bench comes as Japan is faced with calls to accept diversity in gender, family and sexuality. Public opinion is increasingly supportive of an option to allow couples to keep separate surnames.

Under Article 750 of the Civil Code, a couple must adopt “the surname of the husband or wife” at the time of marriage. Although the law does not specify which name, 96 per cent of women adopt their husbands’ surnames. As more women pursue careers, an increasing number seek to keep using their maiden names at work, while using their registered surnames in legal documents.

In Japanese tradition, a woman marries into her husband’s household, a concept of marriage supported by the 1898 Civil Code.