In Japan, more women fight to use their own surnames

Japan’s Constitution promises gender equality, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants a society where all women can “shine.” But many women say that is hard to do when they cannot even use their own surnames.

Under a Japanese law that dates back to the Meiji era, more than a century ago, all married couples must use one surname. In theory, a couple may choose either the husband’s or the wife’s last name, but in practice, 96 percent of women assume their husband’s.

Advocates for women, including lawmakers across the political spectrum, say they simply want women to make their own choices about their names. But recent court rulings indicate that the law is unlikely to be softened anytime soon, despite rising criticism.

Yoko Uozumi is happily married with a 4-year-old daughter. Two months ago, she took a job in the photo framing business where her husband also works and decided to use only the surname that she was given at birth.

Ms. Uozumi, 36, said she did not want customers to confuse her with her husband, Shigeru Otsuka, since most employees are known primarily by their last names in Japan.

Using her birth surname went beyond convenience. It was also a declaration of empowerment. “I feel more independent,” Ms. Uozumi said. “I feel more who I am.”

An increasing number of employers now permit women to use their birth surnames professionally. Yet the courts have undermined even that practice. This month, a Tokyo District Courtdeclinedto grant a high school teacher’s request to use her original name at work.

That decision came after Japan’s Supreme Court ruled in December that the lawdid not violate the Constitutionor place an undue burden on women. Critics were disappointed that the decision did not strike down the legal prohibition against separate surnames for married couples, leaving it to the Parliament instead.

Among democratic countries in the developed world,Japan ranks lowon gender equality in health, education, the economy and politics. Despiterecenthigh-profileexamples, women hold very few powerful positions in politics or business, while many working mothers say that day care is inadequate.

The marital naming law, supported by many conservatives who believe that women belong predominantly in the home supporting their husbands and families, is seen by some as another vestige of discrimination against women in Japanese society.

In the Tokyo District Court case, the three judges, all men, ruled that the teacher’s employer, a private school in Tokyo, could not be compelled to let her use her birth surname at work. Citingsurveysthat show about a quarter of women use their original surnames in the workplace, the court said doing so was “not deeply rooted in society.”

The plaintiff, who has remained anonymous in the publicly available court documents, declined an interview request through her lawyer. In court filings, the teacher, described as recently married, said students and colleagues knew her by her given surname. She asked to be allowed to continue to use it on letters home to parents, attendance records and report cards.

Makiko Terahara, one of the lawyers for the plaintiff, said the teacher, now in her 30s, had worked for 15 years using her birth surname.

“We have to work on changing the law so that couples can choose their names when marrying,” Ms. Terahara said. “A name represents a person. It’s a matter of personal rights.”

Hidehisa Takase, the principal of Nihon University Daisangakuen, the school where the plaintiff works, said he had offered a compromise in which the teacher could continue to be called by her birth name publicly but use her married name for official documents, including student report cards.

“We don’t think we denied her individual identity,” Mr. Takase said in an interview. In court documents, the school argued that the teacher’s married name was “the best way to identify an individual.”

“The desire of the plaintiff to use her commonly known name, which is different from her legal name, is not legally protected,” the school said.

Critics also say the law trails the private sector, which has been accommodating more women who prefer to use their birth surnames professionally. According to a 2013 survey of large firms by the Institute of Labor Administration, a think tank in Tokyo, nearly two-thirds of the respondents allowed women to use their given names at work, up from fewer than 20 percent in 1995.

In the United States, where women may legally keep their surnames after marriage, there is still a strong social convention among heterosexual couples for wives to take their husbands’ names. Even the highest estimates showonly one in five American women keeps her surname when she marries.

(THE NEW YORK TIMES)