Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A march took place in central Tokyo on Saturday to mark International Women’s Day and support the call for the introduction of optional separate surnames for married couples, among other topics.

Local media reported that around 800 people walked through the city with placards bearing messages such as “Let me get married without changing my surname.”

The issue of maintaining separate surnames for married couples has been hotly debated in Japan recently, although it has been under discussion by the political parties for nearly three decades.

One participant during the march said: “We both wanted to get married without changing our surnames, so I wondered if there was anything I could do.”

NODA Yoshihiko, the leader of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said, “Separate surnames for married couples has been an issue for 29 years. Since the Legislative Council’s report in 1996, the government has been slow to act. We have submitted a bill to amend the Civil Code nine times in the House of Representatives and 15 times in the House of Councilors as a private member’s bill, but it has always been on the shelf. But this time, we will make it happen.”

However, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is less enthusiastic, and little progress has been made on the issue in parliament, despite popular support. Politician AIZAWA Ichiro fears that the bill could “change the character of Japan drastically. We politicians need to consider children and the stability and balance of society as a whole.”

IDA Naho, a representative of an organization that participated in the march and aims to realize the system, commented: “I feel a great sense of crisis that if we don’t do it this year, it will take years again. I really want it to pass in the current Diet session.”