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Common surnames get Japan court nod
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Japan鈥檚 top court yesterday upheld a law that requires married couples to have a common surname, sparking criticism from activists who complain the rule is sexist and outdated.
In a separate but also highly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court said a six-month waiting period for women remarrying after divorce was excessive and should be reduced.
The remarriage law is linked to complex rules over the timing of a child鈥檚 birth after divorce 鈥 designed to determine whether a baby belonged to the ex-husband or the new spouse鈥檚 family in an era before DNA testing.
The court said the six-month waiting period was too long given the availability of modern technology to confirm paternity and instead urged a period of no more than 100 days.
The late 19th century rules are a throwback to Japan鈥檚 feudal family system, in which all women and children came under the control of the head of the household 鈥 overwhelmingly men.
That family system was abolished in 1948 as part of broad reforms pushed by the post-World War II US occupation but Japan鈥檚 civil code maintained the surname and remarriage rules.
鈥淚t does not violate the constitution,鈥 presiding justice Itsuro Terada said of the surname law. He also said that changing one鈥檚 name after marriage does not harm 鈥渋ndividual dignity and equality between men and women.鈥
About 96 percent of married women take their husband鈥檚 family name.
Activists had hoped the court would overturn both rules, which they said reflected a still male-dominated society over a century after they came into effect, and meant Japan lagged behind other advanced countries.
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