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10th China International Copyright Expo in Qingdao

QINGDAO, CHINA - OCTOBER 17, 2025 - A audience filmed "Oracle Bone Script Hundred Family Surnames" at the 10th China International Copyright Expo in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China on October 17, 2025.

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Japan Diet begins debate on dual surname bill for 1st time in 28 yrs

Japan's House of Representatives' judicial affairs committee begins its first deliberations in 28 years on legislation that would give married couples the option of using separate surnames in Tokyo on May 30, 2025.

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Japan Diet begins debate on dual surname bill for 1st time in 28 yrs

Japan's House of Representatives' judicial affairs committee begins its first deliberations in 28 years on legislation that would give married couples the option of using separate surnames in Tokyo on May 30, 2025.

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Japan's top court says forcing couples to share surname constitutional

Japan's top court on Wednesday again ruled legal provisions forcing married couples to use the same surname are constitutional, upholding a Supreme Court judgment from 2015. The latest decision on a more than century-old provision based on the Civil Code and the family register law dismissed requests filed by three couples in 2018 to keep their separate surnames after local governments refused to accept their marriage registrations. The decision handed down by Presiding Justice Naoto Otani at the Supreme Court's Grand Bench, composed of all 15 justices, came at a time when families have become more diverse, and public opinion on surname sharing has shifted in Japan.

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Forcing married couples to use same surname constitutional

Plaintiffs seeking introduction of dual surnames for married couples enter the Supreme Court in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2015. The top court ruled the same day that a century-old legal provision forcing married couples to use the same surname is constitutional. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Forcing married couples to use same surname constitutional

Plaintiffs seeking introduction of dual surnames for married couples attend a meeting with their supporters in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2015, after the Supreme Court ruled that a century-old legal provision forcing married couples to use the same surname is constitutional. They expressed disappointment over the ruling. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Forcing married couples to use same surname constitutional

Kyoto Tsukamoto (L), one of the plaintiffs seeking introduction of dual surnames for married couples, chokes up with tears during a press conference in Tokyo after the Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 16, 2015, that a century-old legal provision forcing married couples to use the same surname is constitutional. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Top court rules same-surname provision for couples constitutional

Plaintiffs seeking introduction of dual surnames for married couples head to the Supreme Court in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2015. The top court ruled the same day that a century-old legal provision forcing married couples to use the same surname is constitutional. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Top court to hand down ruling on dual surname

Plaintiffs seeking the use of separate surnames for married couples attend a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 4, 2015, after the Supreme Court concluded a hearing. The top court is expected to hand down a ruling by the end of 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Top court to soon hand down rulings on suits

Photo shows the Supreme Court's grand bench in Tokyo, on Nov. 4, 2015, during a hearing on a lawsuit in which a woman argues it is unconstitutional that only women are prohibited from getting remarried within six months of a divorce. The top court will hand down a ruling on the suit, as well as on another suit challenging the legitimacy of a law against dual surnames, by the end of 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Top court to soon hand down rulings on suits

Itsuro Terada (C), presiding justice of the Supreme Court's grand bench, attend a court hearing in Tokyo, on Nov. 4, 2015, in which a woman argues it is unconstitutional that only women are prohibited from getting remarried within six months of a divorce. The top court will hand down a ruling on the suit, as well as on another suit challenging the legitimacy of a law against dual surnames, by the end of 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Top court to see if Civil Code constitutional on surnames

Freelance writer Emi Kayama (L), one of five plaintiffs arguing that a Civil Code article forcing married couples to choose a single surname is unconstitutional, attends a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 18, 2015, as the Supreme Court decides its grand bench will examine the case. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Use of separate surnames should be allowed: ex-justice

Former Supreme Court Justice Yoshiki Yamaura gives an interview in Tokyo on Nov. 29, 2016, following his retirement in July. Yamaura, now a lawyer, said married couples should be allowed to use separate surnames under the Constitution, although the top court ruled in December 2015 that forcing couples to use the same surname is constitutional. Yamaura was against the decision. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Use of separate surnames should be allowed: ex-justice

Former Supreme Court Justice Yoshiki Yamaura gives an interview in Tokyo on Nov. 29, 2016, following his retirement in July. Yamaura, now a lawyer, said married couples should be allowed to use separate surnames under the Constitution, although the top court ruled in December 2015 that forcing couples to use the same surname is constitutional. Yamaura was against the decision. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo