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A U.N. rights watchdog on Tuesday once again urged Japan to review its requirement for married couples to share a surname while calling for an amendment of the male-only imperial succession law following its first in-person review of the country's gender equality policies in eight years.
The recommendations came as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women released its concluding observations on Japan after discussions with the government and non-governmental organizations earlier in the month.
In the report, the committee expressed concerns that "no steps have been taken" to revise a Civil Code provision requiring married couples to use the same surname, calling it an existing "discriminatory" provision and that it "in practice often compels women to adopt their husbands' surnames."
The requirement is stipulated in Article 750 of the current Civil Code. The provision dates back over a century to the prewar Civil Code, and critics argue that it reflects the traditional concept of marriage as an arrangement between families rather than individuals.
The U.N. body had previously recommended that Japan amend the Civil Code over the surname requirement in 2003, 2009 and 2016. In the last two reviews, the issue was considered a follow-up item, indicating its high importance.
The issue was once again listed as a follow-up item, with the U.N. body requesting Japan to provide written information on steps taken to address it within two years.
During the in-person review, a Japanese government delegation explained its past efforts and said it would proceed with further examination of the issues raised by the panel.
In the latest report, the committee also touched on the 1947 Imperial House Law that limits imperial heirs to males with an emperor on their father's side and requires female members to leave upon marriage to a commoner.
Acknowledging that the law is "not within the purview" of its competence, the panel said it considers the succession rule "contrary to the object and purpose" of the U.N. convention to eliminate discrimination against women.
In the 2016 review, Japan strongly objected to the Imperial House Law amendment recommendation included in a draft of the concluding observations, and the final version ended up with no reference to the issue.
Article 16 of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women calls for ensuring the equal rights between a husband and wife, "including the right to choose a family name, a profession and an occupation."
Other latest recommendations for Japan included abolishing requirements for spousal consent for women seeking abortions and parental consent for girls aged 16 and 17 to access contraceptives.
The U.N. body also called for the early ratification of the "Optional Protocol," which would allow individuals who have experienced human rights violations to file complaints directly with the committee.
The committee, a body of independent experts, periodically monitors the implementation of the convention by each signatory country, including Japan, which ratified it in 1985.
While recommendations are not legally binding, member states are expected to respect them.
Japan has made legal reforms, including abolishing a remarriage ban period applied only to women and raising the minimum marriage age for women from 16 to 18, the same as men, which were among the issues that had been subject to the U.N. body's recommendations in the past.
© KYODO
29 Comments
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sakurasuki
UN forgot that in Japan everything will take centuries to change, even from polls it shows that majority Japanese support separate surnames.
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/10/68005b11e303-focus-japan-election-puts-couples-right-to-choose-surname-in-spotlight.html
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240916/p2g/00m/0na/005000c
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15356597
ian
If the people really want it they will elect more leaders who include that on their platform
Meiyouwenti
Let them mind their own business. There are a lot more urgent matters the UN should use its efforts and resources for.
Aly Rustom
True.
Mike_Oxlong
The One World Government wants to tell Japan what to do. Japan decided no and has stuck to their guns. Suck it globalists.
socrateos
Focus on fixing the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and leave Japan alone!
Hervé L'Eisa
The UN should just mind their own business!
Hercolobus
Do they know the meaning of sovereignty?
Like every independent country can do as it pleases.
Or, are they implying that Japan must comply or else?
Eastmann
UN should care about more important problems like IL agression in Middle East for example where is completely toothless...let jpn gov decide what they want to do abt surnames...
Ken
Maybe this might play a small part in the birthrate decline, the world slowly changes and it is either adapt or cease to exist
Jay
The United Nations does nothing but sucks up funds, pushing absurd globalist agendas while ignoring real issues. Instead of meddling in family names and telling couples they need separate surnames - something that has no bearing on global well-being - maybe they should focus on holding the WEF and WHO accountable for the massive failures surrounding a certain mRNA vaccine, lockdowns, and the damage they inflicted on economies worldwide.
Countless people are still suffering from those decisions, and the U.N. is wasting time on trivial social engineering projects instead of addressing the actually important issues. The U.N. should prioritize accountability and solutions for real crises rather than trying to impose woke policies on private lives.
WoodyLee
I suggest that the UN focus on other issues that are sizzling across the globe and leave Japan alone.
WoodyLee
No Thank You, Japan will manage it's affairs as it sees fit, so stay out of it UN.
Japantime
There are many couples with separate family names in Japan. I work with some.
Ken
What is "woke" about having a different last name? Does that mean being a foreign national in Japan is "woke" too as well as trying to learn a different language or do anything at all that is different than the cultural norm?
Jay
Well "Ken", allow me to explain it to you - what's woke here isn’t simply having a different last name; it’s the constant push by elites and global organizations to dismantle cultural traditions under the guise of “progress.”
It’s about pushing for changes that most people never asked for and trying to make people feel backward for valuing heritage and family unity.
This isn’t about individuality or learning new languages; it’s about top-down social engineering that forces “diversity” while undermining what actually holds societies together.
Real progress respects cultural roots and family values - values that shouldn’t be rewritten just to fit a globalist agenda or cater to ideological trends.
OssanAmerica
This is ridiculous on so many levels. We have a war in Europe, war in the ME and China threatening Taiwan, and the UN spends time and money to stick their nose into a sovereign country's domestic legal structure? If nothing, it proves how the UN wastes it's funds on useless issues. Which is all the more ridiculous as Japan is the third largest contributor to the UN.
Perhaps the UN would like to pay for the massive change that would be needed to Japan's long standing Koseki system in order to comply with their suggestion.
Ken
Firstly you don't understand what "woke" means, you are using the Twitter definition which categorizes everything you don't understand into the same box you use when you call something "woke"
And secondly nobody is being forced to do anything. If the family WANTS to have different last names they can. There is no BS throwing away values, nobody said men can no longer pass down last names, nobody said women can no longer change their last names. It is making a new option that didn't really exist.
Why it matters so much to people who would never be affected by it is something I don't understand? You're not about to marry a woman who is on the fence about changing her last name, you're not a woman who is being discriminated against. Why do you use so much energy to care in such a negative way about something that has no relation to you?
Ken
The UN is not 1 person, they have different branches, sections and people. And perhaps it is important because of how much Japan contributes
Jay
You know exactly what woke is: it's an ideology that pushes progressive agendas at the expense of traditional values, personal freedoms, and national identity. An attempt to impose forced political correctness on society, rewriting history, silencing opposing views, and prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion over merit, individual rights, or cultural heritage. They're agendas driven by elites and globalist institutions that promote "social justice" causes, not to empower people but to gain control, destabilize cultural foundations, and erode core societal values.
This isn’t about “thinking about myself”- which would be the height of selfishness - it’s about preserving the family values and traditions that strengthen society as a whole, which I care about deeply. When globalist institutions push for things like this, it’s more than a personal choice; it’s an agenda chipping away at family unity. These changes affect everyone by undermining the shared customs that bind us together. Caring about this isn’t selfish - on the contrary, it’s about defending a foundation that’s bigger than any one individual (me or you), for the sake of future generations who deserve to inherit strong, rooted traditions - not social experiments.
Jtsnose
. . . family cohesiveness may work better when family members see themselves as being of the same family group; hence, same family name . . . . different names may work toward divisiveness . . . .
Ken
You're only half right, the way you describe it is very weaponized if anything. And if anything was about preserving family values there wouldn't be any foreigners in Japan as you know in the past things were more different so it is a be careful what you wish for sort of thing. As well as if you don't keep up with how the world changes you and your descendants won't survive. The declining birthrate is a big problem and has more of a critical impact than what a persons last name may be. If any issue that is a more important issue that an unaffected bystander should focus on. Hence why to me it seems less about perseverance of a culture that isn't yours and ,more like an excuse to try to keep women in check.
Redtail Swift
Wait? Isn't this already a thing? Or is the rule different for Japanese women who marry foreign men?
There is some cruelty going on here, but I don't think it's coming from the UN.
Japanese companies, families, and society ( nationalist ) don't want your family name to exist within public record.
A lot of happy foreign men marry these women and understand NOTHING about the significance of the "Koseki". That document means a lot more than most here understand. The weight is real.
OssanAmerica
No kidding. But it all emanates out of the same budget.
What does that even mean? China is the second largest contributor to the UN but you don't see them making an issue out of their treatment of the Uighur popoulation.
John Kennedy
What business is it of the UN?
Hiroshi Nishida
It was a devastating mistake for the Japanese people that the government ratified the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Committee's proposal interferes with Japanese domestic policy because most Japanese wish the same surname after the marriage. The UN intends to force nations to abolish their cultures and traditions whose value systems differ. The UN wants to establish the international community that communists used to hope to build. Under such a world, people hold the same value perspective, and forget their own nationalities. The Japanese government should withdraw from the Committee and reject to ratify the Committee.
Jay
Is that a male feminist assertion - assuming anyone who cares about tradition just wants to “keep women in check”? This isn’t about control; it’s about preserving values that create strong families and stable communities, something male feminists seem too spineless to understand.
Instead of constantly pandering, maybe try respecting the values that have held societies together for hundreds of generations in an uninterrupted procession.
Or were they all wrong and you're suddenly right?
Ken
Are we going to pretend that China won't get butthurt and hold a grudge if asked about that, we already know they are hopeless when it comes to change unless it is the CCP trying to claim territory they don't own
Ken
Is that your go to when you couldn't think of anything better to say? I'm just culturally aware as to why dudes who aren't affected by this are pretending like all of a sudden it's important. Sometimes values are meant to be adjusted, need I remind you yet again interracial relationships and marriages used to be forbidden but you were all for that change or little by little non Japanese residents in Japan are getting better rights over time or would you prefer to always be an outsider who doesn't get any polite hospitality?
iron man
tradition is important, koseki is recognized by most couples, is it he names at marriage that is important or the naming of the offspring, I believe the naming/ nationality? of the offspring is already a UN recognized right. My now not so little guy, does not have the burden of my western family name. thankfully, Parents choice.
Geeter Mckluskie
The UN should stick to indoctrinating Palestinian children with a hatred of the Jews and leave Japan alone