Koizumi backs different surnames for married couples after heckling incident

Nice job sir. A beacon of change

a recent decision to take paternity leave, a rarity among politicians.

Gimmie a break with the bs here! He is only taking a couple weeks off, and not in a row either!

That isnt "paternity leave" !

Don't get married then!" the lawmaker -- identified by opposition party lawmakers as LDP lower house member Mio Sugita -- shouted at Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People during a Diet session on Wednesday.

She is probably feeling jealous!

"What's in a name"..... Shakespeare. My feeling on Family names; take the one you want to survive. If he has a Brother that already has kids and she is an only child.... take her name. But having two separate names.... unless they do not marry or add the hyphen it could become a problem. Survivor benefits can become an issue initially until things get figured out. And you know Japan..... if it isn't "black or white", chances are they'll just prohibit it.

Koizumi, widely touted as a future Japanese prime minister.

By Japan's corporate media, which heartily supports nepotism.

LDP lower house member Mio Sugita

An unhinged ultra-nationalist crackpot notorious for wanting to "bomb" memorials to comfort women.

http://fendnow.org/2018/09/12/far-right-japanese-nationalists-theatrical-assault-on-comfort-women-statue-in-taiwan-is-part-of-the-pattern/

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/24/national/politics-diplomacy/ldp-lawmaker-mio-sugita-faces-backlash-describing-lgbt-people-unproductive/

Don't see what the LDP is worried about here. With the introduction of the My number system, there is now a system that can track people, family units, and their social movements without the use of names. Just log the numbers as linked and move on with it.

The LDP has many conservative lawmakers who place importance on traditional values.

Of all the stupid, arbitrary and pointless values to rally behind, “making couples have the same name” is the stupidest.

" But having two separate names.... unless they do not marry or add the hyphen it could become a problem. Survivor benefits can become an issue initially until things get figured out. And you know Japan..... if it isn't "black or white", chances are they'll just prohibit it."

Obviously, you think the World revolves around the Anglophone sphere!

Have you ever been to Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, all of South America, African countries with Latin heritage and many other places?

Have you ever looked into family names of well heeled aristocracy in Britain?

Certainly you haven't, otherwise you'd have noticed that they ALL practice that which you are trying to negate.

Knowledge is power, yer no?

That Mrs. ? Sugita who uttered those words "don't get married" later when confronted with it on multiple occasions was pretending she was on her phone. It was so cringy to watch.

I think she is unstable as a person, leave alone a professional politician. ..

It's not her first time either, remember her LGBT statement?

Just a question here: when did the practice of the woman taking the husband's family name begin in Japan? Was it a historical practice, or something introduced in imitation of (some) other countries in the 19th century?

Major opposition parties on Friday urged Tadamori Oshima, the lower house speaker, to find out who the lawmaker was, as Sugita has kept silent over her alleged heckling.

So she heckles and then hides like the coward she is because she doesn't even have the courage of her convictions. What a scumbag.

So i did a little checking up on this Mio Sugita. She seems to have a history of anti female quotes. Her above quote is by no means the first one.

She strikes me personally as a self hating woman.

Comfort women

Sugita, said, "the women acted willingly" and that the numbers of them reported are inflated.[8][9] The three politicians also stated that they wanted the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to retract an apology made in the 1990s to comfort women.[8]

Shiori Itō rape case

Sugita appeared in a 2018 BBC documentary "Japan's Secret Shame"[10] which detailed the alleged rape of Shiori Itō. In the interview, Sugita was quoted as saying, "With this case, there were clear errors on her part as a woman; drinking that much in front of a man and losing her memory."[11] She continued, "With things like this I think men are the ones who suffer significant damage.”[12]

LGBT issues

In July 2018, Sugita wrote a magazine article that described LGBT couples as "unproductive" as they can not bear children and thus were not worth taxpayer investment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mio_Sugita

Koizumi’s support for different surnames for married couples is part of his effort to mend his tarnished image and boost his falling approval ratings. Through his remarks after becoming Environment Minister, many people have now realized that he is an intellectually-challenged person not suited to hold public office.

i don,t know if he,s putting on a show lately, trying to look modern and break away from those old politicians, but i,m almost starting to think this guy is not so bad after all. still a daddy,s boy though, no good when they start announcing that he,s going to be prime minister years in advance. part of the problem with politics in Japan. and what a character that Sugita is...

I totally hands up n support his idea married couple with different names.. The country where I come from is in this way. Where almost 90% married couple with different name. I don't see that as a problem n shameless different name with my husband. The world is changing n women is becoming more n more independent than man.

Civilizations have died out because married couples refused to share the same surname. Not!

"Was it a historical practice, or something introduced in imitation of (some) other countries in the 19th century?"

Most, maybe all, Western countries have the wife taking the husband's name; this would probably have always been a Christian tradition. But maybe he's thinking of copying the Chinese custom, which for both parties to keep their names, although they don't have to.

widely touted as a future Japanese prime minister.

so much for democracy

My Ex has my surname and my new spouse too. Causes trouble at the local banks and post offices.

Why is the Environment Minister meddling in civil affairs that he has no say so as this issue is more of a social one vs environment. If he spent more time and energy with the environmental vs social issues maybe things would move forward. Erosion controls throughout Japan, landslide protective measure, emergency response equipment funding to upgrade old antiquated processes to name a few.

rgcivilian1

because he believes the hype that he will automatically be PM because of his name

Wow. He sounds like a good guy. It seems like he cares about the needs of individuals and families over 'societal rules', which is really new and severely needed for Japanese people to evolve into a modern, globalized society.

Japan's Civil Code and the Family Register Law require the use of a single surname by members of the same family.

Unless you're a gaijin, because then they don't even put you on the family register.

Such a ridiculous issue. If a married couple wants to have different names, let them. Not all foreign countries do it, and sharing a surname is not quite the dominant trend as some people suggest it is; until quite recently the tradition in Scotland was for both partners to retain their birth name after marriage.

The use of different surnames does not affect the status or nature or a marriage (or family) in any way, shape or form. Abe opposes it because he has a 19th century viewpoint based on Meiji Period practices. Nothing is gained from maintaining such an attitude in the 21st century.

I am on our family register and also the head of household

Then you are Japanese.

@SaikoPhysco

"having two separate names.... unless they do not marry or add the hyphen it could become a problem."

My wife and I have separate surnames (Japanese law did not allow her to change her name even if she wanted) and we have had no problems at all.

I do not oppose separate names but this issue if overblown. I took my wife's surname but continue to use my birth name. Japanese law allows this. I could even stand for election using my birth name as long as I write it in katakana. When I took my wife's surname, I filed a standard form with my various employers saying my legal name was X but I wanted to be known as Y.

Many politicians uses their birth name rather than their legal name. For example, the Minister of Justice uses her birth name Mori Masako in elections and official functions. She is married and her legal name is Miyoshi Masako.

In my experience, you only need to use your joint legal surname (1) with the tax authorities; (2) for your national health insurance; (3) on your passport. You can, if you request it, have your original name listed on your passport. I didn't.

@ishei @Peeping_Tom Very good points made by both of you. And yeah, it’s an Asian country that we’re talking about, not Britain, or any of its descendent countries like America or Australia.

my triple barrel surname makes my Japanese colleagues sooooo confused it's almost amusing, if not a bit sad how they can't even consider not having the same surname as their spouse, parents, or children.

but damn the line about Koizumi expected to be a prime minister was...sinister? might as well save some money, stop holding general elections if y'all in the Diet have decided that already

I am on our family register and also the head of household.

Not the same thing. You are on under your wife, on her family register.

The head of household is totally separate and that is registered with the local municipal office.

Nationality does not matter with head of household. It's mainly for tax purposes.

Then you are Japanese.

Hardly, any properly registered marriage here between a foreigner and Japanese citizen will have the foreigners name under their spouses name on the family register.

Head of household is something totally different/

He is not Japanese

Hardly, any properly registered marriage here between a foreigner and Japanese citizen will have the foreigners name under their spouses name on the family register.

They put you in as a memo, but you are not actually registered in the family tree, which is kind of the whole point of a family register. I remember once I got a copy of my wife's register but was not even on it! They had to check a special box before printing it out to include extra memos.

LDP lower house member Mio Sugita

Stupider than a bog brush and nowhere near as useful.

@JCosplay

I am from an Asian country, married to a Japanese guy but chose to retain my family name. My home country doesn't require women to adapt their husbands' family names. So, not all Asian countries are like Japan.

When Japanese friends ask me why I didn't change my name, I ask them back why should I? If people need proof that I am my husband's legal wife, we can provide our marriage certificte and his family registry. He was even able to devlare me as his dependent, without any problem, before I was able to find a fulltime job. On the otherhand, I rather find it discriminating against single parents, children born out of wedlock, and children of divorced parents. What's the point of this law, Japan?