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As Japan grapples with critical challenges — including a shrinking, aging population, a nuclear threat from North Korea, and escalating tensions with China — its leaders are gearing up for a crucial election. However, in a landscape marked by urgent issues such as climate change, soaring national debt, inflation, and a slowing economy, one debate has dominated the race for the country’s next Prime Minister: Should married couples be permitted to maintain separate surnames?
The question, stemming from a law dating back to the Meiji era (1868-1912), has sparked a 30-year debate. Under the current law, married couples must share a surname, and in over 95 per cent of cases, the wife adopts her husband’s surname. Japan remains the only country with such a legal requirement, a rule that has come to symbolise the nation’s stance on women’s rights.
This debate has now emerged as a key issue in the election to replace Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced his resignation amid scandals and dwindling popularity. On Friday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will elect a new leader, who will take over as prime minister next month. The election will see party members, as well as rank-and-file voters, cast their ballots, and the outcome may largely depend on behind-the-scenes political manoeuvring.
In this race, nine candidates are vying for the top job. They represent both reformist and hard-right factions of the conservative LDP, with a striking range in age and ideology. Two women and two candidates under the age of 50 are among the contenders in a party historically dominated by ageing men.
Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is a leading candidate from the progressive side of the party. Koizumi, a former environment minister who made headlines in 2020 for taking paternity leave, is the only candidate promising to overturn the marital naming law. He has pledged that if elected, his administration would pass legislation allowing couples to retain separate surnames within his first year in office.
On the conservative front, Sanae Takaichi, 63, who could become Japan’s first female prime minister, supports maintaining the current law, arguing that shared surnames uphold family unity and prevent confusion for future generations. However, she has expressed openness to allowing different surnames in professional settings.
Other candidates, including Shigeru Ishiba, 67, a prominent figure in public opinion polls, and Yoko Kamikawa, 71, the current foreign minister, have taken a more cautious stance, suggesting further discussion on the matter is needed. Kamikawa, one of two women in the race, said she recognises the potential for division over the issue.
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The debate over surnames has twice reached Japan’s Supreme Court, where justices ruled that Parliament should decide the issue. Another case is currently being heard in district courts in Tokyo and Sapporo. Advocates for change, like 56-year-old plaintiff Yukari Uchiyama, see the law as a denial of fundamental rights. Uchiyama, who legally divorced her husband to keep her maiden name, described the experience as feeling “cut off from the roots” of her existence.
Polling indicates that two-thirds of the Japanese public supports changing the law. Earlier this year, Japan’s largest business group called on the government to allow couples to keep their birth names in the official family registry.
Analysts see this issue as a litmus test for Japan’s appetite for change. Mireya Solis, director of the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that Koizumi’s stance sets him apart from the party’s traditional leadership. “It’s an issue that symbolises an appetite for change,” she was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
For Takaichi, on the other hand, opposition to the reform allows her to appeal to the LDP’s influential right wing. The debate highlights a generational divide within the party, with older members supporting the status quo.
While the surname debate has drawn attention, it is unlikely to determine the outcome of the election on its own. However, it does highlight a shift in the political landscape. Historically, LDP candidates were defined by their views on defence and foreign policy, with liberals and conservatives divided along hawkish and dovish lines. But today, even previously dovish politicians, such as Kishida, have supported expanding Japan’s defence budget.
Takaichi, while echoing some nationalist rhetoric — such as her intention to visit Yasukuni Shrine, a site honouring war criminals from World War II — does not differ substantially from her rivals on foreign or defence policies.
The candidates have addressed other issues in broad terms, including labour market reform and the question of whether to restart nuclear reactors shut down after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. However, they have been vague on the scandals that have eroded public trust in the LDP.
The assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, linked to his ties with the Unification Church, unearthed the party’s deep connections to the controversial group, leading to widespread public disillusionment. More recently, a financial scandal involving alleged kickbacks to LDP lawmakers has added to voter dissatisfaction.
With no candidate offering a clear vision to address these scandals, critics argue that the leadership race merely represents a reshuffling of faces rather than meaningful change. As Chiyako Sato, an editorial writer for The Mainichi Shimbun, put it, the party is “changing faces to simulate a change in government.”
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