17 December,2015 07:49 AM IST | | Agencies
Japan’s Supreme Court has ruled that requiring married couples to have the same surname is constitutional, dealing a blow to a longtime effort for gender equality in choosing names
Lawyers and their supporters hold a banner which says u00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u009cunconstitutionality judgementu00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u009d outside of Japanu00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0099s Supreme Court in Tokyo yesterday.
Tokyo: Japan's Supreme Court has ruled that requiring married couples to have the same surname is constitutional, dealing a blow to a longtime effort for gender equality in choosing names.
The law does not say which partner must give up his or her name in marriage. In practice it has almost always been the woman who took the husband's name.
Some women say that is unfair and feel as though their identity is lost. The ruling was handed down yesterday.
