INTERVIEW: Rengo Chief Opposes Govt’s Surname Plan

Tokyo, Dec. 17 (Jiji Press)–Japanese labor leader Tomoko Yoshino has expressed opposition to a proposal by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration to give legal validity to the use of former surnames after marriage. The plan “would not be a full-fledged solution (to the current situation in which married couples are forced to use the same family name),” Yoshino, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, said in an interview with Jiji Press on Tuesday. The surname issue is a “matter of human rights,” she stressed, showing her intention to cooperate with political parties supporting the introduction of a selective dual surname system for married couples, including Komeito, former coalition partner of Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and now in the opposition camp. Yoshino claimed that Japan is the only country that obliges married couples to use the same family name. Takaichi’s inauguration as Japan’s first female prime minister raised hopes that “women’s status will improve and their human rights will be secured,” but “if things remain unchanged, it will be a real shame in the eyes of the world,” she said. Yoshino said that Rengo “will tenaciously ask” the government to introduce a selective dual surname system, emphasizing that this would give each person more choices in life. She rebutted the views that a dual surname system would lead to family breakdown and make children feel unhappy, saying, “Things like domestic violence and infidelity cause families to collapse.” Yoshino serves as a member of the government’s gender equality council. At a council meeting Friday, she opposed a draft package of proposals, including a study on giving legal validity to the use of former surnames. In the interview, Yoshino urged the government to address the issue “carefully by putting emphasis on dialogue.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]