Japan Govt OKs Gender Equality Plan Featuring Maiden Name Use

Tokyo, March 13 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government on Friday approved its latest basic plan for gender equality, which calls for considering giving legal validity to the standalone use of maiden names, a key goal of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

It aims to submit legislation related to the sixth gender equality basic plan, which contains measures to be taken over the next five years, to the ongoing session of parliament.

The plan stipulates that the government will "work to further expand the use of maiden names and raise awareness of this, considering institutional measures such as legislation enabling the standalone use of maiden names." Under such legislation, people who change their surnames upon marriage would be allowed to write just their maiden names on official documents.

But the prime minister has said that it would be necessary to consider seeking the dual use of new surnames and maiden names for "documents used for strict identity verification" such as passports, drivers' licenses and My Number personal identification cards.

The government is expected to mull the design of a system allowing standalone uses of maiden names, including the scope of documents covered, as it prepares to draw up a bill.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]