Recently, Japanese Supreme Court sentenced that allow the dual surname system. This has been discussed in Japan for a long time.
Certainly, some people claim that dual surname system is disadvantage for women. Their argument is based on some reasons. Spouses change their family names to husbands’ family names, and the spouses lose their identity. Moreover, the system has possibility not to be equal for gender equality.
Other people claim that we can loosen the problem for wives to use their maiden names as alias. The couples can choose which family names, so the system is not constitute gender discrimination.
In short, the dual system has been discussed for a long time, and Japanese Supreme Court sentenced that deny unconstitutionality of the existing system. The problem is related to the changing civil society and condition, and the system leaves room for discussion in the diet.
sugiurakg 