Japan Press Weekly

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2012 February 29 - March 6 [CIVIL RIGHTS]

Allow married citizens to keep own surname: JCP Takahashi

Japanese Communist Party parliamentarian Takahashi Chizuko on March 5 stressed the urgent need for Japan to allow married couples to keep their last names as recommended by the United Nations.

At a working group meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting, Takahashi reminded the government that it is requested by the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to submit by November a report on its progress toward amending its Civil Code in order to allow citizens to keep their original surnames after marriage.

Criticizing the government for not recognizing that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has a legal binding force, Takahashi urged the justice minister to submit a bill for the amendment to the current Diet session.