Japan activists demand dual-surname option on Women’s Day

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Women’s rights activists in Japan are renewing their demand for the government to allow married couples the option to keep both of their surnames, saying the current practice in which most women face social pressure to adopt their husbands’ surnames — a prewar tradition based on paternalistic family values — widens gender inequality. At a rally marking International Women’s Day on Wednesday, representatives from dozens of women’s rights groups delivered a joint statement to lawmakers urging them to do more to change the 125-year-old civil code, which forces married couples to choose one surname. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s conservative governing party supports traditional gender roles and has resisted calls for such a change.