A powerful Japanese business lobby is calling on the government to allow married couples to keep dual surnames, saying the lack of freedom to do so hinders women’s advancement and has even become a business risk.
In Japan, each wedded pair has to legally adopt one family name. While either surname can be used, 95 percent of women still traditionally adopt their husbands’, according to a 2022 government survey. Experts say such law only exists in Japan and have even accused it of putting women off marriage in a country already suffering dwindling nuptials.
Keidanren, or The Japan Business Federation, said on June 10 the law has to be revised to fit a more diverse, equal and inclusive Japanese society.
Photo: Bloomberg 照片:彭博社
This came months after about a dozen plaintiffs filed a lawsuit asking for the system to be changed.
“As women play more active roles and the number of female executives is on the rise, the surname issue has become a business risk that companies can no longer dismiss as a problem of certain individuals,” said Masakazu Tokura, head of Keidanren.
Tokura said many Japanese career women are already using their maiden names at work and on their business cards, including 90 percent of Keidanren female members. However, they still have to use their unified surnames on all legal documents, causing them issues when — for example — opening bank accounts, issuing credit cards, and traveling overseas as the names don’t match, he said.
Photo: AP 照片:美聯社
Keidanren internally surveyed its members and 88 percent of female executives expressed dissatisfaction with the status quo.
The proposal by the organization — which boasts over 1,500 Japanese companies and has regularly made economic policy recommendations — is seen as unusual for it has customarily supported Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s conservative governing Liberal Democratic Party that has shelved the dual surname idea for over three decades.
Tokura says the proposal will be submitted to the government this week following approval by the lobby’s board meeting. They also called on the parliament to swiftly support a change in the 1898 civil code which governs the adoption of surnames.
On June 10, when asked about the proposal, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi of the governing party said the public had varied opinions on the matter and that careful discussion was needed.
However, several surveys show the vast majority support a dual-surname household, and the ruling LDP, which also opposes same-sex marriage, is already facing growing calls to allow more diversity in family values and marriage. Many in the party support traditional gender roles and a paternalistic family system, arguing that allowing the dual-surname option would destroy family unity.
In 2015 and 2021, the Supreme Court found said the one-surname-only policy wasn’t unconstitutional but urged parliament to discuss the issue. But deliberations have stalled due to opposition by the governing party conservatives.
Akari Takahashi, a 22-year-old wedding planner, said she never questioned adopting her father’s surname until she traveled to Australia and her host mother expressed discontent with the idea of a unified family name.
“That’s when I realized something was wrong with it,” Takahashi said, adding she couldn’t imagine having to make such a choice.
The rights gap between men and women in Japan is among the world’s largest with Japan ranking 125th in a 146-nation survey by the World Economic Forum for 2023.
(AP)
日本一個強大的商業遊說團體呼籲政府,允許已婚夫婦保留雙方的姓氏(「夫婦別姓」),並表示不能保留姓氏阻礙了女性的晉升,甚至成了商業風險。
在日本,每對已婚夫婦都必須採用同一個姓氏(「夫婦同姓」),以符合法律規定。根據2022年政府調查,雖然可以使用雙方任一姓氏,但95%的女性傳統上仍採用丈夫的姓氏。專家表示,這樣的法律只存在於日本,甚至指責該法律讓這結婚人口已在下降的國家推遲了女性的結婚時間。
日本經濟團體聯合會(簡稱「經團聯」)6月10日表示,必須修改該法律,以適應更多元化、平等和包容的日本社會。
數月前,約十多名原告提起訴訟,要求改變此制度。
經團聯會長十倉雅和表示:「女性扮演了更活躍的角色,女性高階主管也在增加,姓氏問題已隨之成為一種商業風險,企業不能再將其視為一些個別問題而加以忽視」。
十倉表示,日本許多職業女性已在工作和名片上使用她們結婚前的姓氏,其中包括90%的經團聯女性會員。然而,她們仍必須在所有法律文件上使用與丈夫統一的姓氏,這會導致他們在開立銀行帳戶、核發信用卡及出國旅行時因姓名不符而出現問題,他舉例說。
經團聯對其會員所做的調查顯示,88%的女性主管對現狀表示不滿。
經團聯擁有超過1,500 家日本公司,並定期提出經濟政策建議。經團聯夫婦別姓的提議被視為不尋常,因為該組織一向支持日本首相岸田文雄所屬的保守派執政黨自民黨,夫婦別姓的議題三十多年來一直被該黨擱置。
十倉表示,該提案將在本週該遊說團體理監事會議批准後交給政府。他們還呼籲國會迅速支持修改1898年開始施行的日本民法典,該法典規定了姓氏的採用。
執政黨內閣官房長官林芳正6月10日被問及該提案時表示,民眾對此事有各種不同的意見,需要仔細討論。
然而,多項調查顯示,絕大多數人支持雙姓家庭,而執政的自民黨同時也反對同性婚姻,已面對越來越多呼聲,要求允許更多樣化的家庭價值觀與婚姻。自民黨內許多人支持傳統的性別角色與家長式的家庭制度,認為允許選擇夫婦別姓會破壞家庭團結。
2015年及2021年,日本最高法院裁定夫婦同姓制並不違憲,但敦促國會討論此議題。但由於執政黨保守派的反對,審議工作陷入停滯。
22 歲的婚禮規劃師高橋明里〔音譯〕表示,她從未質疑過為何要從父姓,直到她去到澳洲,寄宿家庭媽媽對夫婦同姓的概念表示不滿。
高橋說:「就在那時我意識到這有些不對勁」。她補充說,她無法想像有此選項,得去決定要姓什麼。
日本是世界上男女權利差距最大的一些國家之一,在世界經濟論壇2023年對146個國家所做的調查中,日本排名第125 位。
(台北時報林俐凱編譯)
A: Just like the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the Republican Party’s Donald Trump has received endorsements from some celebrities, including SpaceX founder Elon Musk. B: Plus, a new film, “The Apprentice,” about Trump’s rise was released recently. A: Isn’t it the same title as the reality TV series he hosted? B: Yeah, it was a competition reality show for jobseekers. A: My English teacher even uses it as supplemental material for English courses. A: 就像民主黨的賀錦麗,共和黨的唐納川普也獲得一些名人支持,例如SpaceX的創辦人伊隆馬斯克。 B: 關於川普崛起的電影《誰是接班人》最近也上映了。 A: 這不是跟他主持的電視實境秀同名嗎? B: 對啊,那是一群求職者的實境競賽秀。 A: 我的英文老師還拿它當英文課程的補充教材! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Many patients with certain types of cancers suffer from damage to their blood cells due to the cancer itself or treatments like chemotherapy. To help rebuild healthy blood cells, patients often receive bone marrow transplants by using either pluripotent or hematopoietic stem cells. A bone marrow or stem cell transplant can speed up recovery and boost healthy blood cell production. There are primarily two types of bone marrow transplants: autologous and allogeneic. The former involves using the patient’s own stem cells, while the latter uses stem cells from a matching donor, usually a relative with a compatible human leukocyte
It’s won Oscars. Its television shows and K-pop stars dominate global charts. Its leading novelist just won the Nobel literature prize. How did South Korea become such a global cultural powerhouse? What is Hallyu? From the late 1990s, Korean dramas and K-pop idols started gaining traction in neighboring Asian countries like China and Japan, marking the start of Hallyu, or the Korean Wave. It wasn’t until Psy’s breakout hit “Gangnam Style” that Hallyu hit the West. In the decade that followed, “Babyshark” broke YouTube records, K-pop megastars BTS topped the charts, Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” won an Oscar, and Squid Game
在防疫期間,「超前部署」此一用語常見諸報章,成為台灣很夯的熱詞 (buzzword): 超前部署並非2020 年才出現的用語,以下為一些過去台灣政府官員曾使用「超前部署」的語境: 總統馬英九今天指出,八八風災帶來很大教訓,應落實災害防救工作……料敵從寬,禦敵從嚴,超前部署……2010 年 5 月 26 日,《中央社》 行政院副院長張善政……表示,蓮花颱風速度雖然減緩……料敵從嚴,並以超前部署為原則……2015 年 7 月 7 日,《新聞傳播處》 《今日科學》有篇文章 “Outbreak science: Infectious disease research leads to outbreak predictions” 就提到做好預判,有利政府防疫的「超前部署」: Infectious disease outbreaks, whether they be widespread like Influenza or fairly geographically restricted like Ebola, may be difficult to prevent . . . if we can forecast outbreak potential in time, public health officials and governments can preemptively prepare for a potential outbreak event. 傳染病爆發,無論是像流感那樣全面,或像伊波拉那種侷限某些地理區域,都很難預防— 然而,如果我們可以及時預知(疾病)爆發的可能,公衛當局和政府便可以為潛在的疫情爆發提前部署。 Science Daily, January 8, 2020 所以「超前部署」若是在「防災/防疫」的語境下,可譯為preemptive preparation 或 preemptive preparedness,如果用作動詞,可以說 preemptively prepare for (an outbreak, etc.)。 《世界雜誌》上有位作者提到 preemptive 和 preparation 的差異,她說 preemptive 的弦外之音是 heading off something undesirable(避凶/避災): “Preemptive” and “preparation” both refer to work done ahead