Heckling May Spur Dual Surname Debate within LDP

   Tokyo, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)--Heckling heard during a recent meeting at the Diet, Japan's parliament, may spark active debates within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on a dual surname system for married couples in the country while there still are both pros and cons to the system.
   At a press conference on Monday, LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida said that "we should hold discussions as needed" on whether to allow couples to continue using their respective surnames after they get married. "People with conservative views are increasingly requesting the party to consider allowing the use of separate surnames in order to preserve the family names," he added.
   During last Wednesday's plenary meeting of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, a person shouted out that people who want to have separate surnames "just don't have to get married."
   The heckling came when Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the major opposition Democratic Party for the People, called for the introduction of the dual surname system. Opposition parties see the remark, thought to have been made by a female lawmaker of the LDP, as problematic.
   Many within the LDP, especially conservative lawmakers, remain firmly opposed to the dual surname system.

(2020/01/28-03:00)

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