UK Edition
Tokyo court rejects teacher’s claim to use her maiden name at work
Japan’s gender equality advocates have suffered a setback after a court ruled that a female teacher must use her married name while working.
The teacher, who requested anonymity, launched a lawsuit against Nihon University Daisangakuen, in a bid to maintain the right to use her maiden name while working.
The woman, who is in her 30s and has worked at private junior and senior high schools affiliated to the university since 2003, married three years ago but wished to retain her maiden name.
She claimed that her maiden name was already well known to pupils and parents, and part of her identity, as well as having been used in her previously published academic research works.
However, Tokyo District Court dismissed her bid on the grounds that the practice was not customary and ruled that it was not a violation of her rights for employers to insist on using her married name.
In a blow to sexual equality advocates, three judges ruled that although the practice of using maiden names was increasing, it was “not deeply rooted in society”.
The judges – who, critics noted, were all male - also cited a newspaper survey, which concluded that more than 70 per cent of married Japanese women used their husband’s name while working.
Speaking after the ruling, the teacher, who had been claiming £9,500 (1.2 million yen) in damages, told media: “I do not want to separate my name and my personal accomplishments such as writing reference books and giving lectures before marriage.”
She added that the decision “destroys a workplace environment that allows people who had to change their surnames to work without undue worries,” according to the Asahi newspaper.
The ruling is a high profile setback to the government’s efforts to dispel Japan’s enduing reputation as a society of sexual inequality and boost economic growth by making workplaces more female-friendly.
Government officials announced plans in August to revamp its official name registration system from next year, to enable married people to print their maiden names on official documentation such as tax ID and residence cards.
The ruling is the latest in a growing movement in Japan among women to retain the right to use their maiden names, with a supreme court ruling last December defeating the efforts of five women to challenge a 19th Century law that states that married couples must use the same surnames.