LDP to Forgo Compiling Selective Surname Bill During Current Diet Session

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, May 13, 2025

The Liberal Democratic Party has decided to forgo compiling a bill to introduce a selective surname system for married couples during the current Diet session.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has submitted a bill to the House of Representatives to amend the Civil Code to introduce such a system, and the Democratic Party for the People is also considering submitting a bill. The LDP, however, opposes the opposition parties’ bills, making it highly unlikely that any legislation will be passed during the current Diet session.

LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama and LDP Policy Research Council Chairperson Itsunori Onodera, among other party executives, held discussions at the Diet building Thursday and agreed not to draft a bill.

Mainly the LDP’s conservative members have voiced that the unofficial use of premarital surnames should be expanded to ease the disadvantage felt by people who have changed their surnames after getting married, but there are also a certain number of LDP lawmakers who are in favor of introducing the system. Given the difficulty of coordinating views within the party, the LDP has concluded that it should not allow party unity to be disrupted before the House of Councillors election in the summer.

According to some LDP members, there has been a proposal to require party members to oppose the opposition parties’ bills when voting.

The DPFP supports the introduction of the system, but it has no plans to back the CDPJ’s bill. The Japan Innovation Party has drawn up an outline for a bill to legalize the use of premarital surnames, highlighting the lack of coordination among the opposition parties. Komeito, the LDP’s ruling coalition partner, is in favor of introducing the system, but it insists that it should work with the LDP to submit a bill to the Diet as a government proposal.