say my name

[samuraiwig]

"Five people in Japan are poised to launch an unprecedented lawsuit against the government, claiming that a civil law forcing them to choose a single surname after marriage violates their constitutional rights...

...The plaintiffs argue that the civil code's requirement that a single surname be chosen contradicts articles of the constitution guaranteeing individual liberty and equal rights to husband and wife. The five are also seeking 1 million Yen each in compensation from the government."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/11/japan-marital-surname-law-challenge

[bolt_krank]

Wanting to change the law - OK, I could understand that.

Wanting 1 million yen also - that's where they start to look dodgy.

[IparryU]

"Five people in Japan are poised to launch an unprecedented lawsuit against the government, claiming that a civil law forcing them to choose a single surname after marriage violates their constitutional rights...

...The plaintiffs argue that the civil code's requirement that a single surname be chosen contradicts articles of the constitution guaranteeing individual liberty and equal rights to husband and wife. The five are also seeking 1 million Yen each in compensation from the government."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/11/japan-marital-surname-law-challenge

ohhh boo hoo... you have to change your name when you get married?

it has been like that forever, it is called.... marriage... if you dont like it, dont get married.

besides htat... claiming JPY1M is complete bullshit.

[maraboutslim]

This issue comes up all the time and I hope these folks win and settle it once and for all. I know Japan wants to maintain the family registry system and usually makes some complaint that this would mess that up, but I don't see why they can't allow one spouse to be entered onto the others' family without changing their surname. They do it for marriages involving gaijin (including my own) all the time.

[sublight]

I wonder, can you even bring a civil suit against someone without demanding damages?

[wuchan]

My wife and kid both have the hyphen thing, the J-government doesn't seem to care.

[waruta]

I married another gaijin in Japan, the J-Gov doesn't care we both have different last names, doesn't even want to change them. ...Hmmm...gives me an idea - maybe I should sue for indifference and pain + suffering due to said indifference...

[FG Lurker]

I married another gaijin in Japan, the J-Gov doesn't care we both have different last names, doesn't even want to change them.

You aren't worthy of a family registrar so they don't care.

[GomiGirl]

I married another gaijin in Japan, the J-Gov doesn't care we both have different last names, doesn't even want to change them.

I married another gaijin here too and we have different last names. We don't really care. But if I wanted to change my last name it is a real PITA due to the registration requirements in my own country.

But people call me all different names - some of them my legal name and some of them not.

[Greji]

Wanting to change the law - OK, I could understand that.

Wanting 1 million yen also - that's where they start to look dodgy.

This has never really affected western fgs that much, as our name is simply added to spouse's family registers and we all become "muko's," or "hana yomei-san's," regardless how are home country legally handles it. Of course this is because TIJ and this means they could give a fuck less what some foreign laws might say.

As for the million clams, a lot of legal beagles in Japan use one million yen as their demarcation line in the costs for representation for most basic/simple civil court appearances (this can of course and usually does increase as a case draws out), but in the case in point probably represents a suit for legal expenses (court costs) as opposed to one for punitive damages.