The Tokyo District Court on Monday rejected a damages suit against the state by a lawyer and his wife who argued that the country's law forcing married couples to use the same surname is unconstitutional.
Hiroki Deguchi, a lawyer who belongs to the Tokyo Bar Association, and his wife had claimed that a Civil Code provision stipulating a single surname for a husband and wife violates "equality under the law" guaranteed by the Constitution and sought ¥10 ($0.09) in compensation. While compensation in the claim was inconsequential, the lawsuit could have had a symbolic impact on a long-running controversy in the nation.
At the Tokyo District Court, presiding Judge Yukio Shinada said there had been no "change in the situation" since the Supreme Court decided in December 2015 that the provision was constitutional, although there has been growing debate about whether to allow the use of separate surnames by married couples in Japan.