A Jiji Press survey has revealed that 311, or 44%, of all 705 members of parliament think the country should introduce a selective dual surname system for married couples.
The figure far outstrips the 18% of lawmakers who believe Japan should either expand the use of maiden names or revise a law to give legal validity to maiden names, and the 1% who said that the country should maintain its current same surname system.
The survey was conducted in January-February ahead of the 50th anniversary of International Women's Day on Saturday, with valid responses coming from 472, or 67% of the total.
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