Massachusetts
The Supreme Court has rejected an equality-based constitutional challenge to a law requiring couples to adopt either the husband's or the wife's surname. The decision is fascinating in its own right, reflecting the contemporary moment for feminism in Japan. It also raises a much broader question: How much should a constitution reflect the distinctive values of the society in which it operates, and how much should it express fundamental rights recognized almost universally?
The decision of Japan's highest court exemplifies this question in a very concrete way. The Civil Code, enacted in 1896, during the Meiji Era of Westernizing reforms, required that married women adopt their husbands' family names. A 1947 revision created Article 750 of the code, which says the couple must adopt one family name, which can be that of the husband or the wife.
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