Japan's surname law for married couples sparks same-name matchmaking parties in Tokyo

TOKYO -- A new twist on matchmaking is coming to Tokyo this spring: dating events where every participant shares the same family name. The idea is aimed at couples worried about Japan's legal requirement that married partners take a shared surname.

Starting with the same surname removes dilemma

The events, scheduled from late March to early April, are organized by Asuniwa, a general incorporated association in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward that advocates for a selective separate surname system, and IBJ Matching, a company based in the same ward that organizes matchmaking parties and other events. The two groups announced the project on March 5.

The concept is simply that "two people who already have the same last name won't have to agonize over which one to use after marriage." The parties offer a rare opportunity for people who share a surname to meet someone they could legally marry without either person having to change names.

Under current Japanese law, couples who formally register their marriage with the government must adopt a single surname. An exception exists when one partner is a foreign national. Debate in the Diet over introducing selective separate surnames, which would allow spouses to keep different names, has stalled for years, and having to change names is considered a factor discouraging some people from marriage altogether.

Sato, Suzuki, Tanaka, Ito

Looking at the situation, Asuniwa embarked on a new initiative aimed at helping more couples marry without having to deal with the surname issue. Its first event series, with a title roughly meaning "recommendation of same-surname marriage," will hold four parties between March 27 and April 1 in Tokyo.

Each session will focus on one surname: Suzuki, Tanaka, Sato or Ito, which reportedly are among the most common with IBJ's clients. Up to 30 people can join per event. Over 90 minutes, groups of four people, two men and two women, chat for 15 minutes at a time, rotating partners after each round.

Drinks and food will also follow the theme. The organizers have partnered with 37 companies whose names contain the featured surnames, for example chocolates from Japanese tea specialty shop Suzukien in Tokyo's Kodaira district or sake from brewery Suzuki Shuzoten Nagaigura in the city of Nagai, Yamagata Prefecture. The goal is apparently to create easy conversation starters around a shared name.

Reservations are already open, and applications have begun arriving. Depending on demand, Asuniwa and IBJ say they plan to expand the range of surnames and events as well as develop a new matchmaking service to pair people who share the same family name.

Young people voice resistance to changing surnames

At a press conference, organizers also revealed results from an awareness survey conducted jointly by Asuniwa and the dating app Pairs, operated by Eureka Inc. About 2,500 Pairs members in their 20s and 30s were asked about selective separate surnames.

More than half, or 57.1%, said they were "interested" in the debate. Among those surveyed, 36.6% of women and 46.6% of men said they "felt resistance" to changing their own surname after marriage. When asked what they would do if their partner didn't want to change their family name, 7.3% said they would "break up because I also don't want to change mine," and 5.9% said they would "wait until the (separate surname) system is legalized."

"This project can only help a small number of people," said Asuniwa Representative Director Naho Ida. "What's really needed is a society where all couples can choose their surname. But instead of just waiting for politics to move, we want to do something cheerful and positive with what we can do right now."

Reservations for the same-name parties are available on the official website of IBJ Matching (in Japanese).

(Japanese original by Ayaka Morita, Tokyo City News Department)