I had known that in China hursband and wife have separate surnames. But I learned recently that in many other countries in the world married couple can choose between the same and separate surnames. In Japan we can choose the surname of either husband or wife. But in most cases Japanese women abandon their surnames. This custom is criticized as a typical example of gender disparity. Japanese government is against the separate surname mainly because of the administrative burden caused by separate surnames in one family. But the possible damage to the unity of family may be another reason. Advocate group claims separate surname as an individual right. Recently more and more people support this claim. In fact the recent poll revealed that 71% of Japanese agree with the separate surname. I was impressed by the opinion expressed by a married man in a similar poll "I prefer the same surname for my family, but people should have the right to choose separate surname."
In UK women won the right to retain their maiden names in 1980s. Whereas it was in 1972 that American women were legally admitted to use their surnames after the marriage. However almost 90% of British women abandoned their surnames after getting married like most of Japanese women do. I suppose for the reason of this phenomenon that many women prioritize the unity of family over their identities amid increasing divorce cases.
