日本可能是世界上唯一一個需要配偶用相同姓氏的國家，但現在日本女人開始呼吁廢除這條古老的法律，由于這項規定給她們的職業生涯帶來了很多困擾。
Photo/Pexels
For Akiko Saikawa, the administrative nightmare began soon after she married.
對于Akiko Saikawa來講，行政噩夢在她結結婚以后不久開始。
The office worker from Tokyo had to go through dozens of procedures to change her name on her passport and other documents, as well updating her social media accounts. All because she had been required, by law, to change her surname as a married woman.
這位來自東京的工薪族需要歷程數十道程序，才能更改她的護照和其他文件上的名字，與更新她的社交媒體賬戶。這所有都是由于根據法律規定，已婚女人需要更改姓氏。
Couples in Japan are free to choose which surname to take when they marry, but in 95% of cases, it is the woman who changes her name, often with reluctance.
在日本，夫妻結婚時可以自由選擇姓氏，但在95%的狀況下，是女方改姓，一般是不情愿的。
"It was very time consuming and inconvenient,” Saikawa says. “But the most troublesome part was that my name on our family register changed to that of my husband. That means I have had to make it clear to employers that I want to continue being referred to by my maiden name at work.”
“這很耗時和不便捷，”Saikawa說。“但最麻煩的是，我的戶籍上的姓氏變成了我老公的姓氏。這意味著我需要向雇主明確表示我期望在工作中繼續用我的娘家姓。”
Now attention is turning to the archaic law that forbids married couples from using separate surnames, and the almost three decades of inaction after a government panel drew up proposals to change part of a civil code first adopted in the late 1800s.
目前大家開始關注一項古老的法律，該法律禁止已婚夫婦用不一樣的姓氏，而在政府小組起草了改變19世紀末啟用的這部民法典部分內容的提案后，近30年來一直沒采取任何行動。
Inconvenience aside, campaigners say the insistence on using the same surname is another sign of Japan’s lack of progress on gender equality.
除去不便以外，活動人士表示，堅持用相同的姓氏是日本在性別平等方面缺少進展的另一個跡象。
Machiko Osawa, a professor and specialist in labour economics at Japan Women’s University, blames the lack of progress on “old-fashioned patriarchal attitudes” in the ruling Liberal Democratic party and among supreme court justices “who insist on supporting an antediluvian status quo”.
日本女子大學的勞動經濟學教授和專家Machiko Osawa指責執政的自由民主黨和最高法院法官們“堅持支持陳舊的父權主義態度”，將缺少進展歸咎于這類原因。
"Newlywed women have to waste so much time changing their names on banking accounts, credit cards, passports and all other official documents. And for those who have established themselves as professionals, being forced to change their name is a denial of what they have accomplished. It sows confusion and subordinates them to men,” Osawa says.
Osawa指出：“新婚女人需要花費不少時間在銀行賬戶、信用卡、護照和其他官方文件上更改她們的名字。對于那些已經在職場上打造了我們的專業形象的人來講，被迫改名是對她們所成就非凡的否定。這種做法會導致混亂，并使她們屈從于男士。”
Locked out of hotel rooms
沒辦法進入酒店房間
After years of stalling, pressure is building on the LDP, not just from rights campaigners, but also senior business leaders who say the rule is proving an obstacle to Japanese firms that do business overseas.
日本自民黨多年來一直拖延，不僅僅是遭到維權活動人士的重壓，也遭到高級商界領袖的重壓，后者表示該規定對于進行國外業務的日本公司構成了障礙。
Masahiko Uotani, chief executive of the cosplaymetics giant Shiseido, said he knew of female executives who had been locked out of hotel rooms or denied admission to meetings on overseas business trips because their ID didn’t match their surname.
資生堂的首席實行官魚谷雅彥表示，他了解有女人高管由于身份證與姓氏不符而被拒絕入住酒店房間或被拒絕參加國外商務會議。
"The current system is becoming a barrier to career development for those who are internationally active,” Uotani said at a meeting of the Japan Business Federation, a powerful lobby group, according to the Mainichi Shimbun.
據《每天新聞》報道，魚谷在日本商業聯合會的一次會議上表示：“目前的體制對于那些在國際上活躍的人來講，已經成為了職業進步的障礙。”
The federation, known as Keidanren, has collected testimony from other professional women who have fallen foul of the single-name requirement. One said that having to change her last name “is ruining my career as the academic papers I’ve written under my maiden name are not being recognised”, according to the Mainichi. Another said: “In some cases, my business name has not been accepted when signing contracts.”
該聯合會被叫做經團聯，已經采集了其他遭受單姓需要限制的職業女人的證詞。據《每天新聞》報道，其中一位女人表示，被需要改姓“正在毀掉我的職業生涯，由于我以結婚以前姓寫的學術論文沒被認同”。另一位女人表示：“在某些狀況下，我的職場名字在簽訂合同時未被同意。”
Now Keidanren has thrown its weight behind the campaign in a reflection of a shift in Japanese corporate culture. While almost 84% of companies allow women to keep their original surnames in the workplace, according to a 2022 survey by the Institute of Labour Administration, the extra documentation needed on overseas work trips continues to cause confusion.
目前，日本經團聯支持這項運動，反映了日本企業文化的轉變。依據勞動管理研究所2022年的調查，幾乎84%的公司允許女人在工作場合保留我們的原姓，但在國外工作出差時需要額外的文件仍然引起困惑。
"I want it to be implemented as a TOP priority to support women’s working styles,” Keidanren’s head, Masakazu Tokura, said recently, declaring himself “bewildered” by the lack of progress since the ministry panel made its recommendation in 1996.
“我期望將它作為支持女人工作方法的最重要任務來推行。”日本經濟團體聯合會會長十倉雅和近期表示，他對自1996年部委小組提出建議以來的進展緩慢感到“困惑”。
While the government has allowed maiden names to appear alongside married names on passports, driving licences and residence certificates, Japan remains maybe the only country in the world that requires spouses to use the same name.
盡管政府已允許婚姻證件、駕駛執照和居住證上同時顯示娘家姓和婚姓，但日本可能仍是世界上唯一需要配偶用相同姓氏的國家。
Conservative LDP members argue that amending the civil code would amount to an assault on traditional values by “undermining” family unity and causing confusion among children.
守舊派自民黨成員覺得修改民法將對傳統價值觀構成一種攻擊，"破壞"家庭團結并致使孩子們困惑。
Osawa, who is “not optimistic” that recent pressure will lead to a legal change, dismisses the family values argument as an “excuse for inaction”.
Osawa并不樂觀，覺得近期的重壓不會致使法律變革，他對家庭價值觀的論點不屑一顧，覺得這只不過一種“無所作為的借口”。
"Japan’s porce rate is on a par with that of the UK and Germany, so the current law on names is not supporting family stability,” Osawa said. “Times have changed, and most households need a double income to make ends meet, so having a choice for couples to decide what name to go by makes sense, and it promotes gender equality.”
“日本的離婚率與英國和德國相當，因此現行的名字法律并不可以維護家庭穩定，”小澤說。“年代已經改變，大部分家庭需要雙份收入來保持生計，所以讓夫妻可以選擇我們的姓氏是有意義的，它促進了性別平等。”
The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has urged caution, claiming last year that “various opinions among the public” meant more discussion was needed to win “broad” support for the change.
日本首相岸田文雄敦促各方小心行事，去年他聲稱“公眾建議各異”，需要更多討論來取得對這一變革的“廣泛”支持。
Saikawa hopes other women do not have to navigate the bureaucratic maze she faced after marrying. “Having separate surnames would mean they would no longer have to alter their name dozens of times, reset their careers and rebuild the reputation they had established under their maiden name,” she says.
Saikawa期望其他女人不必像她一樣在結婚以后面對繁瑣的官僚迷宮。她說：“擁有不一樣的姓氏意味著她們不再需要多次改名，重新開始職業生涯，并重建自己用結婚以前姓氏打造的聲譽。”
"And they would be able to cherish a name that represents their family’s history and is a part of their own identity.”
“她們將可以珍視一個代表她們家族歷史并成為她們身份的一部分的名字。”
重點詞語
office worker工薪族;公司員工;辦事職員
go through經過某過程歷程，經受走重復，例行做翻閱，翻找，整理通讀，徹查被通過，被批準
dozens of幾十;不少
other documents其他文件;其他文檔;其他單據;其他材料;其它單據
as well也;還
social media社交互聯網媒介
by law依法;依據法律
surname姓;給…加姓
a married woman已婚婦女;已婚女子;已婚女性;有夫之婦
with reluctance勉強
英文來源：衛報