Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Most couples in Japan end up using the husband's surname 
 
 The Japanese Supreme Court has upheld a law that married couples must have the same surname, in a blow to women's rights activists. 
 
 Campaigners have said the law was discriminatory as most couples end up using the husband's surname. 
 
 However, the court said the law did not violate the constitution, public broadcaster NHK reported. 
 
 It did, however, deem a separate law that stops women remarrying within six months of a divorce unconstitutional. 
 
 Both sets of laws date back to Japan's 19th Century Meiji era. 
 
 Surname row: What do other countries do? 
 
 Judge Itsuro Terada noted that among the Japanese there was already informal use of maiden names, which eased the impact of the surname law. 
 
 He said parliamentarians should decide on whether to pass new legislation on separate spousal names. 
 
 The Japan Times cited studies in the past 40 years which show that more than 96% of Japanese couples opt for the husband's surname. 
 
 The surname case was brought by three individual women and one couple in a civil partnership, who argued that the law was unconstitutional, discriminatory and archaic. 
 
 Two lower courts have already ruled against them and public opinion on the questions was split. 
 
 Media caption Why some women in Japan are unhappy about their surnames 
 
 Women in Japan were traditionally able to retain their maiden names after marriage, until 1898 when the law was enacted as part of a feudal family system where all women and children came under control of the male head of the household. 
 
 The system was abolished in 1948 - but the surname law has been retained. 
 
 Separately, a divorced woman had filed a legal challenge to a law that states women cannot remarry within six months of divorce. 
 
 The law was originally intended to help determine the paternity of a child born shortly after the divorce. 
 
 The Supreme Court agreed with her that it was unconstitutional, but in its ruling left room for the possibility of retaining the law with a shorter waiting period. 
 
 The two sets of laws were previously debated in the 1990s when a government panel suggested changing them, but were retained unchanged when conservative politicians opposed the move. ||||| The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the constitutionality of a controversial Civil Code provision requiring married couples to use the same surname in official matters. 
 
 The decision was a blow to campaigners who sued the state, asking the nation’s highest court to declare the rule unconstitutional. 
 
 The matter is contentious in Japan, with opponents calling it an infringement of women’s fundamental rights and conservatives regarding shared names as a central pillar of the family unit. 
 
 The top court did, however, declare that a law prohibiting female divorcees from remarrying within six months of their divorce is unconstitutional. 
 
 In response to the ruling on the ban on remarriage, Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki responded Wednesday evening by pledging a swift legal revision. Noting the ruling suggested the ban be shortened to 100 days, the ministry issued a notice to its regional bureaus nationwide that women wishing to remarry 100 days after a divorce should be allowed to do so even before any legal revision takes place, Iwaki said. 
 
 Both rulings relate to family laws dating from the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Campaigners who brought the pair of lawsuits alleged discrimination against women. 
 
 One suit, filed in 2011, involved a statute requiring Japanese spouses to choose which single family name — the husband’s or the wife’s — to adopt in legally registering their marriage. 
 
 The plaintiffs argued this amounts to gender discrimination because being forced to choose a single surname infringes on personal dignity and the freedom to marry. 
 
 Presiding Justice Itsuro Terada said sharing a single family name is a system “deeply rooted in our society” and is meaningful in that it “enables people to identify themselves as part of a family in the eyes of others.” 
 
 Although admitting that being pressured to forfeit a maiden name often works to women’s disadvantage professionally — and may even trigger an identity crisis — Terada said such hardships can be mitigated, since women are free to use their maiden names in daily life. 
 
 However, campaigners cite inconveniences in the workplace as a significant reason for their opposition to the rule. Some say when a woman known professionally by her maiden name has to adopt a new one it creates major complications. 
 
 Meanwhile, the top court similarly rejected the plaintiffs’ appeal for a combined ¥6 million in compensation. 
 
 Noting that the law gives couples the freedom to decide which surname to adopt, Terada said it is not discriminatory in itself. 
 
 However, studies in the past 40 years show more than 96 percent of Japanese couples have opted for the husband’s name. 
 
 Some of the plaintiffs reported emotional distress in the form of depression and difficulty sleeping. 
 
 Coming at a time when the global trend is increasingly toward allowing the use of separate names, the ruling is “anachronistic,” said Masayuki Tanamura, a professor of family law at Waseda University. 
 
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 “The ruling will not encourage women to remain in the workforce after marriage and childbirth,” Tanamura said. “As the circumstances surrounding a family and public perceptions of it are evolving, the Civil Code provision, based on an outdated view of the family, must be changed.” 
 
 He added that the Diet should not take the ruling as an excuse for inaction, but should promptly revise the law. 
 
 Waseda Law School professor Mutsuko Asakura also lambasted the ruling. 
 
 Noting only three female judges on the 15-member Grand Bench of the top court that examined the case, she said the ruling underscored the gross lack of understanding by male judges toward inconveniences long imposed on women. It even risks further cementing the international community’s perception of Japan as a country “intolerant of diversity” and “insensitive to human rights,” she said. 
 
 Meanwhile, in response to a lawsuit filed by a 30-something female divorcee from Okayama Prefecture, the top court recognized the unconstitutionality of a separate statute prohibiting women from remarrying within six months of their divorce. 
 
 The court, however, rejected the woman’s appeal for ¥1.65 million in compensation for emotional distress. 
 
 Critics call the measure outdated in an era of early pregnancy detection and of DNA sequencing, which can identify paternity to a degree of accuracy unthinkable a century ago. 
 
 Terada said the ban represents an “excessive restriction” on women’s freedom of marriage. 
 
 Yet reducing the ban to 100 days would pose no constitutional problem, he said in reference to a related clause that says a child born within the first 300 days after a divorce is legally a descendant of the former husband, while a child born at least 200 days after the second marriage is deemed to be that of a new partner. 
 
 Debate over whether to revamp the Civil Code, which dates from the Meiji Era, flared up in the 1990s following Japan’s ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1985. 
 
 In response to public calls for change, a legislative panel of the Justice Ministry proposed amendments in 1996 to legalize having separate surnames and to shorten the six-month ban on remarriage. 
 
 It provoked fierce opposition from conservative lawmakers, and the proposals were shelved, defeating what would have been the biggest postwar overhaul of family laws. 
 
 Even today, resistance to the idea of spouses retaining separate names remains particularly strong among lawmakers within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push for “womenomics,” or the greater inclusion of women in society and economic life, the party opposes allowing separate surnames on the grounds that it would destroy “the sense of family unity.” 
 
 Public opinion is divided, too. 
 
 A survey conducted by the Cabinet Office in 2012 showed that respondents were split, with 35.5 percent in favor of allowing separate surnames and 36.4 percent against. A survey conducted by public broadcaster NHK last month also showed that 46 percent of respondents support the idea, while 50 percent oppose it. 
 
 The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has repeatedly urged the government to take “immediate action” to amend the law. ||||| Marriage in Japan 
 
 If you wish to marry in Japan, you must do so according to Japanese law. Marriage in Japan consists of registering marriage at a Japanese municipal government office. 
 
 Only this registration constitutes a legal marriage in Japan. Ceremonies performed by religious or fraternal bodies in Japan, are not legal marriages. Consular officers cannot perform marriages. 
 
 Who Can Get Married in Japan? 
 
 Article 731 to 737 of the Japanese Civil Code stipulates the following requirements: 
 
 The male partner must be 18 years of age or older and the female partner must be 16 years of age or older. 
 
 A person who is under 20 years of age cannot get married in Japan without a parent's approval. 
 
 A woman cannot get married within six months of the dissolution of her previous marriage. According to Japanese law, this is to avoid confusion as to the identification of a child's father if a birth occurs close in time to the end of the marriage. 
 
 Most people related by blood, by adoption or through other marriages cannot get married in Japan. 
 
 In addition, for Americans, you must be able to legally marry in your home state; if the legal age of marriage at home is 18, you cannot marry earlier than that in Japan. 
 
 For detailed information, please contact a Japanese municipal government office. 
 
 For the American Partner ... 
 
 Japanese law requires all foreigners who marry in Japan to first prepare a sworn Affidavit of Competency to Marry, affirming they are legally free to marry, from their own country's embassy or consulate in Japan. 
 
 This is a notarial service. You will need to make an appointment. 
 
 Do not use erasable pens to fill out the Affidavit. 
 
 You do not need to bring your non-U.S. citizen fiance/fiancee. 
 
 You can download the blank affidavit form here (PDF 158KB). You should use this form if you are planning to marry someone who is not a U.S. citizen. The form has two pages, one to be completed in English and the other to be used to translate the English page into Japanese. The consular officer will notarize only the English language document. 
 
 If your partner is also an American, s/he must also complete a sworn Affidavit of Competency to Marry at the Embassy or consulate. Use this form (PDF 77KB) in the case of two Americans marrying one another. The form has two pages, one to be completed in English and the other to be used to translate the English page into Japanese. The consular officer will notarize only the English language document. 
 
 These forms are required by Japanese law and are not a requirement of the U.S. Government. No registration of your legal marriage abroad is required by the U.S. Government, and your foreign (i.e. Japanese) partner need not come to our offices. 
 
 You will need to bring your U.S. passport and the $50 notarial fee. 
 
 Once this is signed and sealed at the Embassy or one of our Consulates, this Affidavit is valid for three months. 
 
 Member of the Armed Forces should contact their on-base legal office and/or chain of command for proper procedures. 
 
 Kon-in Todoke 
 
 You will need to fill out a Kon-in Todoke (request of registration of marriage) with 2 signatures from witnesses of any nationality who are over 20 years old. Our staff cannot help you to prepare the documents or be witnesses. 
 
 The Japanese Government and/or the local municipal office may also have other requirements for your partner. Please check with the appropriate municipal office. 
 
 If your partner is neither Japanese nor American, s/he should also contact his/her Embassy for the marriage procedures needed in their own country. 
 
 Get Married 
 
 This is the part of this whole procedure that actually makes you and your partner married. 
 
 Once all the paperwork above is completed, proceed to the appropriate Japanese municipal government office to submit your Kon-in Todoke. Be sure to confirm local marriage procedures and rules directly with municipal government officials. (For example, depending on the jurisdiction, you may be required to submit a certified copy of your birth certificate and its Japanese translation.) 
 
 Keep Records 
 
 Once the marriage procedures are completed, you may ask the municipal government office to issue a Japanese-language "Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Marriage" (Kon-in Todoke Juri Shomeisho). This is your only proof of marriage. The U.S. Embassy/Consulate does not maintain any record of your marriage in Japan, and under Japanese law we cannot later retrieve marriage records for you from a municipal government office. 
 
 There are two versions of the "Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Marriage." Both versions are legal proof of your marriage. The large fancy version costs around 1,400 yen. The regular A4 size version costs around 350 yen. 
 
 You should write down the name and address of the municipal government office that registered your marriage as you'll need to contact them directly in the future to obtain a record of your marriage. 
 
 Getting a "Marriage Certificate issued by the U.S. government" 
 
 The U.S. Government does not issue marriage certificates for marriages performed overseas. Your Japanese marriage document will be the only proof of your marriage. If anyone (i.e. Japanese Immigration) asks for your "marriage certificate issued by your own government," there will be none. 
 
 Translating Your Proof of Marriage 
 
 While proof of your marriage is shown by the Japanese-language marriage document you get at the ward or city office, sometimes a notarized translation of the Japanese marriage document can be handy for use in the U.S. 
 
 If you would like to have the translation notarized, you can use our fill-in-the-blanks translation templates: 
 
 For the large fancy marriage document, use this form (PDF 13KB) for the translation. 
 
 For the smaller A4-size marriage document, use this form (PDF 16KB) for the translation. 
 
 This is a notary service. Please see our notary page for more information. 
 
 Please note that we will be attaching the translation to the original marriage document at the time of notary. Also, whoever translated the document needs to come in for the notary. 
 
 Remember, this is not a marriage certificate issued by the U.S. government. 
 
 Validity of Marriages Abroad 
 
 In general, marriages which are legally performed and valid abroad are also legally valid in the United States. You do not have to report your marriage to the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. For more information please read the Department of State website. 
 
 Going to the U.S? 
 
 If you wish to visit or live in the U.S. with your spouse please see our website for U.S. visas. 
 
 Please also see our Frequently Asked Questions page. 
 
 That's it - Congratulations!
– Japan's Supreme Court issued a ruling Wednesday that maintains a longtime civil rule some say is unconstitutional and discriminatory: forcing married couples to officially choose one surname, the BBC reports. Presiding Justice Itsuro Terada said that the surname mandate wasn't discriminatory, since a couple could choose to use either the husband's or the wife's surname, though the Japan Times notes that studies over the past four decades show that 96% of couples use the man's name. Terada also noted that women often used their maiden names informally anyway, which would mitigate any distress they felt over losing their maiden name on paper. The one-name system is "deeply rooted in our society," Terada said, and "enables people to identify themselves as part of a family in the eyes of others." Women's rights activists disagree, saying not only is the surname rule inconvenient for women professionals, it's also an emotional transition that can bring on depression and loss of identity, the Times notes. Some couples are even opting to simply stay in common-law relationships rather than marry so the woman can keep her surname, the New York Times notes. It hasn't always been this way. Japanese women traditionally kept their maiden names, but a strict 1898 feudal law forced women and kids to answer to male heads of household, per the BBC. That system was nixed in 1948, but the surname restriction stuck. On a somewhat more progressive note: A second rule barring Japanese women from remarrying until six months after a divorce to avoid paternity confusion was deemed unconstitutional, per the Times. That waiting period has now been cut to 100 days. (An alternate view: Don't judge a woman who chooses to take her husband's name.)