By Todd Crowell

TOKYO

Japan’s women won one small victory this week, but lost a larger battle to keep their maiden names, as the Supreme Court issued two rulings on provisions of the Civil Code governing marriage.

Women applauded the high court’s ruling that female divorcees must not have to wait six months before remarrying. The court ruled that this provision discriminated against women since men have had no such restriction.

But -- on another issue dear to the hearts of Japan’s feminists -- the court upheld the Civil Court Rule that married couples must have the same family name. It doesn’t have to be the husband’s name; it could be the wife’s. But it has to be the same.

About 96 percent of newly weds in the country adopt the husband’s name.

The presiding Judge Itsumo Terada said that the notion of sharing a single family name is “deeply rooted in our society.” The court ruled that the provision of the Civil Code did not discriminate against women, as the married couple is free to choose either name.

Feminists have complained for years that this rule, which relates to the century-old Civil Code that dates back to the Meiji Era (1868-1912), effectively steals their identity.

Japan’s constitution, which was written by the Americans during post-World War II occupation, has strong provisions guaranteeing the equality of women -- much more so than the United States constitution.

Article 24 states that “Marriage shall be based... on mutual consent... with equal rights of the husband and wife as a base.” Those who argued that the Article did not go far enough were told that everything could be corrected with changes to the Civil Code.

Feminists who argued that Japan’s conservative, male-dominate culture would never fix the code have proven to be right over the years.

Michael Cusek, a professor of Social Sciences at Waseda University, argues that the plaintiffs erred in making their argument based on discrimination. It would have been better if they had drawn on Japanese marriages to foreigners, which combine maiden name with family name.

In practical terms, many Japanese women use their maiden name in public, including celebrities that have professional reasons to use their maiden names.

All of the women serving in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet, many of them very conservative on other issues, use their maiden name. One member, the daughter of a former prime minister with her own career ambitions, prevailed on her husband to adopt her family name.

But in all cases, they must use their married name on official documents, such as a passport application or opening a bank account.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga promised swift parliamentary action to implement the court’s ruling on female divorcees. Not waiting for the parliament to formally enact changes, he said the justice ministry would immediately start allowing marriages 100 days after a divorce.

The high court had suggested a 100-day waiting period, down from six months, as necessary to prevent confusion over the paternity of a child borne of any one of the two unions.