Head of Rengo opposes government's plan on surnames
Labor leader Tomoko Yoshino has expressed opposition to a proposal by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration to give legal validity to the use of former surnames after marriage.The plan "would not be a full-fledged solution (to the current situation in which married couples are forced to use the same family name)," Yoshino, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, said in an interview on Tuesday.The surname issue is a "matter of human rights," she stressed, showing her intention to cooperate with political parties supporting the introduction of a selective dual surname system for married couples, including Komeito, former coalition partner of Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and now in the opposition camp.
