Everyone in Japan will be Sato-san by 2531!

According to a recent study, everyone in Japan will be called Sato by 2531!

In Japan, married couples must have the same name. Japan is the only country in the world that requires this. In many countries, it is the tradition that the wife changes her surname to be the same as the husband after marrying. But not the law...

Hiroshi Yoshida at Tohoku University says the law is helping the surname "Sato" increase. If this continues, everyone will be called Sato by 2531!

This study highlights the problem. Many people think that the law should be changed. So, when people marry, they can keep their own name. Yoshida says that if the law is changed, then only 7.96% of people will be called Sato by 2531.

In 95% of marraiges in Japan the woman takes the man's name. The law makes problems for many women. Some women say the law is making life difficult. One woman said the university papers she wrote aren't recognised because she got married and changed her name.

The Japanese governnment says children will be confused if their parents have different names.

You can read the report here (Japanese): https://think-name.jp/assets/pdf/Sato_estimation_yoshida_hiroshi.pdf 

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Many countries it is tradition (not law) for women to take the man's name after marrying, but not all.

There are many different customs for names and marraige around the world. In Chile (and many other Spanish speaking countries) children take BOTH their parents' names. For example, a boy is born and his parents are Akira Yoshida and Mayuki Sato. That means the boy would be called Tomo Yoshida Sato (father's name first, mother's name second). If Tomo Yoshida Sato has children he will give them the "Yoshida" name.

Many countries, including South Korea, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Italy and muslim countries often don't change surnames after marraige.