Correspondent
People in Japan are questioning the social norm of married couples adopting the same surname. The mandatory system was introduced 120 years ago, but the willingness to comply is far from universal any more. Many women want to choose, rather than be forced into a change that can be associated with a loss of identity.
Article 750 of Japan’s Civil Code states that a husband and wife must have the same family name upon marriage. That means one spouse is legally required to change theirs – and it’s almost always the woman. Different surnames are only allowed for international marriages.
“Hanko” personal seals will no longer be required on marriage and divorce notification forms but are likely to be kept as an option. (Toshiki Horigome)
The central government has resigned itself to realizing that its effort to pry hanko out of the public s hands is unlikely to succeed anytime soon.
So, it has decided to keep allowing the use of the personal seals, though they ll no longer be mandatory.
The space on marriage, divorce and other forms to be submitted to authorities for people to stamp their hanko will likely stay. The compromise comes despite the government s push to eliminate requirements for hanko from administrative formalities.
Colorful glass balls can be used as single vases, reed diffusers and more Today 06:11 am JST Today | 06:15 am JST TOKYO
When you see celebrities living out fabulous lives on social media or on TV programs, don t you sometimes think, I wish I could add a little more color to my own life?
However, hanging expensive paintings on your walls or buying fancy imported furniture for your home isn t within everyone s reach.
Nevertheless, displaying a single-flower vase can be a good way to bring some color and seasonal charm into your life.
We d like to introduce you to this lovely series of Japanese single-flower vases called 彩手毬 (
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Stories That Free Us From Limiting Thoughts
Turning the best of what might be into the reality of what is.
The psychologist Milton Erickson was a transformative figure in therapy, using stories as ways to motivate, change, or de-hypnotize us from hurtful and limiting patterns of behavior. When I was teaching, I used his and other stories to make a point and engage students when their attention drifted, or when they needed something real but approachable to appear in the classroom.
Apr 18, 2021
In 1865 a Scottish sugar planter in Hawaii wrote to an American businessman in Yokohama: “Could any good agricultural laborers be obtained from Japan … to serve like the Chinese under a contract for six or eight years?” The American said he’d see.
The gravestone of Myles Fukunaga stands in Mo’ili’ili Japanese Cemetery in Honolulu. | JOEL ABROAD / VIA FLICKR
The ragtag band he assembled “mere laborers,” he said, “picked out of the streets of Yokohama, sick, exhausted and filthy” became modern Japan’s first emigrants. They arrived in Honolulu on June 19, 1868. They were known as
gannenmono “first-year people.” It was year one of the watershed Meiji Era (1868-1912); year one of modern Japan; 15 years after the famous “opening” of Japan by an American squadron of menacing steam-powered Black Ships.