Japan Ruling Parties Agree to Discuss Dual Surname System

Tokyo, Jan. 22 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito agreed Wednesday to hold discussions on the introduction of a dual surname system for married couples.

Prime Minister and LDP President Shigeru Ishiba and Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito reached the agreement during a lunch meeting at the prime minister's office.

However, they stopped short of deciding when to begin discussions on the issue, as Ishiba cited the need to build a consensus within the LDP, according to Saito, who spoke to reporters after the lunch meeting.

Saito quoted Ishiba as saying that he would like Komeito to wait a little more, and that he aims to prepare an LDP proposal on the issue as soon as possible in order to begin talks with the coalition partner.

"We should begin talks in January at the earliest," Saito said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]