family names

What’s it like living with an unusual name in Japan? We talk with a super-rare Mr. Heianzan

This Okinawan singer has a last name so rare, only 1 every 90,000 people in Japan have it! 

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Japan Supreme Court rules it’s constitutional to require married men and women have same surname

For the second time in less than a decade, Supreme Court says Mr. and Mrs. must match.

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Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan

Some people didn’t have to win a beauty pageant to be called “Miss Kyoto.”

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