Photo/Illutration The leaders of 10 political parties vying for 125 seats in the Upper House. The election will be held on July 20. (The Asahi Shimbun)

Only 7 percent of candidates backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the Upper House election support legal revisions that would allow married couples to take separate surnames, a survey showed.

Fifty-seven percent of the LDP candidates strongly or somewhat oppose a dual-surname system, while 36 percent “neither support nor oppose” such a change, according to the survey jointly conducted by The Asahi Shimbun and professor Masaki Taniguchi’s laboratory at the University of Tokyo.

Currently, married couples in Japan must choose one surname for their family registers. Although opinion polls show the public largely favors a dual-surname system, resistance among conservative elements in the LDP has largely stalled Diet debate on the matter.

The party has not taken an official stance on the issue.

The survey offered the statement: “The law should allow a married couple to retain their respective pre-marriage surnames after marriage if they so desire.”

The Upper House election candidates were asked to pick their stance toward the statement on a five-point scale, ranging from “strongly oppose” to “strongly support.”

All candidates from Sanseito and the Conservative Party of Japan oppose the statement.

In contrast, 96 percent of candidates backed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan support the dual-surname idea.

And 63 percent of Democratic Party for the People candidates favor the idea, although 32 percent remained neutral.

Both opposition parties had submitted bills during a recently closed regular Diet session to introduce a system of selective surnames for married couples.

All candidates endorsed by Komeito, the LDP’s junior coalition partner, support dual-surname legalization, highlighting a clear divide within the ruling coalition.

The survey also asked the candidates for their opinions concerning the statement: “Without changing the current system of unified surnames for married couples, opportunities to use pre-marriage surnames should be expanded.”

Seventy-eight percent of LDP candidates support this statement. The party’s working team has published a basic policy that mentions “promoting the use of pre-marriage surnames and increasing public awareness.”

Among candidates from Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), 93 percent support the idea. The party had submitted a bill to the Diet to legalize broader use of pre-marriage surnames.

In addition, 96 percent of Sanseito candidates and 88 percent of Conservative Party of Japan candidates expressed support for the idea.

In contrast, 82 percent of CDP candidates oppose the expanded use of pre-marriage surnames. All of them said that Japan should instead “legalize a dual surname system for married couples.”

Komeito also had a high rate of opposition, at 83 percent, again showing a wide gap with the LDP.

The survey was conducted from the end of May.

Of the 522 candidates in the Upper House election, responses from 490, or 93.9 percent, were received by the morning of July 7.