The campaign for sexual equality in Japan has suffered another setback after a court ruled that a schoolteacher must use her married name at work, describing as “rational” her employer’s insistence on the practice. The ruling at Tokyo district court came less than a year after the supreme court ruled that a 19th century law forcing married couples to use the same surname – almost always that of the husband – did not violate the constitution. ... The three male judges noted that while an increasing number of married women continued to use their birth names at work, the practice “has yet to take root in society”. They cited a poll of 1,000 female workers in their 20s to 50s conducted in 2015 by the Nikkei business newspaper that found that more than 70% of married women used their husband’s name at work. Japanese law requires married couples to enter a single surname in family registration documents. While the law does not stipulate which name they should adopt, in practice women take their husband’s name in 96% of cases.