AbstractThis article examines the recent growing movement for reform of Japan's legislation on marriage and family names. The current law states that a married couple must share the same name; in practice, in 98 per cent of cases, women take their husbands' family name. The issue was widely debated in the press when a female professor took her university employers to court for not allowing her to use her maiden name in her professional life, and has been one of the areas under examination by a Legislative Council committee set up in 1991. The author outlines the legal and historical background, and the cases for and against reform. The underlying issues, such as the changing status of women and the concepts of family and marriage, are then analysed. The author then presents a number of sociolinguistic factors that add another dimension to the discussion in Japan, and concludes that the debate is indicative of greater changes and tensions in Japanese society and an outward sign of the changing status of women.