Washington Post on 夫婦別姓 - Living, Loving, Thinking, Again

承前*1

Yoko Kubota “Women's surnames a hot-button topic in Japan poll” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/07/AR2010070701242_pf.html

消費税の陰に隠れてしまった感もある夫婦別姓問題について。

While fiscal reform including doubling the 5 percent sales tax is the focus of the poll, some parties are wooing support from a conservative base by zeroing in on the name controversy.
The debate heated up after the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which advocates letting married couples keep separate names if they wish, took power last year and fanned expectations that the government would submit a bill to amend the civil code.
Faced with opposition from a coalition ally, the government's plan to submit a bill stalled, and the DPJ omitted the issue from their manifesto.
Both the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and the DPJ's tiny coalition ally the People's New Party (PNP) said in their campaign platforms they are against letting married couples have separate names, while the Social Democrats support it.

今後の政局から見ても、かなり望み薄になっている*2；

The DPJ is unlikely to win a majority in the election and may need to partner with parties who oppose the change. Even within the DPJ, members are split over the issue.

なお、”Japan is the only country in the Group of Eight major industrialized nations that requires married couples to register under the same surname.”

*2:これは参議院選挙の結果が出る前の記事。