A Japanese couple has agreed to divorce and remarry every three years to alternate using each other's family name. According to Japanese law, couples must agree on one family name to use after marriage, but what happens when they cannot decide which family name to use? This was the dilemma faced by a young couple from Hachioji City, on the outskirts of Tokyo, when they decided to get married a few months after they met.
When it came to settling on a family name, the bride made it clear that she intended to keep her maiden name, which the groom strongly disagreed with. After a period of argument, they realized they were not the first couple to face this issue and that there was a way to resolve it.
The future wife was very frustrated by her inability to keep her name, and her fiancé complained about it to some friends. However, he discovered another couple who faced the same problem and managed to fix it by periodically divorcing and remarrying under the other spouse's family name, which is exactly what they decided to do.
After the government employee proposed this solution to his fiancée, they decided to proceed with it. In 2016, they married for the first time and used the husband’s last name for three years. Then, in 2019, they divorced and remarried, using the wife’s maiden name. This July, they are scheduled to divorce again, after which they plan to marry again using the husband's family name.
While this compromise resolves their original disagreement, the anonymous Japanese couple admits that changing their last name periodically is somewhat problematic, as the husband still uses his family name at work, but it can be confusing at times for paperwork and procedures. Despite how complicated the process may seem to others, the couple said it is the only acceptable solution for them, according to Oddity Central.
