Japan ruling party sees separate surnames premature for legislation

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Monday that more discussion is necessary over separate surnames for married couples before legislation, in contrast to opposition parties' views during a debate session ahead of the Oct. 31 general election.The leaders of the LDP and many of eight opposition parties were also divided on possibly lowering the consumption tax rate to spur consumption to put the pandemic-hit economy back on a steady growth path during the session, as they are slated to kick off campaigning for the House of Representatives elect…READ FULL ARTICLE