JAPAN'S FUTURE UNDER ONE SURNAME: THE "SATO" SCENARIO

Hyukoh

A study led by Hiroshi Yoshida, an economics professor at Tohoku University, paints a unique future for Japan based on the current surname law dating back to the late 19th century. According to this law, married couples must adopt a common surname, which in 95% of cases results in women giving up their maiden names.

This has led to a significant increase in the adoption of the surname “Sato,” which is already the most common in the country. A March 2023 survey revealed that 1.5% of the population bears the surname “Sato.”

Professor Yoshida, after analyzing the annual growth rate of individuals with the surname Sato, has projected that, assuming a constant growth rate of 1.0083, the entire Japanese population could share the surname “Sato” by the year 2531, with the process beginning as early as 2446.

The researcher describes this prospect not only as inconvenient but also as a threat to individual dignity, envisioning a world where personal identity could be diminished to a mere name or, even worse, a number.