A study conducted by the Tohoku University in Japan predicts that, by the year 2500, all Japanese will bear the surname “Sato”, currently the most common surname in the Asian country, reports the EFE agency on Monday, quoted by Agerpres.
JapanesePhoto: John Kershaw / Alamy / Profimedia Images
“Sato” is the most common surname among Japanese people, and in 2023 it was borne by 1.5% of the Japanese population, according to estimates from a study led by Professor Hiroshi Yoshida of the Center for Social and Economic Research on Aging, in the mentioned university.
It estimates that the number of people with the surname Sato has increased 1.0083 times in recent years and makes a prediction about the evolution of this number, given the demographic trends of rapid aging and declining birth rates, which lead to a net loss population continues.
His study also takes into account the Japanese law which stipulates that, at the time of marriage, husband and wife must adopt the same surname, either his or hers. In Japan, only one surname and one first name are used.
Japan debates whether women should keep their surnames
Based on these factors, Yoshida estimates that in the year 2446, half of the Japanese population will have the surname “Sato” and that by 2531 all Japanese will have the same surname. The study was made public amid the ongoing debate in Japan regarding the aforementioned civil regulations regarding surnames.
Many voices, including some in the ruling party, are calling for husbands and wives to be able to keep their surnames after marriage, or even have two surnames, as is the case in countries such as Spain.
The study’s authors tried to “illustrate with numbers the problem of selective separation of surnames in marriages,” Yoshida said.
“If everyone’s last name is ‘Sato san’ (‘Mr. or Mrs. Sato’), there will be no other option but to use only the first name to identify themselves. This would not be an ideal scenario,” the teacher told the local press.
