ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the development of family names and family identity historically as a way to more deeply understand the surname debate at the heart of the koseki problem in contemporary society. It describes the multi-decade movement for separate surnames in marriage. The book discusses the experiences of those who opt out of the normative koseki registration regime in order to resist "patrilineal and patriarchal" aspects of the koseki. It also examines the idea of illegitimacy and its formidable role in the koseki system. The book traces understandings of male sexuality and kinship from the Meiji period to the present to better illuminate changing understandings of male sexuality and parental responsibility in non-marital offspring. It identifies some of the starkest contradictions and unlikely ironies in the koseki system.
