木村：息子が結婚するんですが、夫婦別姓にしたいというんですよ。
佐藤：結婚したら夫の姓にするというのは、確かに固定観念かもしれませんね。
Kimura: Musuko ga kekkon suru n' desu ga, fuufu-bessei ni shitai to iu n' desu yo.
Sato : Kekkon shitara otto no sei ni suru to iu no wa, tashika ni kotei-kannen ka mo shiremasen ne.
Kimura: My son's getting married, and he says he and his wife want to keep separate surnames.
Sato : Well, I suppose when you think about it, the idea that they should take the husband's name is really just an ingrained assumption.
Kotei-kannen means a presupposition.
Married couples with separate surnames are still a minority in Japan.
Most women take their husband's name when they get married.
Soo iu kotei-kannen wo motte iru hito ga ooi (There are many people who assume that's the way it has to be).
Many Japanese take this view for granted, yet through my experience teaching foreign students I've learned that on a global scale, this is only a small minority view.
I have a Chinese couple in one class, who have separate surnames, and it seems as if only I, the teacher, feels that there is anything strange about this.
Sensei no yoo na kokusaiteki na kata ga, sonna kotei-kannen wo motte iru to wa igai desu (Pm surprised someone as internationally-minded as you should take such a conservative view), one of my students told me.
The other day there was a debate on TV about whether it's better for women and men to keep their maiden names when they get married, or if it's better for them to adopt a common name.
The side against separate names argued that Oobei no yoo ni kazoku-hookai ga susunda no wa, josei ga chikara wo tsuyometa kara de, fuufu-bessei ni nado shitara, oobei no yd ni natte shimau (The collapse of the family in the West is due partly to the fact that women have more power there, and that Japan would go the same way too, if we followed their example).
Okashi na kotei-kannen wo motte iru koto ga wakatta (I realized what odd presuppositions they were making).
Their arguments seemed to revolve from beginning to end around such questions as who would continue to take care of their family graves, or the idea that women feel the true happiness of marriage by adopting husbands' surnames.
Eventually, the discussion got stuck and didn't seem to be moving anywhere.
Kotei-kannen wo yaburu koto wa totemo muzukashii koto da to omotta (I realized how difficult it is to shake people of their individual preconceptions).