The defendant country will make a counterargument.

After the hearing, a briefing session will be held on the 5th floor of the Sapporo Bar Association Building. *This is an edited version of the Sapporo District Court's 4th hearing briefing session. Please click here to view. https://youtu.be/6Wv05aqwIX4

The defendants will be heard to argue.

12:15-13:15 Date report meeting location: TKP Shinbashi Conference Center 1-3-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (approximately an 11-minute walk from Tokyo District Court) https://www.kashikaigishitsu.net/facilitys/cc-shimbashi-uchisaiwaicho/access/?ctid=ad_gsa_kk_0201&gclid=CjwKCAiA_dDIBhB6EiwAvzc1cJQR2vqIgkRpSzwgw0QLSSKMyxEPR3lnYW2wJc07Kit8pXJyVPS9rxoC5_sQAvD_BwE Meeting room: Conference Room 13A Guest speaker: Sakai Yuichiro (Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters, Keio University) ☆The event will also be streamed simultaneously, so please tune in if you can't attend this time or are far away! https://youtube.com/live/plfCBc-14sw

The plaintiff will refute the defendant's first preparatory brief and will make renewed assertions regarding constitutional interpretation.

Date and time: Wednesday, October 1st, 12pm-1pm Location: Hokkaido High School Teachers' Center, 4th floor main conference room (Odori Nishi 12-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo) https://map.yahoo.co.jp/v2/place/Rj8KZDQHNnc Streaming: You can watch the live stream from the link below: https://youtube.com/live/FMOmwI0Sm9g?feature=share *The hearing will include an explanation of the submitted documents from the legal team, comments from the plaintiffs in the Sapporo and Tokyo lawsuits, messages of support from guest speakers (a prefectural assembly member and a French researcher), and a question-and-answer session and exchange of opinions.

The plaintiffs are expected to file a counter-argument to the defendants' claims and a statement of claim.

Date and time: Monday, September 1st, 12:00-13:00 Location: Hibiya Library and Culture Center Studio Plus (small hall) Guest speaker: Azusa Miyako (nurse and columnist)

The defendant (the state) is expected to submit a written rebuttal to the plaintiff's claims.

The date, time and location will be announced at a later date.

The defendant (the state) is expected to submit a written rebuttal to the plaintiffs' claims.

Date and time: May 15th (Thursday) 12:00-13:00 (food and drink allowed) Venue: Toranomon Hall (2nd floor, Suishin Koei Building, 1-9-5 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo) Schedule: As a guest speaker, we have invited Professor Emeritus and former president of Hosei University, Yuko Tanaka, specially appointed professor at the Hosei University Edo Tokyo Research Center. The event will also be streamed simultaneously. https://www.youtube.com/live/Of81KiDgbNA

At the second trial date, the lawyers will summarise the six documents (i.e. counterarguments to the government's claims, ii. violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, iii. violation of treaties, iv. the state of academic theory, v. the state of debate in the Diet, and vi. the state of foreign law) submitted by the legal team before the trial, which support the idea that not allowing optional separate surnames for married couples is unconstitutional, but the judge's decision will be closely watched. At the trial report meeting after the trial, the legal team will provide an explanation of the courtroom exchanges and submitted documents, comments from the plaintiffs in the Sapporo lawsuit, and a Q&A and exchange of opinions from the venue. We look forward to seeing many of you there. [Second trial date] Friday, January 31st, 10:30-11:00 Courtroom 805, Sapporo District Court * Observation tickets will be distributed from around 10:00, so please come early. * From 10:15, the plaintiffs will march along the road and enter the courtroom. Please support them!

[Deadline Reporting Session] January 31 (Friday) 11:30-12:30 Hokkaido High School Teachers' Center Main Conference Room Address: 12-chome Minami Odori Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo (Contact Information) Attorney at Law, Tomoe Terabayashi (NTS General Lawyers, Sapporo Office, TEL 011-206-8371) Attorney at Law, Akiko Yamada (Minami Odori Law Office, TEL 011-281-3767)

The plaintiffs plan to submit a counterargument against the defendant (the government) and new claims.

The event will be held at Toranomon Hall from 12:00 (about a 15-minute walk from the district court). It will also be streamed live on YouTube ▶︎ https://www.youtube.com/live/8DJypVRQrrQ