A United Nations committee has renewed a call for Japan to revise its legal requirement that married couples use the same surname.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Tuesday published its findings on efforts by the Japanese government to achieve gender equality.

The publication came after the UN body this month conducted a review on Japan for the first time in eight years.

It described a Japanese Civil Code article on the surname requirement as "discriminatory," saying it "in practice often compels women to adopt their husband's surname."

The committee called on Japan to amend legislation regarding the choice of surnames for married couples in order to enable women to retain their maiden surnames after marriage.

This is the fourth time the committee has recommended such a legal amendment to the country.

The committee also recommends that Japan revise the Imperial House Law in order to ensure gender equality. It stipulates that successors to the throne must be males from the male line of the Imperial lineage.