A son up to thirty years of age and a daughter up to twenty-five years cannot marry without the consent of their parents. If either parent is dead, irresponsible, or has left the house, the consent of the other is deemed sufficient; but if both parents are dead or of unsound mind, or if their whereabouts are unknown, only those parties who have not yet reached the majority-age of twenty need ask for the consent of their guardians or appeal to the family council for approval. If the parties are afflicted with a stepfather or stepmother who refuses to consent to their marriage, the approval of the family council will suffice as these persons cannot always be presumed to have at heart the interests of their step-children. A woman cannot for obvious reasons remarry until after the lapse of six months from the annulment or dissolution of her first marriage; but if in the interval she gives birth to a child, there is no hindrance to the second marriage taking place immediately after. Lastly, in the case of a man who has been adopted as husband to the daughter, the severance of his connection as adopted son may be brought forward as a ground for the avoidance of the marriage. As he has twofold relations as son and husband, the dissolution of either relation would lead to that of the other, for the only alternative would be for the daughter to leave her family at the same time as her husband; but as it was to keep her in the family that the husband was adopted, her father would not consent to such a step. The usual procedure is to adopt for her another husband. Upon the consummation of marriage, the wife is obliged to live with her husband, who is required by the Civil Code to make her cohabit with him. Thus, cohabitation is in the eyes of the law an indispensable condition of matrimony; and therefore, such a thing as judicial separation is unknown in Japan, and there is no middle course between cohabitation and divorce. The wife usually takes her husband’s surname; but if she is the head of the family or the heiress to it, the husband by adoption assumes her surname.