Complicated Japanese Dual National Situation

Hi,

I was wondering if someone can point me in the right direction. I am a dual national, Japanese/American.

Before people chime in and say that it's not possible, I went through the proper steps. When I was asked ~20 years old whether I wanted to renounce my Japanese citizenship by the local Japanese consulate, I answered no, and they told me that I didn't have to choose one nationality.

So a little background. My father (let's call him John Ichiro Yamada) was Nikkei, and was (presumably a dual national) until he denounced his Japanese citizenship when he moved back to the USA from Japan.

My father married my mom, (let's call her Hanako Kinoshita). They had me. My American name was David Jiro Yamada, and my name on my Koseki was Kinoshita Jiro.

Now I married a Japanese national (let's call her Sayuri Tanaka). When we got married, (since I had my Japanese citizenship). we had to choose a surname either Kinoshita or Tanaka. We chose Tanaka so my official Japanese name became Jiro Tanaka.

We had kids, and their names are saburo kinoshita and keiko kinoshita in Japanese, but James saburo Yamada and Jane keiko Yamashita in Japanese.

I'm a candidate for a position for a job in Japan. If we move to Japan, is it possible for us to change our surname to Yamada, and can I be legally known as Jiro Yamada?

There is a process (I do not know the name of it) to legally change your name - to any name that you have been habitually using, under the assumption that you would suffer if it were not changed. Inquire at the ward office as you register your household/address. A court hears your case and makes their ruling. My son did this to legally take his US name, even though he is dual (and thus legally at the time had a registered Japanese name), in addition to his US name he had used thruout college and subsequent work.