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How to change my name legally? 2019/8/31 06:51
I am half Japanese and half Canadian. I am also living in Houston, Texas. I dislike my first name and go by Lydia now. I want to change my name legally to Lydia Kawazoe before I graduate from college and I think I need to do so in all three countries. I am wondering how to change my name and how much it will cost. I am also wondering if I can change it from the United States or if I must fly to Japan just to change my name?
Thank you for your time!
by Anna Kawazoe (guest)  

Re: How to change my name legally? 2019/8/31 12:12
where are you from? if you are from japan you need to change it in japan so all your legal documents can be changed as well

if you are from canada you literally gotta go back to Canada and change it there.
by StormSpirit (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How to change my name legally? 2019/8/31 12:38
Which country passport or identification document do you officially have?
You need to do the change at that country first as that is your official/legal name.
Only that country have jurisdiction to change whatever you want to do.
And then you follow through with other country.

Due note that Japan do not acknowledge dual nationalities (if you have both).
So thread lightly on that.
by @.. (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How to change my name legally? 2019/8/31 20:06
There is no problem whatsoever for a Japanese national like you to have dual nationality until the age of 22.

To change the name of your Japanese nationality, ask the Japanese Embassy near you for details. But do note that your name as a Japanese national must be able to be written in romaji, which means that the closest alphabet spelling to "Lydia Kawazoe" has to be "Ridia Kawazoe".
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: How to change my name legally? 2019/8/31 20:50
But do note that your name as a Japanese national must be able to be written in romaji, which means that the closest alphabet spelling to "Lydia Kawazoe" has to be "Ridia Kawazoe".

Not sure what you meant by that... The "name as a Japanese national" must be in kanji or hiragana or katakana. In cases where it needs to be written in Latin characters (aka "romaji"), such as on Japanese passports, there is no hard rule on how it is transcribed. No matter how the name is written, it is possible to have it transcribed as "Lydia", though this is subject to the approval of the passport authorities. (I understand that the bar for approval is prey low, basically you just need to demonstrate that the spelling "Lydia" is in common use and not just something you have made up; for example a copy of a news article about a person named "Lydia" could be sufficient.)
by ... (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How to change my name legally? 2019/9/1 01:52
Thank you so much for your responses, it has been so helpful!
by K1tsune rate this post as useful

Re: How to change my name legally? 2019/9/1 09:52
Regarding the above post by "guest", my understanding is that a Japanese national must have their name registered in kana. Even if the name has a kanji version, the way it should be read is to be registered in kana. Meanwhile, names on Japanese passports should follow the rules of Hepburn-style romaji, and would be the Hepburn-style-romaji version of the registered kana name. Therefore, it is impossible for an official Japanese name to be spelled as "Ly..." on a passport. That is my understanding.

But my understanding may be outdated. The OP can confirm updated details by asking an authorized personnel.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: How to change my name legally? 2019/9/1 11:44
by ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How to change my name legally? 2019/9/1 12:03
I got my first Japanese passport 30 some years ago and even back then you were able to have the name spelled as Lydia. You just have to show documents, such as foreign passport, showing that's how your name is spelled
by . (guest) rate this post as useful

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