Certificate of No Inpediment

I'm a British Citizen who will get married in Japan in May. We will visit the embassy in Tokyo to complete an "Affirmation / Affidavit of Martial Status". This document proves that I am free to get married.
Once completed at the embassy, this document is then handed in to the local municipal office where we will get married.

What is a Certificate of No inpediment? Is it not the same as the "Affirmation / Affidavit of Martial Status"? The British Embassy in Tokyo states that they no longer give Certificates of No Inpediment to British nationals marrying in Japan.

Do I need a Certificate of No inpediment to marry in Japan as a British national? If they no longer give them, I assume they aren't needed anymore. I also think the "Affirmation / Affidavit of Matial Status" has the same purpose as the Certificate of No Inpediment. Am I missing something important here?
Here is a link to what they say I should bring to the embassy, they only say that they won't give certificates anymore. I'm really unsure if I need one or not.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/upl...

I also intend on changing my status from temporary visitor to spouse of a Japanese national during the same trip. Any advice for that? Thank you.

I'm also British and got married in Japan early last year. It's actually really simple.

You only need a sworn affirmation from the embassy in Tokyo. No need for the Certificate Of No Impediment. Maybe you needed that previously but not anymore.

The UK Gov website is pretty good and tells you what you need to do, just follow the steps: https://www.gov.uk/marriage-abroad

At the local city hall, I only needed to give them the affirmation, completed marriage form including details of two witnesses, passport, and our resident cards because we live here. I didn't need my birth certificate as some places suggest.

The affirmation however needs to be translated into Japanese. I did this myself with the help of Google Translate, no need to pay to get someone else to do it.

Congrats and good luck!

Just to add..

double check with the municipal office where you plan to register your marriage. Different municipal office have slightly different requirements. Ask you future wife to confirm that before hand.

As for change of status, it is possible but not guarantee. Link below on require doc:
Japanese version is more detail
http://www.moj.go.jp/ONLINE/IMMIGRATION/ZAIRYU_HENKO/zairyu_henko1.htm...

English version
http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/shyorui/02.html

Good read on change of status from temp to spouse
https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+165751

If your change of status application is accepted with 'APPLICATION�\�¿' on your passposrt, your stay is 'automatically' extended for 2 months. Use the correct term, resident status not visa.

I didn't need my birth certificate as some places suggest.
Unless they have changed the procedure dramatically, which sounds unlikely, you had better have your FULL birth certificate. For the two couples I have helped get married in Japan (one USA, one UK), both required the birth certificate. It would be foolish to turn up and not get married because you don't have the simple documentation required.

Check with the office you are going to use as different offices do have different requirements.

Yeah, as above, definitely take your birth certificate with you if you have it. I was just stating what happened in my case.

The first thing I did was go to the city hall and ask them what documents were required. My Japanese was beginner level at the time so I didn't really understand what the official said but he was very polite, helpful and patient. He gave me a document that listed various requirements and circled the ones that I required. I translated it when I got home.

The documents you require seem to depend on your nationality and the rules at the city hall. After he checked my passport he went to look up in a big book what was required for the UK.

I didn't have my birth certificate with me so it worked out for me. Although, the lady at the UK embassy said I would need it so I'm not sure who's correct.

Btw, I went to the Miyamae-ku city hall.

@SZQ Thank you very much for telling me about your experience, it has calmed me down somewhat. I have my birth certificate so I'll take it with me for sure. I will be getting married at the city hall in Muko-shi, it's in Kyoto. From what I have read in this forum so far, I assume that the best thing for me to do is contact the city hall where we will be getting married so that I can learn the laws regarding a British national's marrying in Japan. Hopefully they are as helpful to me as they were for you!
Unfortunately, I'm not in Japan right now. So I will ask my girlfriend to contact the city hall as soon as she can and get all the information I need. I suppose the best question she can ask them is "what documents will my boyfriend need?" lol
Thanks again, SZQ. It's a relief, I hope that I won't need a CNI. It seems as though the affidavit/affirmation will be sufficient. We'll soon see when my girlfriend has time to contact the city hall! (I'll post results in this forum for anyone else in my shoes).

@JapanCustomTours You're absolutely right, it would be a terrible thing to go all the way to Japan only to find that I don't have the required documents. I'll bring my full birth certificate and complete an affirmation before going to the country.
Since you have helped couples get married before in Japan, do you have much knowledge on changing status whilst on a temporary tourist status? I've heard it's possible to change status from tourist to spouse but it can be a bit tricky. Do you have advice for me in terms of what documents I should bring and anything else I should do? I know this doesn't really regard marriage, but it's so commonly linked together I wonder if you have any advice you can give me. Thank you.

As far as I'm concerned, these documents should be sufficient when getting married in Japan.
My full birth certificate, an affirmation, her family register, a compelted kon in todoke/marriage application.

As for changing my status, I think I need to get the change of status form from an immigration bureau and fill that in. I think it helps a lot when handing in the application to also provide a self-made document showing pictures of me and her together dated with maybe a little description to express the occassion. I've been to Japan twice and her family are aware of me, I stayed at her house in fact. She will come to London for 1 week this month. On top of that, I was going to make a document showing a lot of our call history. We call basically every day, so I was going to maybe show a few calls a month for the past 2 years. If you don't have advice for me regarding this, it's absolutely fine. I just thought I'd give it a shot. Thank you.
I wonder if that time period will be enough to prove to immigration that we are in a genuine relationship.

@.. (guest)
Wow thank you very much, these give me a lot of details about what I'll need! I'll send the Japanese link to my girlfriend and see what she thinks, too.
Thank you very much again!