Name

Hi,
I have a question regarding name.

I am Japanese-Canadian and I have a Japanese first and last name and I will be moving to Japan this year.
My name is both Japanese and I also have kanji for my name, however I am not sure if they would write my name in kanji (i mean let me have a kanji for my name) in Japan.

I have Canadian passport which ofcourse is written my name in English letters.
However, I do have Kanji for my name and it is just 1 kanji each for my last and first name.
Would they write my name in kana there?
I like my Kanji for my name and I prefer this over a different writing style.

In school for example, how would they write my name?
Would I need to provide kanji for my name to them (how)?
because since it is not a foreigner name it should not be written in katakana or hiragana most likely... Wouldnt it be odd for a japanese last name and name to be written in katakana or all hiragana?..

Thank you~

Do you have Japanese citizenship, a Japanese passport? If not, then officially your name will be written in Katakana, however you have an option include your kanji name in addition to your Katakana name in your resident card, insurance card, driving licence etc. You will need to proof that the kanji is valid.

That what Chinese/Korean/Taiwan do as their name are written in Kanji. Your Canadian passport is in alphabet.

It depends on your definition of "they".

Am I correct to assume that you're coming to Japan as an exchange student? If so, you can simply discuss with your school to see if you can use kanji to write your name in class and on your tests. Typically, they would let you do that if you want to.

But unless you insist on using kanji, your name would automatically be indicated either in katakana or English alphabet.

On official documents, such as papers you surrender at the airport, your name would typically be indicated in English alphabet, although depending on the document, it would be indicated in katakana.

Wouldnt it be odd for a japanese last name and name to be written in katakana or all hiragana?

No, it wouldn't be odd. All this has nothing to do with the "impression" that your name gives. A name is a name, and your nationality is what it is.

For the record, every Japanese person's name is indicated in English alphabet on their credit cards as well as their passports. For example, I am Japanese with a kanji name, and you can't tell the kanji I use on my name by looking at my credit cards or my Japanese passport.

Meanwhile, your name might strike conversation like, "Oh, I thought you were Canadian, but you have a Japanese name," or "I guess you come from abroad since your family name is written in kana." You may want to benefit on that conversation to make friends, or if you want to avoid it you can use kanji as much as you can.

I hope it helps.

yea i have a japanese face so it would not be odd that i have a japanese name.
i want to avoid those situations as much as possible actually.
i am moving to Japan for school purposes (senior high school and uni).
Can I provide my Kanji name for my residency card and other things? In school too, I prefer to have my kanji written. One reason other than I like my kanji name is because I do not want to stand out that i have a katakana name though my name is purely japanese.. i want rather a name like most people with kanji. While i know some given names are written in kana, however given names are different in this matter. this is not my name, but for example ƒXƒYƒL ƒAƒ„ƒJ or ƒLƒ€ƒ‰ ƒVƒ“ƒW feels weird for me to be written like this in school, governmental places, doctor, everywhere i go etc...

though my passport is Canadian, on my residency card, and other things documents and files i will use in japan can i ask to put my kanji name instead of the kana?

what would it take for me to ask to add a kanji beside my english alphabetted name or to COMPLETELY replace it and give my kanji name instead. I think it is really neat being just 2 kanji for my whole name moreover, i want less headache of questioning haha.

You say you are Canadian-Japanese, but are you registered (in addition to Canadian) as a Japanese national - meaning are you registered in the �gkoseki�h (family register) of your Japanese parent(s)? If so, that should have your kanji name on it, as reported by your parent(s).

If not, you�fd need to somehow provide the evidence that shows that THOSE specific two kanji�fs are your name, otherwise it will not be recognized as an �gofficial�h name.

On residency card, there should be a field where you can register alias - for example, my non-Japanese husband�fs name is officially written only in alphabets �gJohn Smith�h but as alias he has �gƒXƒ~ƒX�@ƒWƒ‡ƒ“�h registered, as an alternative way to write it. So you should be able to do something similar, meaning, registering the name in kanji. (But I am not sure if this alias appears on the card front by now.)

my passport is Canadian

sorry to burst your bubble, as foreigner residing in Japan, all your documentation will be either alphabets or katakana. You can register an alias kanji name, but you need to proof that the kanji name is actually used to identify you in Canada. Japan being a paper bureacratic country, that just how it goes.

FYI, zairyu card does not support aliases any more.Juki Card (�Z–¯Šî–{‘ä’ ƒJ�[ƒh),Japanese driving license and My Number card can have alias.

even if you use an alias in Japan, your official name is still unchanged.
you just pretend (or imitate) to be a Japanese (Japanese nationality holder).

I see.
Then will I still be able to give my kanji to my schools, doctors, and etc... especially school?
I always write my name in Kanji anyways, also i want to be known with my kanji name in these places. In places where I can give my name myself, can I ask them to execute my name as kanji only? For example in class, other programs and lessons, etc...

You are free to ask. So, ask, and they will answer yes or no.

For example, when you visit a doctor, you present your medical insurance card, and you fill out a form to match that medical insurance card. Then the clinic/hospital will issue your plastic registration card to use every time you visit them. My medical insurance card have my kanji name on it, but in many of my registration cards, only kana is indicated. It's up to that clinic/hospital.

But I can understand how you'd want to have your IDs the way you want it. I so longed to have my maiden name on my IDs, and I finally got it granted when regulations changed. IDs, however, have very strict regulations, and things often don't work the way you want it to.

That is good to know.
I will see how it goes and hopefully most places agree to use my kanji name because I love it so much!

Thank you so much for your useful answers.

Just curious are you by any chance 'mina22watanabe'

OP must be mina22watanabe. How could she clear her visa issues? In Mina's threads her plan to move to Japan looked impossible due to her age and not having citizenship and everybody pointed it out

I really dont understand why I am being mistaken for a different user.
I looked at her posts and we have quite similar situations also with another person "Khanakisa" or something.
I have a visa for Japan and I dont have issues.
in my forums i keep getting are you mina or the other user and i dont get it.
I do think it is weird that all of us three have similar ages but it is purely coincidencal unless the other account is "Khanakisa" or vice versa.
To make it clear I do not have any other usernames or accounts here, I only want to make sure with some of these questions before I go. But there must be many situations similar to mine is all I can say, I was also surprised when I read their forums is really interesting.

At least I don't think the user "Khanakisa" and you, or "Khanakisa" and another one are the same person. "Khanakisa" may share similar ethnic backgrounds and residency with you, but the other characteristics and elements are totally different.