name change

Hello, I have a question about name changing. I was born with a Japanese last name, but when I was 3, my mother changed it to her husband's last name, and moved to America. I am now moving back to Japan to live permanently. My questions is, how do I go about changing my last name in Japan. I would like it to be in Kanji (as well as my given name), not katakana (because I don't want to sound like I am not from Japan, nothing against foreigners, which technically I am) And one more question is, can I have a different name in Japan, and keep my name that I have now, when I am in America? Thank you ahead of time.

I think it requires a legal proceeding. Check with your local kuyakujo (ward office).

Do you have "koseki" (family register) in Japan? If so (meaning you are a Japanese national), what appears there as your name will be your name. Changing that to another would require legal proceedings. It might be easier if you have papers showing the earlier change from your Japanese name to the husband's name.

If not (meaning you are not Japanese), then you sign up for Alien Registration in Japan (equivalent to "juminhyo" for Japanese nationals), then what appears in your passport (probably in alphabets?) will be the "official" name of yours that appears first on your Alien Registration, but you can also register a different name as "alias" on that registration. That can be in katakana or kanji.

Manami-san,

Perhaps I am wrong, but it appears to me that what you want to do is to keep all your official registeration names as is and use a "by-name" for daily use.

Let's say your real name is Manami Smith but you want to call yourself —é–Ø�^“Þ”ü in Japan. Your passport, alien registeration card or koseki will be under the name Smith or ƒXƒ~ƒX. Therefore it would be convenient to have your credit card and health security card under Smith, and eventually you will be called Smith if you happen to go to a hospital when ill.

But you can tell your friends you are —é–Ø�^“Þ”ü. If you go to school or become employed, you can tell them you wish to be called —é–Ø and then they can print all your name cards and name tags under —é–Ø. On your house, you can put two name plates, Smith and —é–Ø, so that all your mail can be delivered properly.

Keep in mind, however, that if you live in Japan under an obviously Japanese kanji name, you will be expected to speak Japanese fluently and know all about the culture, more so if you look Japanese due to your mother's heritage. On the other hand, if your name appear to be foreign, people will excuse you for any cultural mistakes you may make.

Uco-san,

I meant to say that if the original poster is non-Japanese, on Alien Registration she could even register the "by name" (alongside the official name) if she wanted to :) "Manami Smith" would appear as the official name, and "alias" would be, for example, ƒXƒ~ƒX�E‚Ü‚È‚Ý�AƒXƒ~ƒX�E�^“Þ”ü or —é–Ø�^“Þ”ü (on the basis of her early-childhood name) or whatsoever.

If she is Japanese, though, you are right, you simply "use" your other name, regardless of what the official papers say.

AK,

Of course.

Jou,AK,Uco,thank you all very much.

To all,

I think I would have to put a "new name" (alias?) on the alien registration card, because i am an american citizen.
and yes, i can speak japanese fluently, and look japanese so that wouldn't be an issue.

Thank you very much to all!!!!

One question about the alias, do they still have a record of my origional name?

and if all else fails, i'll just have people call me by my name, like Uco suggested. =]

and yes, i can speak japanese fluently, and look japanese so that wouldn't be an issue.

Certainly. But I assumed you haven't lived in Japan for a while. A lot of people like me who are Japanese and have a Japanese name but had been living abroad for a few years often have a hard time adjusting back in Japan, catching up with the culture, because some locals just don't get it. Just for reference. Hope you have fun in Japan.

You didn't answer AK's question.

Do you have "koseki" (family register) in Japan?

It's hard to believe that you were born in Japan, to a Japanese mother, and lived there for 3 years without being registered on the koseki. You might be Japanese, and in that case your official name is whatever is on your koseki.

One question about the alias, do they still have a record of my origional name?

Yes, your official name (what's on your passport if you're not Japanese) will always be your official name in Japan.

Let examine it step by step.

(1) Is your father an American or Japanese? (2) Your Japanese surname is that your mother's or Japanese father's name?
(3) There is no doubt that your birth name was registered in Japan by your birth father/mother,... you have the correct answer for all 3 questions, yes?

Then, lets go to step 2... since you were born in Japan and you were registered at the time of your birth that make you a Japanese citizen.

Now step 3... were you nationalized in the U.S? If you were, you have a dual citizenship, which may/may not be acknowledged by the Government of Japan depending on your age now.

Step 4... lets get ahead of the passport game by getting the copy of original family registry from the local ward office or city office that you were registered by your birth father/mother,.. which you can do that from U.S. Ask your mother to get you a copy of family registry from Japan. It's called the Koseikitohon".

Step 5... is to take that "kosekitohon" to your nearest Japanese Consulate and get yourself a Japanese Passport per your Japanese name. (If you don't do this ahead of time, you will have to live in Japan as an foreigner and undergo same process for residency as any other foreigner)

Step 6... you will carry both passport traveling to Japan,.. however for purpose of leaving U.S. and entering Japan you were present the U.S. Passport.

Step 7... In Japan you must transact all your personal affairs as a Japanese citizen (Japan Passport & kosekitohon prove that you are a Japanese citizen and you don't have to register in Japan as an foreigner).

Catch 22: Japan does not recognize the dual citizenship at this time. So, if you ever have to return to U.S. you will have to rely on the Japanese Passport -- procedure is now reversed -- you will carry both passport traveling to U.S.,.. however for purpose of leaving Japan and entering U.S. you were present the Japan Passport,.. remember that U.S. Government recognize the dual citizenship,.. therefore coming back to U.S. is not a problem at all,.. problem is going back to Japan - just in case the Immigration Agent in Japan is diligent in checking the computer record of people that left Japan & returning.

*In your situation, your Japan Passport under your Japanese name - U.S. Passport under your U.S. name should meet your requirements.

Just in case you might be wondering, yes I have both passports.

A last name written in kanji can be used for almost all official documents. When I was in Japan, my kanji name was written on my health insurance certificate, fitness club membership card, letters from the mobile phone company and even on my student card and graduation certificate.

The only exceptions were credit card (where the passport name must be written), bank card and letters from bank and credit card company. The bank staffs told me that the scholarship might not arrive on my bank account on time if I changed my name spelling. A credit card is a very critical thing.

Letters and parcels where my name was written in kanji arrived on time.

For a non-Japanese it is easy to register personal stamp and kanji name. The procedures might be more complicated for a Japanese national.

Although it has nothing to do with Japan...people in other countries can use 2 different names as long as they have no intention of committing a fraud. For example the French singer/ actor known all around the world as Yves Montand (he died in 1991 minutes after finishing a movie) was actually named Ivo Livi. He was born in Italy and came to France at the age of 15.
it is interesting to note that, although he came to France late, had originally a limited education and learned French in the streets of Marseille, where the accent and vocabulary are very different from standard French, in his adult years his French sounded so good that he was often given as an example on how to pronounce French to foreign students. .

He did use his real name on official documents.

I believve I do have a koseki, as I was born in japan and then became an american citizen. My father and mother are both Japanese so I assume I have one right? My mother doesn't want me to have my original surname so I can't ask any questions to her really and looking for documents overseas seems like a bit of a time taker (which I would be certainly up for doing) and uco I fear of not adjusting right away,one of my bigger fears, as I have not lived there in obviously a long time last time I was there was high school and it's been about six years since graduation, how did you deal with it? Any tips? To guest, okinawadolphin and stanfordgal thank you for contributing, each of you really did help me, and red frog, interesting information thank you!

Manami san,

Not being able to adjust is not a big deal if you don't think it's a big deal. Problem is that many do tend to fall in that hole where you can't help thinking it's a big deal.

But mostly this happens to those in adolescence. You are probably old enough to handle that. You just have to do a lot of explaining every time someone gives you a "Why is she a bit different?" look, that's all. But this can happen in any situation. For example, I speak accentless American English, so even when I'm traveling to L.A. fresh out of Japan, Americans expect me to know all the American rules.

Btw, about your koseki, you can try asking the public hall (such as kuyakusho or machi-yakuba) of the place you last lived in Japan.

manami,

Of course there is a koseki in the birth city,.. lol,.. other wise you would not have been allowed to immigrate to U.S.

You can establish Japanese citizenship in two ways: (1) from U.S. or (2) in Japan,,, will your mother give you her passport to you,.. did you immigrate to U.S. under whose passport? That Japan passport establish your Japan citizenship - all you need to do is to take that passport to the nearest Japan Consulate and apply for your own Japan passport.