Non-Japanese who take Japanese names still have to register in katakana?

[kunitachi]

This is a typically teeth-sucking moment for all Japanese bureaucrats but...

I've recently married and taken my wife's (Japanese) surname, yet city hall won't let me register it in kanji. They say it simply has to be katakana. Can this be right -- anyone had this experience before? What difference does it make to them? My name is legally changed in every possible way open to me, except this -- just seems odd to me.

The problem is two-layered in that our children will appear to have parents with different surnames, which is precisely what we didn't want. I'd laugh if I didn't have concern for the impact it could have.

[Big Booger]

AFAIK,
From my local BSers at the City Hall, they told me I needed some official correspondence with my name addressed in kanji to allow the kanji. They asked me to bring in a letter addressed to myself in kanji or something of that nature to allow them to add my name in the register in kanji. I decided to just say fuck it and let them use katakana.. they can suck the scum off my scrote for all I care.

But your situation and local muthafuckas at the city hall might have an ax to grind against foreigners or something...

[Greji]

This is a typically teeth-sucking moment for all Japanese bureaucrats but...

I've recently married and taken my wife's (Japanese) surname, yet city hall won't let me register it in kanji. They say it simply has to be katakana. Can this be right -- anyone had this experience before? What difference does it make to them? My name is legally changed in every possible way open to me, except this -- just seems odd to me.

The problem is two-layered in that our children will appear to have parents with different surnames, which is precisely what we didn't want. I'd laugh if I didn't have concern for the impact it could have.

The question probably is whether you have Japanese Nationality. If you do, you are becoming a "Mukou", and there would be no problem.

I cannot tell from what you stated, but if you still have a foreign nationality, you are probably stuck with this because technically you cannot take her name when it is differant from the one on your passport. Next, you cannot register kanji for foreign names, unless it has been accepted on your naturalization when becoming a J-citizen.

I don't quite understand your problem. My children have always had two passports, the J-passport in Mom's name and the Gai-passport in my surname. We alternate the surnames as middle names so these appear on both passports, even though they do not appear that way on the legal birth certificate!

You may also find what I found, that my kids got less itazura by using my family surname at school, even though they were legally registered for the Japanese school in my wife's name. This lack, or less itazura, was attributed to the fact that they were considered gaijin, versus a Japanese that is simply a "half", had they used their Japanese surname! Hell, they're "half" either way, but then again, this isn't strange, considering the thinking process of Japan, is it?

[kunitachi]

Interesting point about how kids are perceived at school -- would never have imagined that.

Anyway, about the name change -- my name is Japanese, period. It was changed legally when we married. And nationality is surely irrelevant in this case -- my name is the same as my wife's name on all documentation (including my passport) except at city hall, where they are written differently.

There's no logical explanation for that -- even the paper pushers just tell me "That's the way it is -- shoganai." I doubt their answer for various reasons, especially since they told me the name has to be registered in katakana if it's romaji in your passport. Sure, my (Japanese) name is romaji in my (UK) passport, but so's my wife's -- all Japanese passports have romaji names as there are no kanji on the personal details page. They were clearly making it up as they went along, no?

[Greji]

They were clearly making it up as they went along, no?

I think maybe not. The question is whether it has to be done that way. Policy has always been to write names in katakana if it is foreign and this includes 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation Japanese from abroad.

I don't know of any immigration or Justice ministry requirements for this, but there could well be a dusty old law back somewhere, when they never considered a gaijin could have Japanese blood, or names.

Assuming you are Nisei or Sansei, you might want to check if you parents or grandparents made an entry for you on their koseki. This would validate the use of your Japanese name in the poper kanji. These entries in the family registers were made in some cases without knowledge of children, or even parents, because it is a normal thing for Japanese to do. So you could technically be more Japanese than you know!

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Stupid question, does a chinese person have to register in katakana?

[kunitachi]

Hmm -- it's hard to say what's policy and what's ad hoc without further investigation. However, their giving blatantly wrong reasoning (the passport/romaji issue) is what makes me have little faith in their methods. As for the Chinese question, I actually asked that at city hall and apparently they can use their kanji.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Why would any guy take his wife's last name?

[maraboutslim]

[kunitachi]

Maraboutslim -- wise words. Thanks for the tips...

[American Oyaji]

Why would any guy take his wife's last name?

If the a man only has daughters and wants his line to continue, he may add that as a stipulation to agreeing to the marriage.

Families with money do that a lot if they only have daughters.

[Samurai_Jerk]

If the a man only has daughters and wants his line to continue, he may add that as a stipulation to agreeing to the marriage.

Shit, in one sentence you already gave two reasons not to marry that person.

[6810]

1. The man taking woman's name = the equivalent of becoming adopted as a technical son of her family. Can come with real perks. A J-mate of mine is in this situation. Problem is for the guys this can cause real tensions with his own parents as they technically lose a son (with their name)

2. Names here a no less complex than back home. No less simple either. Basically, in most cases if you can prove that the name you are using/want to register is the name that you are known by and have correspondence addressed to etc, I can't see why (aside from city hall policy) why you couldn't register your name in wingdings. Seriously though, Japanese or English, romaji or otherwise the key issue is in proving that that is the name you are known by.

I went through all of this when I tried to officially register my hanko which had both english characters and katakana. Problem was, the mix of letters did in no way reflect the name I am using in everyday life so they wouldn't register it. Then I just got a new one cut, in all english and went back to city hall and said "stick that in your pipe and smoke it".

[Greji]

Why would any guy take his wife's last name?

This is not unusual in many countries, especially Japan. If a family has only daughters, they will usually attempt to get the first daughter married to a 2nd son, or lower, of another family. This individual will be called a mukou, and will have his name entered into the new family's registry and his name deleted from his family register.

This is most commonly done with families of old standing and history for perpetuating the line.

[Speed]

I've recently married and taken my wife's (Japanese) surname, yet city hall won't let me register it in kanji. They say it simply has to be katakana. Can this be right -- anyone had this experience before? What difference does it make to them? My name is legally changed in every possible way open to me, except this -- just seems odd to me.

I have a Japanese surname. When I used to have Japanese citizenship, my name was registered in kanji.

When I became a US citizen, I was no longer allowed to register my name in kanji (in Japan). Even though my name is still Japanese and my birth certificate has my name written in kanji, I am forced to write my last name in katakana.

The government here in Japan will always attempt to have a clear demarcation line between "Japanese" and "non-Japanese".

My J-wife, who took my name, also has to write her last name in katakana.
She`s still a Japanese citizen, but has to write out her last name in katakana because her adopted name is one she`s taken from a non-Japanese citizen. (Even though it`s still Japanese when you hear it, it has to be written out in katakana.)

As for you Kunitachi,
although you took on your wife`s Japanese family name, you`re nationality I presume is not Japanese, therefore you still have to write out your name in katakana.

Your wife can still write out her name in kanji because she never gave up her Japanese name that she has registered in kanji and she`s still a Japanese citizen (I assume).

When or if I choose to become a Japanese citizen again, I`ll be able to once again register my name in kanji.

Personally, it always feels a bit odd having to write my name out in katakana, when it sounds (and is!) Japanese. Especially when in the past, I was allowed to write it out in kanji. It can be a bit annoying at times, but that`s just the way it is.

[Samurai_Jerk]

This is not unusual in many countries, especially Japan. If a family has only daughters, they will usually attempt to get the first daughter married to a 2nd son, or lower, of another family. This individual will be called a mukou, and will have his name entered into the new family's registry and his name deleted from his family register.

This is most commonly done with families of old standing and history for perpetuating the line.

Any guy who does that might as well cut his cock and balls off and wear a skirt.

[Greji]

Any guy who does that might as well cut his cock and balls off and wear a skirt.

Why? He will become the first son and heir of that family in a situation he would never have as a second or successive son in his own family!

[GomiGirl]

Why would any guy take his wife's last name?

I know heaps of guys that have done this. For a variety of reasons. Why is this a problem? It isn't the norm but it does happen and the testosterone level of the husband wasn't affected in the slightest.

I know of one couple where both of them changed their name to a new one that was in the wife's family but the name was going to die out.