Should she change her last name upon marrying an FG?

[twww]

The other half and I have been discussing her possible name change after we get hitched.

Should she change it or not?

I think, initially, changing all her records is a pain in the arse but I need to consider the bigger picture.

She'll be moving O/S. Whether she will want to move back to Japan in the distant future is not a consideration at this point.

Not interested in hyphenated names. Not too fussed if she keeps her name. She's not too fussed changing it. Yes. Kid(s) are an eventuality.

What are the factors I/we need to consider with this issue?

Advise.

[yanpa]

Hyphenated names not an option in Japan anyway.

My Mrs. changed her surname to mine; changing the records was indeed a pain in the arse, slightly complicated by issues such as the driving licence system not being able to accept my katakani-zed surname as furigana.

She ended up getting a new passport, the people at the passport said it was preferable having her name amended in the old one as it has been known to cause confusion at immigration and with airline tickets.

Do make sure you are happy with the katakana rendering of your surname, as this is what is recorded in official documents. The only official romaji rendering is on her passport (which also involved having the katakana version transcribed into Hepburn romaji for some reason beyond my comprehension, though I don't think that's on the passport).

The main problem so far has been confusion on how it's pronounced by people not familiar with it... She's kept her maiden name for professional purposes...

BTW either spouse has 6 months from the date of marriage to change their name.

[TennoChinko]

Here are some things to think about:

If your name is anything else than an Anglo-Saxon or European one (eg. "Smith", "Girard", "Brandt" etc.), she might get tired of continually explaining that she is not:
- Japanese-Brazilian (eg. Perez) especially in Shizuoka, Gunma and Aichi areas.
- Chinese (eg. Wang, Chang) or Korean (Lee, Yu, Kim, Park)
- an idiot (eg. Italian surnames like "Baca" or Finnish surnames like "Aho")

Overseas - depends on the country - woman retaining their maiden names isn't such a big deal.

Within Japan, if she changes her name legally to a katakana name, she might discover some subtle hard-to-prove discrimination like with credit cards or other sort of personal finance applications. Or, just outright discrimination in the job place during a paper screen.

In the end, it's a personal choice.

Sometimes, hyphenated names convey a unique power in themselves:

[twww]

Hyphenated names not an option in Japan anyway.

My Mrs. changed her surname to mine]She's kept her maiden name for professional purposes...[/B]

BTW either spouse has 6 months from the date of marriage to change their name.

Not sure I understand how this can be done... She's officially changed her last name to yours but unofficially kept her last name for professional reasons? i.e. legal documents, bank details, passports, bills, drivers licence are with your name...Employment, Business documents, with her name?

Here are some things to think about:

If your name is anything else than an Anglo-Saxon or European one (eg. "Smith", "Girard", "Brandt" etc.), she might get tired of continually explaining that she is not:
- Japanese-Brazilian (eg. Perez) especially in Shizuoka, Gunma and Aichi areas.
- Chinese (eg. Wang, Chang) or Korean (Lee, Yu, Kim, Park)
- an idiot (eg. Italian surnames like "Baca" or Finnish surnames like "Aho")

Overseas - depends on the country - woman retaining their maiden names isn't such a big deal.

Within Japan, if she changes her name legally to a katakana name, she might discover some subtle hard-to-prove discrimination like with credit cards or other sort of personal finance applications. Or, just outright discrimination in the job place during a paper screen.

In the end, it's a personal choice.

Sometimes, hyphenated names convey a unique power in themselves:

I believe my name is rather "safe." Family is from Euro but we live in Australia.

Yeah, I'm aware of this supposed subtle discrimination.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Not sure I understand how this can be done... She's officially changed her last name to yours but unofficially kept her last name for professional reasons? i.e. legal documents, bank details, passports, bills, drivers licence are with your name...Employment, Business documents, with her name

He probably means on business cards. A lot of women do that to avoid confusing their customers. Unless you run and own the business those other things don't really matter.

[yanpa]

Not sure I understand how this can be done... She's officially changed her last name to yours but unofficially kept her last name for professional reasons? i.e. legal documents, bank details, passports, bills, drivers licence are with your name...Employment, Business documents, with her name?

He probably means on business cards. A lot of women do that to avoid confusing their customers. Unless you run and own the business those other things don't really matter.

Yes, basically everything official is in my name including her payslip but she still answers the telephone as "Tanaka" rather than "Surouto-wobura-manguroubu" (* names altered before publication).

[Coligny]

He probably means on business cards. A lot of women do that to avoid confusing their customers. Unless you run and own the business those other things don't really matter.

Or they have publication on their name and in this case... you can still cheer yourself up with embroidened toilet paper with yer useles gaijin name init...

[omae mona]

Yes, basically everything official is in my name including her payslip but she still answers the telephone as "Tanaka" rather than "Surouto-wobura-manguroubu" (* names altered before publication).

I thought the correct romanization was ragujuri-yachito... (I realize the pronunciation is quite different).

[IparryU]

Here are some things to think about:

If your name is anything else than an Anglo-Saxon or European one (eg. "Smith", "Girard", "Brandt" etc.), she might get tired of continually explaining that she is not:
- Japanese-Brazilian (eg. Perez) especially in Shizuoka, Gunma and Aichi areas.
- Chinese (eg. Wang, Chang) or Korean (Lee, Yu, Kim, Park)
- an idiot (eg. Italian surnames like "Baca" or Finnish surnames like "Aho")

Overseas - depends on the country - woman retaining their maiden names isn't such a big deal.

Within Japan, if she changes her name legally to a katakana name, she might discover some subtle hard-to-prove discrimination like with credit cards or other sort of personal finance applications. Or, just outright discrimination in the job place during a paper screen.

In the end, it's a personal choice.

Ya... my wife gets pissed off with some of the bullshit she gets with my last name... some poeple think she dont speak japanese... ya...

but another thing the women have to consider is if they get a divorce and want to change their last name back, some of the documents for the kids will also get in a mess cause in some cases the name of the custodian (parent) has to be the same as the child if not adoption.

This happened with my sister in law, so she said fuck it and kept her ex-husbands last name despite him being a spineless bitch after only 9 months and not paying child support.

[yanpa]

Yes, basically everything official is in my name including her payslip but she still answers the telephone as "Tanaka" rather than "Surouto-wobura-manguroubu" (* names altered before publication).

I thought the correct romanization was ragujuri-yachito... (I realize the pronunciation is quite different).

Well technically she's answering the phone in katakana, so it's the pronunciation which counts. She does wear the strap-on nose most days though, bless her.

[Coligny]

Well technically she's answering the phone in katakana, so it's the pronunciation which counts. She does wear the strap-on nose most days though, bless her.

I will need explanashiun on this saying,,, written slowly if possible... because I'm pretty sure what i'm picturing have no link whatsoever with what you meant... but would make for a good movie...

[IparryU]

Well technically she's answering the phone in katakana, so it's the pronunciation which counts. She does wear the strap-on nose most days though, bless her.

where can you buy these "toys" at? I had to shop around shibuya and harajuku all day and couldn't find this... nose that you can strap on and answer phones with...

[yanpa]

I will need explanashiun on this saying,,, written slowly if possible... because I'm pretty sure what i'm picturing have no link whatsoever with what you meant... but would make for a good movie...

[YT]tyQvjKqXA0Y[/YT]

If the visuals are too disturbing, here is the script.

where can you buy these "toys" at? I had to shop around shibuya and harajuku all day and couldn't find this... nose that you can strap on and answer phones with...

Did you try Shinjuku 2chome?