C'mon Japan, WTF? Problems with daughter's name!!

[jake9115]

Man, I hope someone on fg knows something about legal matters in Japan. Please speak up if you do! But to be honest I'd be super surprised if anyone can understand what the hell the Japanese consulate in Chicago is telling us.

Here's the deal... let's say my wife's name is Shizuko Yamada, and I am Ben Smith. We just had a daughter, her name is Keiko Yamada Smith, meaning her middle name is my wife's last name. We live in the US and she already has her social security number, birth certificate, yadda yadda.

We have to register her paper in Japan within 3 months of her birth so that she has the option of retaining Japanese citizenship until she is 22 yrs old. Before doing this, my wife and I have to register in Japan as being married (we've been married for >5 years). Marriage registration requires updating my wife's koseiki tohon, which we have done. However, since she kept her last name, she is for some reason listed as "head of the household" on the koseiki.

Anyway, now to register our daughter, she has to have the same last name as the "head of the household" on the koseiki tohon. This means that the consulate general of Japan in Chicago is telling us that in the USA and all other countries of the world, my daughter's name will be Keiko Yamada Smith, but in Japan, it will officially be Keiko Yamada (and we can put whatever we want as the middle name).

This seems waaaay wrong to me. How is it possible she has two different legally-binding names? I can't image going through customs with a Japanese permanent residency card with one name and a US passport with another name.

Has anyone ever heard of such a bizarre situation? I understand that in Japan couples must have the same last name, but that is not true if the Japanese citizen is married to a gaijin.

[matsuki]

Pretty standard question if you do some googling. If you want her to have the same last name, you'd have to have your wife changer her name to Shizuko Yamada Smith in Japan. Otherwise, daughter will be Keiko Yamada as far as Japan is concerned...though her Japanese passport is what she would enter Japan on so why would she need a PR visa?

At the end of the day, it's not a big deal. If you leave it as is, she has two names/nationalities to use or lose at will...more versatility? That's not necessarily a bad thing.

[wagyl]

Congratulations on the birth of a healthy daughter!

Your wife is the head of the household on the koseki not for the reason that she kept her last name, but for the reason that you are not registered as a resident in Japan and only she has a registration through having nationality.

Maybe a solution to this name issue is to at the same time register a tsuushoumei, like an alias. Most people who do this are trying to create a name that they can use in everyday Japanese life which is more palatable to other Japanese than their legal foreign name, but possibly your daughter can have her legal foreign name so registered. I have not heard of any examples of a Japanese national registering a tsuushoumei and it may be impossible, but it is worth a try.

As a practical matter, your daughter will be entering Japan on a Japanese passport anyway as a Japanese national, so your scenario with alien registration card and US passport will not arise. Also, any alien registration card is created based on the foreign passport, so those names will match. Where I can see a potential issue is with airline tickets issued in one passport name and this creating an issue with another passport name, but I have heard of multiple citizenship children registering an alternative foreign name (like the tsuushoumei) in the Japanese passport to overcome these issues. You should discuss that with the consulate and clarify any processes involved.

[wuchan]

Wife takes hyphen last name (hers-yours) and so does the kid, you keep yours with no hyphen bullshit. It's the only way. sorry.

As far as the koseki goes, you aren't japanese, you can't be head of household with a japanese spouse. You are HER pet until you get PR or J-citizenship. Before entering you need a letter of guarantee from a related person with a job (or company) that says that they are responsible for you. If you get into trouble with the law, they do too.


They did make some changes recently with the myNumber system coming online but I'm pretty sure you can't get the kid under you until you have PR.

[Wage Slave]

I'm not sure our solution is the best, but it has worked fine so far for us. Suppose my name is Jones and my wife's Yamada. So

Her and the children are registered as Yamada-Jones in the UK for everything.

They appear as Yamada (Jones) on Japanese passports. On other Japanese documents they appear as Yamada. I was also a bit nervous about air tickets and such but we have never had a problem with people accepting that Yamada-Jones is equivalent to Yamada (Jones).

[jake9115]

Oh man, thanks everyone for the replies. Knowing that this is so common is a huge relief. Good points about my girl using her Japanese passport (and not a PR card). I'm glad to hear that nobody seems to have had airport/customs/law problems with the two different names.

I'm really not worried about it, as long as it is somewhat commonplace and we aren't mutants or something. She'll just be Keiko Yamada Smith in the US, and Keiko Smith Yamada in Japan.

Also, thanks for the congratulations! I actually started on fg in 2005, the year I met my now-wife. I posted here looking for advice on how a poor kid from the states can woo a nihonjin I hadn't met in person yet I don't know if one comes from the other, but my impression of living in Japan as a foreigner is inextricably melded with the snark and humor of this site.

[matsuki]

I have not heard of any examples of a Japanese national registering a tsuushoumei and it may be impossible, but it is worth a try.

I've heard it's impossible from several sources...and on the flip side of that, there doesn't appear to be any limits on how many us FG can register

Sidenote: The only times I've had any conflict with names and tsuushomei is with the bank. I have an account at Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ that has given me an insane amount of trouble when it comes to the order of my name and company name, romaji, katakana, or kanji....and yet when I had an incoming foreign transfer come in, it was almost rejected because it had my company name as part of the info (as it is registered on the account) and for some reason, the bank insists that must be left out for foreign transfers but must be included for local ones.

[Takechanpoo]

i once had done arubaito of delibery of japan post in my university days. and delivered in z-korean area of my local area, where there is a west tokyo branch of 朝鮮総連. most of them had real name and japanese style name. and there was a shed-like house having a nameplate of one korean name and 3 japanese style names. but who lived in the house was just only one old guy.

[legion]

i once had done arubaito of delibery of japan post in my university days. and delivered in z-korean area of my local area, where there is a west tokyo branch of 朝鮮総連. most of them had real name and japanese style name. and there was a shed-like house having a nameplate of one korean name and 3 japanese style names. but who lived in the house was just only one old guy.

were you delibery healthu?

just kiddin'

[legion]

Has anyone ever heard of such a bizarre situation? I understand that in Japan couples must have the same last name, but that is not true if the Japanese citizen is married to a gaijin.

When dealing with officialdom don't ask why ask how