White Face, Japanese Name
I mentioned in a previous entry that I adopted Sawa’s last name after our marriage. We wanted to have the same last name and, of the two, I thought “Senzaki” would flow better in both of our native countries. (Besides, had we adopted my name, “TransGram” would not have been nearly as attractive as a translation company.) To an extent, I was correct, but I have also encountered a number of situations where having a Japanese last name, when I am clearly not of Japanese descent, has proven slightly or humorously inconvenient. For example, the Sagawa Delivery man (the same guy, mind you), always looks suspicious when I sign for packages under the name “Senzaki” and repeated asks me if that’s my real name. I have also been ignored by taxi drivers, whose services I reserved under “Senzaki,” because they didn’t think it possible that they were looking for a white guy. I consider that a complement to my Japanese pronunciation over the phone.
These issues I can deal with, or laugh off. However, I made one miscalculation with my new name that repeatedly causes headaches when it comes to official paperwork: I thought that changing my legal name in English to “Senzaki” would allow me to register my legal name in Japanese as in kanji 先崎 rather than in katakana センザキ. In some places, it has been allowed, but in others it has not. Additionally, most official documents (driver’s license, etc.) will only list my name in romaji (English letters). However, I was able to get my name recorded in kanji as a legal alias, in order to register my personal seal. So, I have at least four different legal names with IDs for each. What’s my name? Say my name!
Who’s the Boss?
Adding to my registration woes is the matter of the “Head of Household” or 世帯主. Under the old Alien Registration Law, I could be the “Head of Household” for my own registration purposes, but as a foreigner, I could not be Head of Household for a Japanese national- such as my wife or daughter- since foreigners were not part of the 住民票 (Juminhyo) system. In cases like mine, the foreigner is listed as Head of Household on his own records and the Japanese spouse as listed as the Head of Household on hers- with a footnote to the effect that “The actual Head of Household is . . .” Ours is a bureaucratically confused marriage of equals, I suppose.
The Importance of Footnotes: Changes accompanying the New Alien Registration System
Effective July 15th, the old Alien Registration System will go away. While we foreigners are not required to immediately exchange their Alien Registration Cards for the new 在留カード (Residence Cards), we will officially be entered in the Juminhyo system. For most foreigners, I assume this is a relatively painless process but, for people like me who accidentally made everything more complicated than it needs to be, the process is not so simple. Here is what I have been able to determine so far:
仮住民票: Provisional Juminhyo (for verification purposes)
Beginning last week, City Halls across Japan began sending these forms out to all registered foreigners to verify their information before it goes into the Juminhyo system. The form itself is fairly simple- just check the data and contact your city hall if there are any errors. Unfortunately, regarding my other concerns, the explanation sheet that I received left more questions than answers, so I’ve had to do some digging.
印鑑登録 Registered Seals
If you have registered your hanko under a Japanese name, you need to make sure that the Japanese name is written on the 仮住民票 in parentheses as a legal alias. Otherwise, your seal registration will become invalid on July 15th, and you will probably have to get a new 実印 official seal, with your name written exactly as it appears on your Juminhyo, before you will be allowed to register again.
*This does not apply to lower-level hankos, just as the Bank Seal (銀行印). It only appeals to the big, formal one- it likely has your first and last name on it- if you have it registered.
Head of Household
According to documents that I found on a Fukushima prefecture website, multi-national families’ Head of Household issues should resolve themselves automatically.
In cases where the foreign spouse is the “real” Head of Household, as noted in their current Alien Registration and in the footnote of the Japanese spouse’s Juminhyo, then once foreigners are merged into the Juminhyo system, the “Head of Household” entry in all Japanese spouses and Japanese children should automatically change to the foreign spouse’s name. (Some municipalities may not list the foreign “real” head of household in the footnotes, so if it doesn’t appear there, you may want to check with your City Office).
Of course, I do not believe in trusting any bureaucracy to take care of the things it should do, so I will be checking my wife and daughter’s Juminhyos immediately after the change! I’ll let you know how that turns out, later.
In cases where the Japanese spouse is the “real” head of household, no change should be necessary. The Japanese spouse’s name should already be filled in the the foreigner’s Alien Registration as the “Head of Household.”
The Disappearing Digit: Alien Registration Number
If you’re really checking the data on your 仮住民票, you might have noticed that your Alien Registration Number is different from your card number. This is an intelligence check to make sure you’re really reading it carefully! Actually, the last digit just refers to how many times you’ve had your card issued. Since that’s not relevant to the Juminhyo and, under the new system you won’t be getting new Alien Registration Cards issued, so it’s not important anymore. Kind of like that pinky on your left hand.
Just asking, but. . .
if the Alien Registration system is going away, why does my Juminhyo have a space for my Alien Registration number?
Hi Travis, long timer here with an oddball question on this topic. I had a Kanji Tsumeisho until last year when I got married. My wife too my foreign last name in Katakana which gave me the unique opportunity to change my Tsumeisho to simply the Katakana version of my first and last name. Now the oddball part comes in with an old bank account that was opened in my old Kanji Tsumeisho name. This account went unused for 15 years but recently a former employer of mine (short contract) was able to create a credit card with it and charge up a storm before skipping the country. I tried to speak with the credit card issuer but the information didn’t quite match and I no longer have an ID with this old Tsumeisho. Not only will they not deal with me, the suggestion was the bank will sue me for the unpaid balance and it seems my credit history is toast according to the CIC. I’ve taken a police report but it’s not much of a report as the culprit is no longer in Japan. Assuming a lawsuit is filed, it will be under my old Tsumeisho. Can they actually hold me liable for this stuff if it’s no longer officially linked to me and the Tsumeisho on the MyNumber card is different? As for the CIC, if we assume the credit is ruined, would it create an entirely separate profile by using my new Tsumeisho, new phone number, new employer, and new address?
Hi RJ,
I am sorry to hear about your situation.
I think you would be better off talking to a lawyer about this case since I am not in a position to offer legal advice. I do not have any relevant experience, since bank accounts are the one area that have always insisted that I use my legal name in romaji as shown on my Alien Registration Card/Residence Card. I’m not sure how your Tsumeisho is linked to your identity for legal liability purposes.
You mentioned that the credit card company won’t deal with you, but how about the bank? They are the ones that would have had your original information on file and would have approved the fraudulent paperwork from the employer to have the credit card debit from that account, so they should have records that you may be able to challenge and resolve.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thanks for the reply Travis!
Definitely need to speak with an attorney to find out about civil liability here. With how strict they are on naming formats, you’d expect that to apply here as well but too risky to assume.
Unfortunately, same issue with the bank account.
Hi Travis,
I hope you’re in the best of your health. I just need the latest info regarding new visas for Japan.
As far as I am concerned, Japan’s borders are closed for new Immigrants. When will they allow to process new visa applications? As I am planning to move as a student. My expected departure from Pakistan is in the mid of September. Please guide me about the latest updates regarding New Visa Application.
Looking forward to your productive response.
Regards,
Hasan Afzal.
Hi Hasan Afzal,
Unfortunately, you are right. Japan’s borders are closed now (April 2021) to all new foreign national arrivals. They have not given any indication of when this restriction might be lifted, either.
My day job is overseeing a university exchange program, so I am constantly watching for any news about when borders will reopen to students, but so far there is no information. As soon as I hear anything, I will share it here.
In the meantime, you should also be in touch with the university or other school that you plan to enroll in in Japan. They should be keeping you up to date on the border situation, too!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Is it a compulsory requirement to show a bank statement to get a student visa in Japan? If yes, then what should be the minimum bank balance, and what is the procedure? Do we only have to show that amount only once? or they will keep that amount till the tenure of our visa?
Could you please guide me about this bank statement procedure?
Hi Hasan Afzal,
I have heard that it is not necessarily compulsory anymore (as of quite recently), as long as your visa sponsor in Japan is willing to certify that they know that you have enough funds to cover your expenses in Japan. However, your sponsor, especially if it is a university, is probably going to still want to see proof that you have enough financial resources, since they are the ones that are going to be responsible for you.
Your proof does not necessarily need to be your bank statement. If someone else will be your financial sponsor, it could be their bank statement or their salary statement showing their regular income.
In general, the requirement is that you have at least 80,000 yen per month of financial support available to you, after tuition. So, it depends on how long of a visa you are applying for. You would multiply the monthly amount above by the amount of time that you will be spending in Japan and add the amount of your tuition. If you can show that amount of resources, then you should be fine.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Can anyone help me please?
I will be 84 yrs old in about 7 weeks time. I want to visit my son in Japan
and stay with him for an indefinite time. Am I alright to do so.
I am English and my son is married to a Japanese National about 25 years ago and has lived in Japan ever since . I would love to see my four grand children.
Hi Adrienne Joyce Day,
In your case, you should be able to travel to Japan on the UK and Japan’s mutual visa waiver program and stay for up to 90 days. However, there is no longer-term visa available for parents of legal residents of Japan, at least as far as I know.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 situation, Japan is not accepting new arrivals from most countries in the world, including the UK, so you will not be able to travel until the government ends its immigration restrictions.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis and Harlock
Further update on this, I was able to register a legal alias straightaway with a kanji surname to match my husbands, as well as update my koseki the same way.
It may depend on which ward office, but as I’m a wife there was no problem matching it up
My health insurance card has kanji too
Hi Shelly,
Thank you for sharing that!
I haven’t updated it on my wife’s koseki yet, but I also have my legal alias registered on my juminhyo and insurance card in kanji. I’m hoping the Koseki process is as easy as you make it sound 🙂
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis, very interesting post, thank you!
I have a question that you might be able to answer, as someone who has adopted a Japanese surname. I too have gotten married to a Japanese National, and have legally changed my name in my home country to a Japanese surname, obviously with english letters on my passport.
As I am due to move to Japan very soon, am I able to register my official surname with Kanji at the city hall upon arrival on my jyuminhyo? Or do they tend to be the ones who ask for Katakana as I’m clearly not Japanese?
If not is one able to have a legal alias with a Kanji surname as soon as they arrive and register it that way? Or do you have to be using the alias for some length of time before you can register it?
I’d like to make a kanji hanko as I’m married with the same name as my japanese family, and it would be nice for me to actually have the same surname in kanji 🙂 and I’d like to have it all consistent from the start is possible to avoid problems down the line.
thanks for all your help as usual!
regards
Shelly
Hi Shelly,
The city hall is one place where you will have to legally register your name in English (romaji). It has to match your passport (and residence card), letter for letter. Another place that has to match using English letters is any bank where you open an account. (Although, you will also register a katakana pronunciation at the bank). At the city hall any bank, your first name will be your first and any middle names all mashed into one.
Your name will be in katakana or a combination of kanji and katakana on your National Health Insurance card, though, since those cannot be printed in English, for some reason.
However, there is no requirement that a “normal” hanko (ginko in/mitome in) match your name. You could use whatever you want, and I used my last name in kanji even before I had it legally registered as an alias. The only time you might need a legal alias is when you create a “Jitsu in”, which is the most formal personal seal and is registered at the city hall – it becomes the equivalent of a notarized signature.
The policies for Jitsu In vary from city to city. When I first registered mine, I had to provide proof that the characters on my seal were indeed my own name. In my case, I was able to use my employee ID from work, which had my name in kanji, as proof that it was my name, and they accepted that. (That was also when they registered it as a legal alias).
Sorry I rambled a bit there, but I hope that got the general point across!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much Travis that is very helpful information. Ive never known anywhere to be so heavy with paperwork it worries me on making mistakes. We’ve already had countless arguments with the city hall over the Koseki XD
Thats really good to know though thank you, as i will not be working straight off, i will ask my husband to try and get my National Health through on a Kanji surname through his work. Hopefully the city hall can accept this as proof i use the surname when i do come to register it as an alias before making an official Hanko. In the meantime, i will have fun making mitome and ginkou in with my kanji name 🙂
I will be arriving in Japan in April, although I had a straight forward COE with no outstanding docs or questions, it took 5 months to get it! Ive been so patient with things but the end is now in sight. I think the immigration office is heavily weighed down so in case anyone asks you 😉
Hi Shelly,
I’m sorry to hear about your Koseki conflicts. What kind of trouble have you had with them? (I actually haven’t gone about changing my name in my wife’s koseki yet, since we don’t live near her honseki, and only go back there over holidays.)
You might be able to register a jitsuin stamp in your city even if it does not match your legal name. I would recommend checking with them to see what their requirements are. In my case, even though I had my kanji name on my NHI card, that card also showed my middle name (as part of my first name), so if I had used that as my proof of ID, then I would have had to include the first and middle name in katakana. In my current city, though, they’re not nearly as strict.
5 months to get the CoE seems like a long time, but I’m glad to hear that you received it with no problem! Good luck with the final preparations for your move to Japan.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
according to this you may have a case to get your surname in kanji on your resident card as your husband’s koseki would be proof of the proper characters the roman letters in your passport represent. not sure you’d be able to do anything with the rest of your name though.
http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/q-and-a_page2.html#q48-a
Hi Harlock,
Thank you for sharing this, but my reading of the question you supplied limits the use of kanji names to people who can produce official documentation from their home country of their own identity showing their names in kanji (such as Chinese citizens). For residents who have been in Japan for a long time and no longer have a way to obtain documentation from their home countries, they would be able to use their former Alien Registration Card in Japan as proof that their kanji names had been legally recognized in the past.
As far as I can understand, simply marrying a Japanese person would not be enough, since it does not mean an automatic name change in Japan, you would have to show proof that you had changed your name to kanji legally in your home country for this exception to apply.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt to try, but I would not put too much hope into it.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz