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Serious question about changing from ENG to JPN surname

dadako

後輩
1 Dec 2003
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I have a small question to ask you all, but first I must tell you the story that lead up to my need to question:

A few years ago I lived and worked in Tokyo, where I met a girl and we got very close. Soon it was time for me to leave Tokyo and come back to England, and the girl (I shall leave her name undisclosed) came to see me some months later. We had a pretty hard time of it all, because I had little money and no job. Eventually she decided to pay for me to come back to Japan and spend new year with her parents.

It's quite a touchy subject for them, however their son died of leukaemia when he was about 15. The girls father obviously still missed him, this became even more apparent when forced me to accept three samurai swords, when we were drunk one evening. Now, I didn't have a clue what to say and basically just had to accept what he was trying to do; give me the swords he bought for his son and make them into myself and the girls wedding gift.

I came back to the UK some days later and landed myself a very good job, although it did keep me very busy. I successfully managed to bring the swords back though customs telling them "nanchatte kanatana ne"... The girl came to live with me some months later.

We lived in the UK on a engagement visa, which was surprisingly easy to get I might add. After six months we had to either get married or the girl had to return to Japan. Because of all the arguments we had over this time we both felt it would be best if she went back, however because of the strong bond between us it just wasn't that simple. She decided to send the swords back to her father, to the best of my knowledge.

Ok, fast forward 6 months and I'm back in Japan again on holiday, I meet the girl and once again we try to see if we can salvage the relationship with her coming back to the UK. We almost did it... I met someone else... the girl moved to Italy.
Fast forward another 6 months and she asking me if she can come to the UK for a few days to see me and talk over some things. Basically she didn't ever send the swords back, they were with her friend just five minutes down the road from where I lived!! So to this day I still have the swords. She moved back to Japan and we hardly talk anymore, because we have finally found other people to be with.

Her father said something to me that new years eve which I will never forget; "don't spoil my family name, I have no sons only two daughters, take care of (girl)". To which I promised myself that if I ever moved back to Japan again, I'd change my surname to Okayama.

Now this might sound bizarre... that I understand. But you see, my family name is double barreled and not something I particularly want to keep since my parents got divorced some 10 years ago. I have no intention of marrying her, but would like a Japanese surname.

Fast forward to now, and I'm moving back to Japan in April of this year. My passport is due for renewal and I'm thinking about this whole name change idea again.
Is Okayama a good name? Would I be foolish to change my name to Okayama? My reasons are justified because I can convert my first name into something interesting in Kanji, and to have a seal or kanji name would help a lot in Japanese life. It might also quash a lot of prejudice that some people have for gaijin.

Your thoughts are most welcome.
 
AFAIK, even if you do that, you won't technically (legally) have a "kanji name." You see, your official legal name would be a string of roman letters, not kanji. Because of that, I don't think you would be allowed to use the kanji on any official ID, like gaikokujin torokusho or driver's licence, etc. Of course, even without an Japanese-sounding name you could still have Kanji on your inkan.
 
i dont think it is necessary for u to change the original name .
but it will be helpful to have a kanji name at the same time .especially when u are there
 
So are you people telling me that we could change our names into japanese ones ??

Is it possible to do this from the inside of Japan??
 
I have a seal, it's a custom made one, with my first name in katakana. it costs a little more for a custom made one, but it makes you feel special. so changing your name to okayama to make getting a seal is a bad reason!!! (i know this isn't your main reason for changing your name, but i don't think you should bring the seal into it...)

ok this certainly is interesting, or as you put it bizzare. if i were you and i was going to marry this girl, i think i would change my name given the circumstances. but since you say you're not going to marry her i think you need some common sense slapped into you. ask around, i'm sure you'll find many people willing to slap you.

case closed.
 
it's funny how poeples opinions on this matter are so different. I posted the same question on another Japanese board (mixi), people had even more varying information to give up.

seems like everyone has a different story, usually condridicting :D
 
I don't know about you, but I would not change my surname no matter what,
even if it is a requirement for marrying a girl I love, I would rather not marry her

maybe it has to do with my Chinese blood,
in the Chinese culture it is very degrading to a man.
 
I'm with Okaeri-man, if you were marrying that girl then it would make a bit of sense but just changing your name hasn't got much meaning otherwise.

A rose by any other name....
 
Okay so maybe I was wrong.

TO QUALIFY FOR JAPANESE CITIZENSHIP, YOU MUST:

a) have lived continuously (hiki tsuzuki) at Japanese addresses for five years

b) be over twenty years of age "in terms of mental and legal capacity" (20 sai ijou de honkokuhou ni yotte nouryoku o yuusuru koto)

c) behave well (sokou ga zenryou de aru koto)--and they do check--my dictionary even has the word "sokou chousa" (personal conduct survey) in it

d) demonstrate the means to support your family

e) be willing to relinquish the citizenship of your native country once Japanese citizenship is granted

f) respect the Japanese Constitution (i.e. don't plot against or advocate destroying it, or associate or join a group or political party which does)

www.debito.org: Naturalization Requirements for the US and Japan
 
proof the average joe on this forum doesn't read

(from the same site, further down the page)
OKAY, YOU'VE PASSED THE INSPECTION, AND QUALIFIED. NOW WHAT?

If citizenship is granted after a year or two, you will be issued the proper documents for citizenship and passport, and be given a document (in Japanese) to put your seal on (not sign), saying "I give up my American citizenship and take Japanese citizenship exclusively".

Bring your gaijin passbook, inkan, documents, and driver licence, and do what they say. Choose a name in kanji (with legal Japanese readings) and/or kana, and that's it. You are a Japanese citizen. Congratulations. You've burnt your bridges.
 
Harvey said:
Guys, if you want Japanese citizenship, you -have- to change your name. I'm totally serious!


You said "guys" . Is it you mean girls get to keep their names inorger to get a Japanese citizenship .. ????
 
You know what he meant, 'guys' means in this case 'people'.

You want to be a citizen you can ONLY be a citizen on Japan and lose your name (has to be in katakana or kanji).

Might sound cool now but if you get sick of Japan you can't just up and go home, you have to start all over again, more visas, apply for citizenship if you want it back, etc.
 
I know he meant people :eek: !

I was pointing at whether girls get special "previlages" .. ??

Obviously not. But it makes no difference if you kept your name in KATAKANA , it is still your name y'know , only pronounced and written differently ... ??
 
But he said you can choose a name.
And if he says so...

I don't really like my surname, so that would be a good opportunity to change it.
And if you like the name, you can still keep it when you go back to your own country right?
 
Ewok85 said:
You want to be a citizen you can ONLY be a citizen on Japan
IIRC, there's about a one year "Get your act together and make up your mind" cooling off / trial period where you don't have to give up your previous citizenship.

(Of course that's only IIRC)
 
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