To change your name after marriage in Japan, you must obtain a copy of your family register (koseki) and submit a notification of marriage to your local government office within 90 days of getting married. In Japan, it was customary for women to change their last name to their husband’s after marriage, dating back to the Meiji era (1868-1912). However, in recent years, there has been a shift towards more gender-neutral surnames.
Japanese citizens have six months after getting married to change their name by filing a name change report with their registered city hall. In 95% of cases, it is the woman who changes her name, often with reluctance. If you change your nationality to Japan, your last name can be changed to your spouse’s name. If a Japanese spouse changes their family name to their spouses, the name change must be filed within six months of the marriage.
In Canada, the name on your birth certificate won’t change, but you can change to your married name. Some women prefer to drop their maiden name and adopt their husband’s surname as their new surname.
The Japanese Civil Code and amendments made as of April 2022 allow men and women aged 18 and over to marry in Japan. Changes to both first and last names must be done by mail or fax, and must include a name change certificate from a provincial/territorial vital statistics department or a court order issued under an act. Couples are legally required to choose either the husband or wife’s surname, with most choosing the husband’s surname. A Japanese citizen may take on their foreign partner’s last name by performing registration at a city office within six months from the marriage date. If more than six months have passed, a Japanese spouse will have to apply for a name change through the family court.
Japan is the only country with a law forcing couples to adopt the same surname after marriage. On average, Japanese people marry around the same age. To change the family name in the family register, a request for changing description in the register needs to be submitted to a public office.
📹 Attempting a Marriage Visa and Changing my Last Name in Japan
Lifeinjapan #traveltojapan #internationalcouple Married in Japan and all I have left to get is a Spouse visa! :::::♥ ♥::::: WEBSITE …
What do you call a married woman who keeps her maiden name?
Let’s start with the easy one. Mrs. is the proper title for a married woman. In the past, you only used “Mrs.” if you took your husband’s last name. Times have changed! If you know the woman is married, use “Mrs.”. Then there is Miss. You can call an unmarried woman “Miss,” from little girls to adult women. At a certain age, “Miss” can seem too young. That’s where “Miss” and “Ms.” differ. Photo by @jessfairchild. Invitation suite by Minted.
What is the surname rule in Japan?
What are the laws in Japan? In Japan, married couples must use the same last name.
In 1947, the code was changed to allow women to choose their own last name. Most Japanese wives take their husbands’ surnames. Professor Simon Avenell from the Australian National University (ANU) College of Asia and the Pacific said that Japan’s civil and family law systems are patriarchal and reinforce the existing system. Even after World War II, the practice continued because of social convention and gender norms.
How much does it cost to legally change your name in Japan?
Can anyone change their name easily? It takes about a month and costs about 3,000 yen. In 2017, 4,982 people changed their names. Of those, 4,561 cases, or 92%, were approved. The Mainichi Shimbun answers common questions about name changes in Japan.
Related: Teenager ashamed of given name Prince adopts traditional one; Related: Court allows man to change given name, surname over fears of gang retaliation; Related: News Navigator: What is an era name? I heard of someone in Japan who changed their name because they didn’t like their first name. Is this true?
Is a marriage certificate proof of name change?
You don’t have to change your name after marriage. Your marriage certificate is proof that you can change your name. Send your marriage certificate to your bank or work with a letter to change your documents and records to show your new surname. The letter should say how you want your new name to appear. You also need a new passport from the Passport Office if you are changing your surname.
Do I need to change my passport after marriage?
Yes. If you’ve legally changed your name, you need a new passport. This includes name changes. If you have changed your name for any reason, you will need to update your passport. I’m happy with the service from the start. I was renewing my UK passport from Canada. Saretha answered all my questions and concerns promptly until I received my document in the mail. The renewal of our passports was handled quickly and professionally, even though it was done via email from NZ to the UK. I was impressed with the service I received from UK Abroad. I am over 60 and had no experience with online forms. I was nervous about doing this, but Miguel from Uk Abroad helped me. I did everything quickly and easily. My passport arrived in three weeks. Thanks, Sandra.
Do I need to register my marriage in Japan?
To marry in Japan, you must follow Japanese law. To get married in Japan, you have to register at a municipal government office. This is the only way to get a legal marriage in Japan. Religious or fraternal ceremonies are not legal marriages. Consular officers cannot marry people. Who can get married in Japan? The Japanese Civil Code says that you must be at least 18 to get married.
The male partner must be at least 18 and the female partner must be at least 18. People under 18 cannot get married in Japan without their parents’ approval. Most people related to each other by blood, adoption, or marriage cannot get married in Japan.
Is it easy to change your name in Japan?
You have two options. You can become a Japanese citizen by naturalization. You can choose a name with kanji. You can also register an official alias with the city hall.
Registering an alias is tricky because each city hall has different requirements. I’ve registered an alias twice with city hall. The first time, it was my name in katakana to make applications easier. I had to show proof that I was using the katakana before I could register it. The second time, it was my new married name in kanji/katakana. The worker at city hall suggested it, and I didn’t have any proof of the name.
So it depends on the situation when registering an alias. It needs to be a name you use in an official capacity. Your current name in katakana is easy to register. A new name with kanji? You might have trouble proving you use it.
Do Japanese brides take husband’s last name?
Japan. In Japan, married couples with different surnames are not considered husband and wife. This means that 96% of married Japanese women take their husbands’ surnames. When a woman takes her husband’s last name, it replaces her previous name. This is called her “maiden name.” A married name is a family name or last name adopted upon marriage. In some places, changing names needs a legal process. When people marry or divorce, the legal aspects of changing names may be included in the process. In the Anglophone West, women are more likely to change their surnames upon marriage than men. Some men may also change their last names upon marriage, including same-sex couples. In this article, “birth name,” “family name,” “surname,” “married name,” and “maiden name” refer to patrilineal surnames unless explicitly described as referring to matrilineal surnames.
When you get married in Japan do they change their name?
In Japan, couples choose which surname to share when they marry. In 95% of cases, the woman changes her name. However, things might be different if the Japanese government allowed married couples to use different surnames. The study included a scenario based on a 2022 survey by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation. In this scenario, 39.3% of 1,000 employees aged 20 to 59 said they wanted to share a surname. Yoshida’s study, commissioned by the Think Name Project and other organizations that want to legalize the option to select your surname, projected that by 2531, only 7.96% of the Japanese population would be named Sato.
Can Brits get married in Japan?
If you are a British national planning to marry in Japan, you must take these steps and register the marriage at a Japanese municipal office. 1. Contact your local Japanese municipal office to find out about marriage laws and documents.
📹 JAPANESE PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS FORRENEWAL/CHANGE NAME/
Japanese Passport Application/Renewal *Name Change on Japanese Passport/Due Marriage/Adoption Processing takes as little …
Might be good to note that this is a spouse visa of a Japanese citizen. I have a spouse visa, but my husband is not Japanese. So I do not have benefits like being able to work more than part time. I’m sure I can apply to get that, but some of those benefits aren’t given to those holding a foreign spouse visa 🙂
Congratulations! This takes me back, I know from experience it can be quite stressful. In my case it was a bit more paperwork because of having two nationalities, and that’s why I opted not to change my name, even though I wanted to… it would have been too difficult. It didn’t make any difference though, I got the 1 year visa two times, the third time this year I got a 3 year one. They don’t care about your name as long as they can see you are a real couple!
Congrats on the spousal visa! Here in the US there’s a reality show called 90 Day Fiancé. The couples go through what you talked about with the process if there’s a big age difference, meeting online etc. Also the drama of a criminal past or a delay in divorce papers from a previous marriage before getting married! Lol You had it easy! 😊
Congratulations! I came over on a 1 year spousal visa. It took two months to get and, yes, the paperwork was crazy!. The nyc embassy was not very helpful but the Ward Office of the prefecture where we would be staying initially was very helpful with all the forms and requirements. Hopefully renewal (much easier!) will be for 3 years or more.
My only concern is the brief taping done inside the immigration office, I’ve been inside the ones in America before and they won’t allow you to film inside at all. They won’t even allow you to bring a phone in. Not sure how it is in Japan but this seems inappropriate to film, however brief, especially since no ones faces were blurred. Congrats on your visa 😊
Congratulations on the spouse visa! I couldn’t find much information about changing names for US citizens while in Japan, but since getting married last year I have been contemplating the same, so your article has been most helpful! However, when I went to the US embassy they told me that in order to change the name on the passport that I needed to change the registered name with my social security number first. Were you able to change your name without doing anything with social security?
I got a spouse VISA while in Japan and later she got a green card when we moved to the US. Both processes were super easy for us. The American consulate in Japan said getting a VISA and green card for a Japanese spouse immigrating to the US is automatic because most Japanese people don’t want to go to the US unless there’s a legit need. And the same is true for Americans going to Japan. Countries only scrutinize when they’re coming from places where it sucks so bad they will lie to get in. My brother married a girl from South America who was in the US on a student VISA. They had to hire a lawyer to help them through the process.
Kelly. Congratulations. It’s a lovely article. I’m British and moved to Tokyo to live with my Japanese wife and daughter in January. I obtained my visa in UK before I came here but went through similar emotions. I agree with your comments about some people here not caring about coronavirus. I fear Japan is heading for a disaster and many people seem to be unaware or they don’t bother.. I hope I’m wrong. Take care
Did you have to apply to change your social security card first? I’m also trying to change my name but it seems like a loop. They ask for a marriage certificate that identifies you by your old name and new name. Your article is the only real information I can find on this stuff! It’s all so overwhelming. So glad to see you got your name change! It must be so satisfying! Congrats~
Hi there I am so glad you are starting a great life in Japan one day in the future I’m going to start a new life just like you I’m so happy you left Japan and you have a Japanese husband it’s a beautiful country and this is where I’m going to start my dream in my new life I’m happy for the both of you
Not Japan related, but spousal visa related. We live in Korea, the process is similar to Japan in many regards, except culturally women don’t don’t take the husband’s family name, and there are lots of reasons behind this. Because we aren’t staying in Korea but moving to my husband’s home country, I didn’t change my last name because that would mean I would have to change ALL of my other official documents, and that was too much of a hassle to do, so I was just like, nope, not gonna deal with it. My husband is French, I’m from the US, but we got married in Korea. Getting married was a serious struggle. France, unlike the US, or Korea, or Japan, does most of their immigration vetting before getting married, we even had to sit down with an embassy agent to announce we wanted to get married, and that agent had to tell us all everything that needed to be done for the marriage to be recognized in France(and also mention things like polygamy and bigamy, which the latter is really against the law in France and is relatively easy to do in the US), which was a butt ton of expensive paperwork. But anyways, since France made getting married a bit difficult, they make getting a spouse visa relatively easy, because all the hard work is done already, and the foreign spouse is already in the French system by that point. Even during this time of pandemic, while the embassy is not taking applications for visas for anyone, they are taking visa applications for spouses/immediate family of French citizens, so even the pandemic isn’t taking away my chance of getting a spouse visa, lol.
HI! I am an American woman living in Japan with my Japanese husband. So, I was wondering if you could answer a few of my questions about the name change. I have yet to change my last name because the city office worker shocked me by stating that “I could never fully use my husband’s last name because I am a “foreigner”. Did you have a similar experience? Also, will most places (banks, hopsitals, etc…) recognize it in Kanji or in Katakana? I am half Japanese & half American, but because I am an American citizen (“foreigner”) my Japanese middle name is written in Katakana. So I kind of dont want to waste my time to change my last name, when it still wont be fully recognized and not written in Kanji. Lastly, all you had to do to change your last name was having your name changed on the passport? SORRY for the long comment, but I’ve been debating on the name change for the past year now ><
It used to be less couples like you two in last 50 years…even in 80’s and 90’s, especially Asian man and Caucasian woman.It’s so wonderful to love someone black or white, Asian or Caucasian. I think in 50 years, everybody will be some double…all around the world…and the doubles will be tougher biologically…anyways….good for you…hang in there..go for it!
Kelly, What is your American last name before? I have a nephew who married to a Japanese girl and has three kids now. All of their kids speak Japanese. They now live in the States. Her husband doesn’t speak Japanese and she still keeps her last name. I like Western people. They don’t care what the person is rich, poor, uneducated, etc… as long as he or she likes them. In Asia, they tend to look for nice guy with a rich family. Or the guy needs to have higher education. Congratulation to get married and get a visa to stay in Japan.