The changing my surname in Japan saga continues! I think it's year two now. Although changing your surname on the Japanese family register is far from necessary, I thought I'd write a blog for the few people who may be interested in changing their name on their koseki.
For those unfamiliar, a koseki, or family register, is akin to a family tree here in Japan. This legal document serves as a Japanese person's birth certificate and identification in many cases. This document has a record of all births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and adoptions within the family, and all Japanese nationals are required to have one.
As the parent and/or spouse of a Japanese national, you will be recorded on the koseki, but you will not have your own entry. On my daughter and husband's entry, I am listed as "Wife: Angela Smith" and "Mother: Angela Smith".
That was great until I realized, as a married woman with a name change, that all of my new documentation now states Angela Yamada. Unless I carry around my old passport and residence card, I do not have any documentation with my maiden name.
Most people will assume that Smith is my maiden name, and of course, when I married my husband, my name was Angela Smith, but I did go through a name change and would like to show that reflected.
I would like to preface this by saying that your mileage my vary with this procedure. How easy or difficult it is to change your name depends on your origin country, the ward office where your koseki is housed, and even the individual staff within that department.
This is my experience with the Shibuya ward office as an American.
STEP ONE: CALL THE WARD OFFICE
My husband and I decided that we couldn't go wrong if we called the ward office directly and asked them exactly what documentation or procedure was needed. Unfortunately, we didn't really get anywhere, and we ended up calling three times because one staff had no clue, and another staff said we would need something like a "身分登録簿", which I know for a fact doesn't exist in the US. Finally, a staff told us that we needed a document that states why my surname was changed, and to inquire at the U.S. Embassy.
STEP TWO: OBTAIN PROOF OF NAME CHANGE
the actual document I needed to sign
Unless you have a court ordered name change, it will be difficult, nigh impossible to obtain an official U.S. document stating the reason for your name change (especially if married in Japan). Therefore, after inquiring with the embassy, they said what I could do was fill in a blank affidavit form, stating that I changed my name through marriage, and then get that notarized. This is a bit sketchy because, as you may know, the embassy does not check the accuracy of what is stated on the affidavit. So, once again, your mileage may vary.
On the blank affidavit form, I wrote my name, birth date, maiden name, and the statement that I changed my name on (such and such date) due to marriage to (my husband's name). I then got that notarized at the embassy.
STEP THREE: PRESENT DOCUMENTATION TO THE WARD OFFICE
We presented the notarized affidavit (Japanese translation needed) and both my new and old passport (Also Japanese translation needed). The staff were, of course, perplexed, and wanted to absolutely make sure that there wasn't an official U.S. document that states the reason for my name change, and they even searched Pennsylvania laws (where I am from). I showed them the statement on the U.S. embassy website that says the U.S. will not provide any documentation on the marriage, and I also showed them a Pennsylvanian government website stating that I cannot register my overseas marriage.
They then asked the flow of how I changed my last name (Marriage in Japan and then changed my passport using the koseki), and finally, after two hours, they had no choice but to move forward.
The staff typed up a document that I had to sign that states that there is absolutely no official U.S. or Pennsylvanian document that is sufficient enough to provide the needed proof of name change, and only with me signing this document could they then start the procedure of changing my surname.
STEP FOUR: WAIT
The staff stated it would take about a month to finalize everything, and about a week later we got a call asking for additional photocopies of my passport and some pages within it.
STEP FIVE: RECEIVE CHANGED KOSEKI
After about three weeks, we got the call that the procedure has been finalized and that we could pick up our new koseki! Yay!
On the new koseki, I am still listed as Angela Smith next to "Wife of", but there is now a memo that states, "name changed on (date) to Angela Yamada. I am also now listed as Angela Yamada next to "Mother" on my daughter's entry.
CONCLUSION
Now that I understand more about the koseki system and how complex Japanese administrative procedures can be, I can understand why they expect and require such detailed records and information. However, it is very frustrating when their expectations extend beyond Japan and that they are relying on finding American or foreign equivalents of some Japanese documentation to move forward with some procedures.
So, while this procedure was very frustrating and annoying at times, I think it was totally worth going through because when I return to the States to eventually continue the name changing process over there, I have very clear proof of a name change. Thanks, Japan!
Notes:
- Angela Smith/Yamada is not my real name. Don't worry. :P
- You may be able to change your surname with simply your old/new passports. Ask the ward office that applies to you. :)
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