Can I have an official Japanese name even if I don't naturalize?

Short answer: Yes! Even one in 漢字 {kanji} (Japanese ideographs)! You don't need to tattoo it on your arm or neck like a NBA athlete or state college student to make it official either!

Very long answer: During my early years in Japan, I used to wonder about the 再入国入出国記録 {sainyūkoku nyūshutsu-koku kiroku} (reentrant's disembarkation / embarkation) card that was attached into my U.S. passport every time I went overseas. In addition to a field for the 氏名 {shimei} (name), there were also fields above it for a 漢字 {kanji} (Chinese/Japanese/Korean ideograph) version of the name. As a test, I once filled out that field with 当て字 {ateji} (ideographs corresponding to the sounds of a non-Japanese word) that matched with my name at the time.

When I showed it to immigration, the officer smiled and said, "Sorry, that field's only for people that have registered 漢字 {kanji} with the legal organs in their home country." At first I felt a little left out, but then I noticed that the field for the latin character passport name had three fields (an extra field for the middle name), so perhaps countries like China and Korea that have no real concept of multiple given names feel equally left out.

I didn't know it at the time, but I would eventually qualify to fill out those fields, even as an American.

The Easy Way: the A.R.C. 通称 {tsūshō} (alias) field

I did this when I first came to Japan back in the early nineties. All non-Japanese in Japan are allowed to choose a Japanese alias that's documented on the ID that most non-Japanese carry on them (by law): the 外国人登録証明書 {gaikokujin tōroku shōmeisho} (Alien Registration Card aka "A.R.C.").

The alias field has five primary uses for non-Japanese:

1. Disambiguation. The fact that you have two different scripts and two different sets of native sounds, neither being a proper superset/subset of the other, means that the way to write a non-Japanese passport name using 仮名 {kana} (Japanese sylabet) is often a matter of opinion. Spelling-based or sound-based? Family name first or last? Use the 長音符 {chōompu} (long vowel extender) or repeat the vowel? Use fancy non-standard non-traditional character combos like 「ヴィ、ッド、ッグ」 {"vi", ddo, ggu"} or traditional, pronounceable by monolingual Japanese, approximations?
   
   If there's no set-in-stone Japanese version (the alias), you'll find your name spelled different ways, with different name and word orders, on all sorts of documents through the years depending on who was tasked with transcribing your name.
   
   
2. Less embarrassing names. Some names in English are identical to or very close to not so pleasant Japanese words. For example: ゲリー {Gerī} (Gary) is close to the word 下痢 {geri} (diarrhea), so people with this given name often spell it as ゲーリー {Gērī} or ゲイリー {Geirī}.
   
   
3. Name simplification. If you're like me, you may have a bad memory for names. You have an even worse with names that aren't in a language you're familiar with. That's why you've probably met a few Japanese businessmen who go by "Mack" or "Toshi"— simplified versions of their names for success in international business.
   
   I learned early on from my Japanese-only mother-in-law that even if a name is transliterated into 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet), it's un-remember-able if:
   
   
   
   • The person is over 40 and is monolingual (Japanese only), and
   • The word/phrase is over four syllables and not in an abridged Japanese dictionary, or
   • The word/phrase contains exotic 仮名 {kana} combinations not found in real Japanese words (such as スィ {si} and トゥ {tu}).
   
   And even if The Humans are capable of remembering the name, The Machines often are not. Computers and paper forms designed for Japanese names sometimes make aggressive assumptions regarding the length of Japanese names (for instance, a max length of six or seven characters) and the JIS characters permitted. Too long a name or too many exotic characters and you may find the old Japanese machines (sometimes even new web forms on the internet) and paper forms refusing to allow either your Japanese or your alphabet passport name.
   
   
4. Discrimination reduction and business purposes. Non-Japanese Asians (and sometimes non-Japanese non-Asians) sometimes choose Japanese names — such as 山田太郎 {YAMADA Tarō} and 山田花子 {YAMADA Hanako} (which are like Japan's version of "John Smith and Jane Smith") — for business purposes and to avoid discrimination that's name based. Someone who is East Asian and born in Japan (meaning Japanese is their native tongue), like most 特別永住者 {tokubetsu eijūsha} (special permanent residents), usually can't be distinguished from a Japanese by appearance, clothes, or language ability.
   
   And even if you're not East Asian and/or you don't speak Japanese with native pronunciation, you can't hide your race, but you can still get your foot-in-the-door (if the person chooses you, unseen and unheard, on paper) and then let your skills and abilities allay their fears of the foreign once you're face-to-face.
   
   
5. Some non-Japanese just think it's cool. New country. New language. Why not a new name? An alias gives you the best of both worlds in that you keep your legal passport name but get a neat new name for your new life in Japan. With an alias written on an A.R.C. card, there's a lot less chance of remorse over the name you've chosen — unlike inking it into your body in the form of a tattoo.

I'm not sure if the same rules for babies and naturalization regarding forbidden names also apply to legal aliases (I wonder if マックラビン {MakkuRabin} (McLOVIN) is okay?). I do know that the 中黒 {nakaguro} (ideograph width middle dot: 「・」) and other Japanese punctuation like 「＝」, which are often used in non-Japanese names as word start/end delimiters, are not allowed. Instead, a 全角スペース {zenkaku supēsu} (ideograph width space) separates the names.

Once you get your alias registered, it will be noted with a tiny date, in ink, with a tiny 区役所 {kuyakusho} (ward office's) 印鑑 {inkan} (certification stamp), in the 記載欄 {kisairan} (notation area) on the back of the card. This means many people won't notice the name unless they flip the card over. I've even seen 公務員 {kōmuin} (public officials) fail to check the back. It won't appear on the front of A.R.C., right below your passport name in parentheses, until it needs renewing (usually five years), or is "lost" or "accidentally" destroyed and then re-issued. If you get a 運転免許証 {unten menkyo-shō} (Japanese driver's license), the alias can be to the right of your passport name. But you have to ask and remind them to put it on the card.

In my early days in Japan, bureaucrats and paper-pushers were relieved when they saw recognizable Japanese in the 氏名 {shimei} (name) field on my I.D. Many banks and other computer systems in the early 90s weren't able to register account names in anything other than 漢字 {kanji} or 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet).

In the 21st century, though, things have changed. They encourage your bank account to use your passport name. And, depending on the transaction (for example, international money orders) they now insist on using your passport name.

This isn't some sort of international enlightenment on Japan's part. They do this to make it easy to enforce and crackdown on international money laundering and tax fraud. In other words, financial and other international institutions want that passport name so they can, when necessary and permitted by law, correlate it to a matching account name overseas. Because usually a conversion of a foreign name to 仮名 {kana} (the Japanese syllabet) is one-way; you can't for certain convert it back to the original passport spelling without knowing what the name was to begin with.

Sometimes east-meets-west has to bend. When I took out a 35 year loan for my first home, they asked me to write my passport name — for the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph — rather than my 通称 {tsūshō} (official legal alias) on my A.R.C. But, they said, could you please convert it to カタカナ {katakana} (Japanese syllabet sometimes used like italics in English for foreign words), as their computer systems and rules required? I explained to them that in my experience, writing my full name, including the middle name, was over 17 characters (compared to 4 to 6 characters for Japanese names), was fraught with peril, and all my Japanese credit cards and every other bill has my legal alias, so if you're going to track me down in Japan for defaulting on my loan, the alias is a much more reliable ID than an approximation of my passport name. Yes, yes, they knew and completely understood, and if it was up to them, they'd allow it, but rules are rules. Wanting the loan, I complied.

The next morning, the real estate agent brokering my loan called me on my cell phone at work and sounded urgent. Could I please go back to the bank as soon as possible, and redo my loan using my 5 character Japanese legal alias? "Why the change of heart?" I asked. Apparently, they couldn't process my paperwork with my Japan-ized passport name because the computer wasn't allowing them to input a name that long.

The Harder Way: getting on the 戸籍 {koseki} (family register)

There are some places, however, where the alias isn't recognized or allowed. One place is the 戸籍 {koseki}. Even though both the 戸籍 {koseki} (family register) section and the 外国人登録 {gaikokujin tōroku} (alien registration) are usually in the same building/room in the 区役所 {kuyakusho} (ward office aka city hall), they use separate systems when it comes to foreigner names:

• the 外国人登録 {gaikokujin tōroku} (alien registration) uses the latin letter passport name, and allows the registration of a 通称 {tsūshō} (legal alias).
• the 戸籍 {koseki} department wants passport names transliterated into カタカナ {katakana} and doesn't allow or recognize aliases, except if the name has registered 漢字 {kanji} (ex. Chinese national names) or the passport surname is obviously Japanese and has a connection to the 戸籍 {koseki} — meaning the same last name — and that person (usually the Japanese spouse) agrees in writing to allow it. It's this exception that will allow a non-Japanese to register a 漢字 {kanji} name even if they're not Chinese or Korean.

I did this after I got permanent residency (which is not required to naturalize).

Most people change their name to a Japanese one upon naturalizing. This is easy to do because it's built into the naturalization process. I, however, changed my name slightly before naturalizing, in my state of residence in the U.S.

Changing your name beforehand is something that is not required for naturalizing. It's also a little risky. What if you're not accepted? However, I had a few pragmatic reasons to do this, the #1 reason being that I had a lot of accounts and other financial instruments in the States — some of them linked to things in Japan. I knew that I'd have my U.S. passport for a couple more years until I renounced, and I thought the process of doing the name change on all these U.S. instruments, which was going to happen anyway, would be easier with American "breeder" documents (a U.S. State Name Change court order and a before & after copies of my U.S. passports) than it would be with Japanese "breeder" documents.

In the U.S., there is no concept of a federal name change. Changing your name is handled by your state of residence, and the laws and procedures are slightly different for each one. Changing your name for reasons other than marriage is uncommon (Prince and I have something in common besides our short statures!), and a male taking the wife's family name is rare. Unfortunately, because changing your name is a state-based procedure, it's not something that can be done from the U.S. embassy or its consulates in Japan. It can usually be done by mail though and by searching the internet for the your state's name change procedures. Like naturalizing, you don't need a lawyer to change your name, but you may have to pay a fee.

But in general, it can be done, so long as you have no criminal record and the court thinks you aren't changing your name for the purpose of committing fraud or creating confusion. Once that is done, you will immediately need that initial zygote breeder document (the embossed court name change order) to create two new supporting documents: a passport with the new name and a new social security card (necessary for changing a lot of financial accounts in the States). Both of these changes can be done at the U.S. embassy.

One you have the combination of: old cancelled + new passport + original embossed state name change order (with a Japanese translation) + written permission from your spouse to use her 漢字 {kanji} with your name on her 戸籍 {koseki}, you can change your name in Japan.

Once you change your passport name, you get a brand new 外国人登録証明書 {gaikokujin tōroku shōmeisho} (alien registration card) and 運転免許証 {unten menkyoshō} (Japanese driver's license) rather than a note in the 記載欄 {kisairan} (comments section) on the back, as a name change is considered a "major" change worthy of a new card.

Personal and off-topic: And upon doing that, my decade-long quest to beat the 公務員 {kōmuin} (public servant) at the 目黒区役所 {Meguro kuyakusho} (Meguro Ward Office) comes to a close. I win.

Two Caveats

1. Your name on the 戸籍 {koseki} (family register), even though it's in 漢字 {kanji}, will have a 読点 {tōten} (Japanese comma) between the family and the given name, whereas your spouse and children will not (they will be separated by a space or nothing). The "読点 {tōten} for foreigners" rule exists so they can easily tell where the surname ends and where the given names begin in names written カタカナ {katakana}.
2. The section of the ward office that deals with 住民票 {jūminhyō} (resident registration) uses the 外国人登録 {gaikokujin tōroku} (alien registration) passport name converted into カタカナ {katakana}, and will not reference or use 漢字 {kanji} either in the 通称 {tsūshō} (legal alias) or 戸籍 {koseki} (family register).

Naturalization Connection

The 帰化許可申請書 {kika kyoka shinseisho} (Naturalization Permission Application Form) and other related paperwork require you, like the 戸籍 {koseki} (family register), to write your passport name transliterated into カタカナ {katakana} or write your name in 漢字 {kanji} if your name is registered in 漢字 {kanji} somewhere.

In the example forms in the てびき {tebiki} (guideline book), the applicant is South Korean, and he uses 漢字 {kanji} for his name.

In my particular case, I was asked to use my 漢字 {kanji} name on the forms because it was on my wife's 戸籍 {koseki}.

There were two extra steps I had to do because of my pre-naturalization change:

1. I had to provide the name change order with the Japanese translation. No problem. I already had these.
2. I had to make sure my 外国人登録原票記載事項証明書 {gaikokujin tōroku genpyō kisai jikō shōmeisho} (certificate of registered alien matters) had, in addition to the normal clauses they want, my old and new names and aliases.

But that's it. Have fun with your new name!