Japanese wife's surname after marriage

[JapaneseMike]

However, I will ultimately suggest that we are not the ones to answer this question. It should ideally be a Japanese woman who has lived under a foreign last name or someone who grew up ハーフ with a foreign last name.

This is such a good insight. As much as we (and for clarify I mean non-Japanese males here) ~may~ come from a culture which encourages us to continue the family legacy by having kids with the same name, etc. realistically, we're not the ones who have to live with the impact of it. I know some folks who specifically won't indoctrinate their children into a religion their parents pushed on them for the reason to not continue a legacy they don't agree with. By pushing the name thing, are we not doing the same thing, but on a different level?

[Full disclosure, my Japanese wife took my name, it wasn't really an issue, luckily it's short and easy on the katakana, with no dodgey/forced sounds like ヴィ or ティ that can make Japanese folks roll their eyes and give up trying to pronounce it...]

[TJKansai]

My wife was eager to drop her very common Japanese family name. Also happy to give the kids 2 middle names.
I debated adopting a kanji name, but she vetoed that idea.

As for bullying of the kids, there has been minimal name-calling (which died out around 3rd grade). My son chose to use his first name (in English) on his high school bball jersey and everyone thought it was cool (ie Ichiro).

I know a couple of guys (Aussie, Brit) who have combined their names with their wives, leading to a long hyphenated name. I think it is pretty common overseas.

There are more and more mixed marriages these days, and having a katakana last name may not be a huge liability. Depending on the industry, it might even be an advantage.

[captainspoke]

Given what I've been reading recently about names on bank accounts, investment accounts, and credit cards or plane reservations)--and the hassles some people have (spaces, given/surname order, and just too many characters to fit), I'd suggest to keep it simple.

I know a lot of people choose hyphenated family names, and probably give middle names, regardless. When it comes time for such a person to get those accounts, there could be headaches.

[kuma]

My wife took my surname upon marriage, as she wanted to do so. Only three characters in katakana, and maps quite cleanly between katakana and English. She'd published a couple of things under her maiden name but was happy for there to be discontinuity as it was only a couple of things. I've been surprised how many people don't ask her to repeat the name over the phone, etc. Updating her passport after marriage was very straightforward - the remaining validity of the passport with the maiden name was given to the new passport with her married name.

Just another data point for the original poster. Entirely agree with others that it's a personal thing, that there can be pros and cons, and that the best data points would be from the J-spouses directly.

I'd be interested to hear what the city hall says about the wife taking one of the surnames / one part of the surname.

Article 107, paragraph 2 of the Family Register Act is the relevant legislation:
http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp ... m=04&re=02

２　外国人と婚姻をした者がその氏を配偶者の称している氏に変更しようとするときは、その者は、その婚姻の日から六箇月以内に限り、家庭裁判所の許可を得ないで、その旨を届け出ることができる。
(2)　When a person who has married a foreign national intends to change his/her surname to the surname used by his/her spouse, he/she may submit a notification to that effect, within the limit of six months from the date of their marriage, without obtaining the permission of the family court.

[fools_gold]

I know a couple of guys (Aussie, Brit) who have combined their names with their wives, leading to a long hyphenated name. I think it is pretty common overseas.

We got married in Japan and looked into this. Our city hall told my wife this wasn't possible, though I suspect this was a face-saving move and they just didn't know how to do it. Actually, looking back I'm glad we didn't as it would have been a bit cumbersome.

In the end my wife opted for my family name in katakana. For my son's given name we went down the common path of choosing a name that works in both Japanese and English. I decided not to inflict the misery of having a middle name upon him.

[TJKansai]

Given what I've been reading recently about names on bank accounts, investment accounts, and credit cards or plane reservations)--and the hassles some people have (spaces, given/surname order, and just too many characters to fit), I'd suggest to keep it simple.

I know a lot of people choose hyphenated family names, and probably give middle names, regardless. When it comes time for such a person to get those accounts, there could be headaches.

I should clarify that the boys have middle names on their USA docs, but in Japan they have just two (first names difficult kanji, family name in easy kana)

[pfdsa]

Thank you all, there's some very helpful information in here.
Looks like we aren't missing anything, but will check the official process with the city hall, etc.

[bryanc]

hope you make a decision that works for your family and good luck!
reading this makes me feel very old as i remember when my wife and i had to make these decisions..
she kept her own name but uses mine on the end sometimes at school to be "cool"!
at that time,if you had separate name from your j spouse the kids had to take the jspouses name as the foreigner could not be
head of the household..
i wouldnt have wanted them to take my name as having a katakana surname is like having a witches mark here..(though they do have
their middle name in katakana)
my kids have different surnames on the japan and uk passports..

the whole name frustation thing has come back with a vengeance for me trying to set up an account with sbi and monex..
thanks to everyones help here managed to get it done,but still not optimal..why foreigners cant use the same alphabet as japanese is beyond my understanding..imagine going to the us and being told that you are a foreigner so have to use a different alphabet..

anyway,wishing you all the best in the future -its an exciting time..

[concerned]

My wife has kept her Japanese name and so my Daughter has her name
The other week I tried to open an an account at the post office for my daughter and was told I had no proof that I had a daughter and was told by the person at the post office that my wife should come next time an open the account....

The person at the post office was a bit smug about this, and this did not go down well with me, I promptly closed my own account with the same post office...My wife also called them and complained...but their response was its the law and nothing can be done...

My wife did some extra checking into this to see if there could be any other potential problems such as this, and she found that for the case that my daughter ended up in hospital due to an accident and my wife was not around I could be prevented from visiting my daughter in the hospital.

My wife will now probably change her surname to match mine, or we will use both our surnames for my daughter.

[adamu]

Wow that is impressive. Are you on the birth certificate?