Hi!
I’ll be giving birth to my first child next month and have some questions about children born out of wedlock.
For some background context – I’m half American/Japanese and lucky enough to still have dual citizenship, so I’ve been living in Japan for 5 years as a Japanese citizen.
My partner is born and raised in Japan, but because his parents are both from another country, he does not have Japanese citizenship and has been living here his whole life as a permanent resident.
I’d really like for our child to take his last name and not mine, as it’s more traditional to take the fathers last name. We are not yet married because the timing just hasn’t quite worked out for us, but we do plan on being married sometime in the future which means I’ll eventually take his last name.
Will our child be allowed to take his last name despite being born out of wedlock? I can’t find any clear information on this except for the fact that our child will be filed on my Koseki (Family Registry) and legally have no ties to the father.
Can I still register the birth / file for a birth certificate with his last name?
Any information or advice is super helpful. Thank you!
5 comments
If you want your child to have his father’s name you should file marriage paperwork with the kuyakusho. If you do not, your child will be registered on your koseki with no father and your family name.
Japan is the worst place to have an illegitimate child. Good luck to you. Only way for your kid to take your name is to marry him. Better for a kid to have a Japanese name in Japan anyway instead of Taro Daddyshouldapulledout.
Just a possibility, but could you legally change your name in Japan? Probably need a new passport, and not sure how it works with the dual citizenship though… might be more headache than it’s worth.
To answer your question only one family name is allowed per koseki. So if the baby is going on yours it will take whatever family name is on there. The only other option would be to get the baby it’s owj koseki which I’m not even sure is possible, you’d probably need a lawyer.
Now if I may editorialize for a second. As /u/user7120 points out Japan for some reason still has a very strong bastard stigma. To the point you’ll see couples marry have the baby and immediately divorce to avoid giving it to the kid. Because of the koseki system being what it is you’re giving your kid a black mark for life it doesn’t have to have. I’d talk with your partner about the practicality of avoiding this if you can.
Since your partner is not a citizen and doesn’t have a koseki, the child will be put on your koseki and have your last name, period. This is the same even if you are married, by the way; my wife is Japanese but we have different last names because I don’t have a koseki.
Like conictonic said, since you only have another month your best bet is to get married and change your name on the form (not 100% but I think this is the easiest way of getting your name changed to your partner’s).