Sorry, I have some stupid questions. Because I was a Chinese citizen so after I became a US citizen I just used my name in China. which is Enbo Liang (梁恩柏）I’m going to Japan for language school and then university this year. And I want to get a Hanko before I go to Japan so I think it will make things easier for me to do those documents quicker after entering Japan.
I’m confused about if I should put my last name in English characters or Katakana or romaji. I just start
learning Japanese so when I searched for my Lastname Liang the katakana is (リョウ ). Please tell me if is wrong. And is it ok if I just put that on my Hanko and register as a Jitsu-In?
And one last question, if I’m using that katakana Hanko as a Jitsu-In, do I need to register my name before I register the Hanko.
Thanks a lot, and sorry for the stupid question.
6 comments
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Unless you plan on buying a house, or anything else that *requires* a registered stamp, then you don’t need to register an inkan. Normal bank accounts generally don’t need a registered inkan.
For important things, you might want to use a katakana hanko that matches whatever your Roman name is on your zairyu card and passport.
For other things, get kanji ones made up.
You’ll normally have a few anyway; i.e. a nice one for the bank, one by the door for the delivery dude, and one at work. Use a kanji one for work, perhaps.
I definitely misread the title.
I got a kanji one, initially as a bit of a joke. It’s my name, transliterated to Japanese (sweet bean paste hand). But I use it wherever I am asked to, and no one has said anything, except giggle sometimes.
I doubt you’ll need to actually register an inkan for a while (I don’t think I did until I registered my first car), but if you let me know the actual municipality where you’ll be living, I can let you know the rules that apply to foreigners there.
Use this, its a Name Couverter to Kanji: https://japanesenameconverter.nolanlawson.com/#?q=Liang