I’m trying to buy some land. As on my zairyu card, the name on my juminhyo is written in alphabet letters. The judicial scrivener (司法書士) is insisting that I need to register a common name (通称) on my juminhyo with the katakana spelling of my name, I guess so that the juminhyo matches the katakana name to be listed on the land registration? The ward office, however, says that common names are meant for people who use a completely different Japanese name in daily life (like if I am typically called Yamada Taro), and that the katakana reading of my name on my personal seal registration (印鑑登録証明書) should be sufficient. I suspect the scrivener is just wrong, but has anyone dealt with something like this before?
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We bought our house/land a couple years ago. I don’t have 通称 , it was never an issue.
Not an expert, but I got by with what your ward office suggested.
Neither one is totally wrong. Until 2012 your katakana spelling had near-automatic recognition: you registered your hanko with it, it could be printed under your romaji name on the alien card, and you could also add a *separate* common name/”alias” 通称名 to the records, including on the back of your alien card.
The 通称名 system came about for people who want to go by names other than what they were born with: spouse or adoptive family names, Koreans wanting to take Japanese-sounding names to avoid discrimination; that kind of thing.
But in 2012, when the Ministry of Justice took over immigrant registrations from the municipalities, putting immigrants into the same *juminhyō* records that locals are in, they wiped the katakana from the records and forced everyone to register katakana spellings as “aliases” (even though that’s not what they are) in order for them to go into the resident registers. (Logically you would expect the opposite: *mandatory* use of Japanese orthography now that people are in the same system as Japanese people.)
Ask your ward office if they have any official record of your katakana spelling on your *juminhyō*. If they do, print one on the spot; if not, ask them how you can get it on there. I suspect they will realize that the *tsūshōmei* is now the only way to do that, unfortunately.
Also if you have a My Number card, you can get the “alias” printed on it; definitely do so as you don’t want to be stuck using Roman letters and possibly even middle names for anything domestic.
The 通称 shouldn’t be necessary for buying property. That being said, it’s possible to register your katakana reading as 通称. (I did just that, excluding my middle name)
You can change the name on your juminhyo to katakana. Not ideal, but an easy fix.
The scrivener is wrong. I bought land and used my name in Roman alphabet on all the forms. I even reclassified land from agricultural land to mountain land and my name was fine in Roman letters.
If you go to city hall / ward office and register your katakana name, you can get it to appear on your jyuminhyo. This is NOT the same as registering a legal alias (the 通称名). You register the katakana name and then go register it with your katakana name personal seal (the 印鑑登録証明書). I suggest you register the katakana name but DO NOT do the legal alias, unless you’re absolutely certain that’s what you want to do, as it’s next to impossible to change your legal alias later on.
I am Japanese, so sorry for my poor english.
About your katakana name trouble:
I had a foreign friend who also had the same problem trying to buy a land , so I contacted the Kanagawa Legal Affairs Bureau about this matter in the past.
① For real estate registration, you can only register by using kanji, katakana and hiragana. Therefore, you need to change your name from alphabet to katakana to apply for registration.
②But if you only want to change the alphabet to katakana, you do not need a new certificate or some kind of registration, and your application will be accepted simply by writing both alphabet and katakana on the power of attorney.
So if you only need the katakana name for realestate registration, you can write it in the power of attorney that you give to the judicial scrivener.
③ However, when setting up a mortgage, of course, the bank will be doing a background check . And depending on the bank, it is not possible to use alphabet only. If you do not have katakana name on your juminhyou, you may not be able to pass the background check and you will not be able to get a loan from the bank.
Conclusion: If it is only the ownership transfer registration of real estate, you have no problem passing it by just writing in alphabet and katakana together in power of attorney. But if you are going to set a mortgage, you may need a register a katakana name because the bank you try to apply for loan, may not trust anything which is not on the juminhyou . The judicial scrivener may be anticipating this and told you to register a common name.
Also, if you`re going to sell the same real estate in the future, the same thing might happen again. Thats what the Kanagawa Legal Affairs Bureau said.
The Japansese realstate registration is not designed for foreign people and is so outdated. So I hope it will change in the future.
i went to a MUFG branch to apply for a credit card, was declined with reason that only permanent residents could apply. Went to a different branch, applied to welcoming arms, reported the branch that declined and got a 5000 yen gift card for the inconveniences.
Edit: my point is some people just dont want to deal with foreigners, but the company is always more cooperative