**EDIT!**:
maybe title is misleading, some answers relating my question to the norm of being called last name, instead of first name, etc. this is **not** my concern. I was more concern about the administration stuff in the future, you know where you can possibly get rejected if your data is not matching (wrong order etc.).
For example the name is: Jim Halpert (first name) (last name)
I think most of my documents are in inverted order, I think it all originated from zairyuu card, which I think follows \[last\] \[first\], right? so it becomes:zairyuu card: Jim Halpert (so Jim become last name, etc.)
then it ripples down to my account bank, jyuuminjyo etc.
**Case:**
For example when I apply debit card for my bank, if I don’t reverse the order, the bank won’t authorized correctly. I passed and got it btw.
Once in a thread, I read suggestion that when applying for something, try to be as right as possible, but the thing is if I apply for CC, then get rejected, rumor has it I can’t apply again before 6 months passed right? it’s wasting too much time, plus Im not even sure if it’s because my name or not. I’m trying rakuten btw, one that’s well known to be foreigner-friendly, I have a stable job, and been here for years.
Anyone who lives in Japan long enough but survive with this issue? Or should I fix it? Do you know how to fix this issue? I plan to live here long term, thanks so much!
**TLDR:;**name order inverted, started in zairyuu card, ripples down to other document, quite a hassle when applying something, CC for example, when they need to validate info, need to intentionally switch order to pass. Are you in similar problem? What do you suggest? thanks
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5 comments
In Japan, writing Halpert Jim does not change the fact your last name is Halpert and your first name is Jim, rather it confirms it. When in Rome…
p.s. be careful thinking that just because another culture does something differently that it is “wrong”, especially if you are, as you say, planning to live here long term.
In my humble opinion as someone in the same shoes as you, it doesn’t *really* matter does it? It’s just the order, and the norm here is family name goes first, so despite that being different there’s nothing fundamentally different about it. In my experience if someone is unsure they’ll ask and I’ll explain “Halpert is my family name and in my home country we refer to each other by our given names, mine is Jim. You can call me Jim.” (Obviously not, but ya know, examples)
The part where it becomes muddy is with my middle name, which is sometimes mistaken as my first name due to the ordering
(e.g. Last, first middle 様) and that is legitimately a hassle at points since that concept doesn’t translate very well and the middle name doesn’t always show up/not always necessary. It is on my zairyuu and therefore required occasionally in official contexts, but I omit it whenever possible (just like home!)
Long story short, even though it causes some minor hiccups for me from time to time I personally don’t see it as anything more than a nuisance that requires a bit more explanation than I’d like, and doing something to change it would be much, much harder.
If that doesn’t sit right with you, my suggestion is to look into creating a legal alias (通称名？) I don’t know much about the concept personally but it may be worth looking into.
I actually asked this (“fixing” the name) to an immigration officer.
He told me to check my passport and see the “Full Name” section – which follows the format of firstname-lastname.
The officer then told me that nothing is wrong with my zairyu card (which also use firstname-lastname format) and if any company rejected my application, it’s because they are not foreigner friendly… which of course does not solve our problem as a foreigner being denied service.
I’ve had to explain this to a certain provider’s customer service agent… The guy seems quite confused and I felt a bit guilty. We solved it by putting my firstname as lastname and vice-versa in their system, just like what you did when you applied the debit card.
I managed to get my first credit card as FIRST LAST. When I got my second, the bank noticed and I had to go through a whole process of changing the name, reissuing the first card, etc.
I have lots of non-governmental things with various forms of my name. Some are FISRT LAST, some LAST FIRST MIDDLE, some LAST FIRST, and some LAST FI because they only took 8 total characters. So far, this has not been an issue.
I’ve gotten PR and a house loan with the rats nests of katakana and alphabet names in different orders.
Sometimes I think I should fix it all, but not as much as I think “Nah.”