I work for a Japanese company in the US. There’s high potential I’ll be sent to japan for extended lengths of time. I’ve started learning Japanese as a result. The issue is my name. When written in katakana, my name has a less than favorable meaning. When I looked for kanji that would match phonetically, the results were similar. Then when I tried carrying over the meaning of my name, the closest thing I could find was 狸. I didn’t know if this would be offensive to use let alone it’s not really on the approved naming list that I’m aware of. Has anyone else had this problem? And if so, what did you do?
9 comments
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Might be nice to know what your name is – though I would go with the Katakana. If your last name is Fox, I’d try going with フォークス – Though this is the spelling used for Guy Fawkes of the Gunpowder Plot. Least the pronunciation will not be like a certain other word…
It would probably be easier to help if we knew the name. I think it’s generally seen as odd and not common for foreigners to use kanji for their names. It would likely cause more awkwardness and confusion than what you’re trying to avoid
Nothing about a seal says that it has to be written with a certain script. Your seal can be your name in Alphabet/Roman Letters.
I’d use my regular last name anyway. Katakana is fine.
You absolutely do not use kanji in any official sense, unless you have a name that’s already based in Chinese characters (you’re Chinese, Korean…etc).
You use a katakana transliteration.
For non official matters nothing is stopping you from calling yourself whatever you want, but nobody will understand why and will probably think your just an eccentric.
You wouldn’t use kanji. That would be very confusing since your name would be pronounced completely differently from reality. It may be fine as a nickname but it would not be more than that unless one naturalized and officially changes their name.
Meanwhile with non-ideal name readings you’re allowed some leeway in altering the pronunciation in a minor way. Chances are you’ll be getting double-sided business cards so it might be worth it to ask HR about it. I’m sure they would have dealt with things like this before (I know I have)
My workplace made one for me and it was just my initials. Other foreign people I know have had a katakana one custom made. I think a kanji that is not actually part of your official name would come off as immature and weird. In your situation I think initials would work best. If you want a kanji seal for signing artwork as a sort of pen name, sure. But not for work/banking/etc.
This is my personal experience, but it may not be absolute. Once you get sent to Japan, I’m assuming you’d have to open a Japanese bank account. Also, you’d have to register yourself at the nearest city hall from your place, where you have to write in your name as exactly as it is on your residence card, which will not have kanji since your name on your residence card has to match your passport.
I was told by my bank that my registered hanko should match my passport and residence card. My bank also uses katakana as another script to write my name, so I could have made my hanko in either English or Katakana. My first hanko was just my surname in Katakana, and I used it for all official documents. After marrying a Japanese national, I was able to register a legal alias at city hall. My legal alias in Japan is my new Japanese surname in Kanji plus my first name in Katakana. I also changed my surname in the States to the romaji of my Japanese surname.
For example, my name in the US is Tanaka Sue, which is also now my name in many legal documents in Japan — passport, bank accounts, residence card, credit cards, Japanese apartment contracts. But my legal alias is 田中 スー, which I made my second hanko as. I have my legal alias printed on my health insurance card, and you can use it for your Japanese driver’s license, internet bill, magazine subscriptions or Amazon orders.
So, for a name in kanji, unless you have a legal alias registered at city hall, you may not be able to get a kanji hanko. You can start ordering stuff online using a kanji name you want and hopefully that can be evidence you do use your kanji name and maybe it can warrant for a legal alias registration at city hall. It’s a harder method, and I’ve heard of some success. But, this is just from my own personal experience and what I was told by the institutions I use in my daily life in Japan as of current.