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Japan Know How archive

foreign names

Your Name in Japanese

What the Zairyu Card Prints and What It Cannot

Japan’s residence card normally follows the name in your passport and prints it in Latin letters. Kanji can be added only when officially documented, while a commonly used alias belongs to the resident-record system and requires evidence of real-world use.

Megan Rothwell

Your Name in Japanese

How a Foreign Name Becomes a Carved Seal

A hanko is not a signature and not always required any more. What a katakana seal costs, where banks still ask for one, and which shops carve them.

Megan Rothwell