A lot of Asian people (incl. Japanese) have English names, but what about 外国人(foreigners) having a Japanese name? Do you just romanize your name or pick a more traditional one?
So what's your name?

Lot's of people also have their own 印鑑(seal/stamp) with their name etc. Do you have one? Share your pics here

Here's mine:

双生天与王 or 双生神贈王 Would be my literal translated Japanese first and middle names. I heard only citizens can Kanji in their names, or something along that line though.

I can't read that seal.

That's because it's in seal script. Seal script != Kaisho

I've actually carved my own seal, since my calligraphy teacher gave me my name in Chinese. I even went and bought my own soapstone and everything. It was very educational. But I wouldn't use it for official documents if I went to Japan. For starters, it's too big, and it's kinda wonky. (I need to redo it.) But for a first try, it didn't come out too horrible.

rich_f Wrote:That's because it's in seal script. Seal script != Kaisho

I've actually carved my own seal, since my calligraphy teacher gave me my name in Chinese. I even went and bought my own soapstone and everything. It was very educational. But I wouldn't use it for official documents if I went to Japan. For starters, it's too big, and it's kinda wonky. (I need to redo it.) But for a first try, it didn't come out too horrible.

Care to share the pic?

Here it is. It didn't come out too hot for one of the characters, because I had some problems carving it. Like I said, it was a first try. I have a lot of respect for the folks who make these things for a living. (My hand was killing me for a good week after doing this.)

I bought a giant chunk of soapstone, cut it down with a hacksaw, then cut it down again, then sanded the heck out of it, then starting carving on it. If I made a really bad mistake, I just sanded the face down and started over.

I used a carbide scratch awl for the most part, because I couldn't find any better tools handy. The soapstone was somewhat easy to work, but not that easy.

The hardest part was looking up the seal script characters, actually.

The chip on the upper right is from carrying it around without a case. And the character on the lower right of the stone (lower left of the seal) actually chipped at the very end, but by then I was so tired, I just said to hell with it and left it at that.

I'll try again in a few months.

I write my name 刀美亜守, but just as a joke. It's not like you can legally have a kanji name if you're a westerner anyway, and Japanese people won't be able to read it.

The seal I have is strictly for calligraphy, and it's Chinese, not Japanese, and it was given to me by my calligraphy teacher, which is kind of big deal in calligraphy, depending on where you study. It's more of a big deal in Japan than it is in other places, like here in the US. I like it because I respect my teacher. She's a very cool lady who's an incredible artist.

Putting your seal on your calligraphy, and which seals you put on it, and where you put them is a whole art form in and of itself. (Something which gives me a headache just thinking about right now.)

Actually, you can have your name in kanji in Japan if you're a westerner. There's no law against it. (Other than the law of convention.) It's just a question of do you want to explain it to every other person you meet. Since most people don't, they just get a katakana stamp and get it over with.

But whatever stamp you register, that's yours.

Yeah... In Japan, any sort of legal document or things like bank accounts, most utilities, etc. have to be in the name on your alien registration card..... which has to match the name in your passport. So all of my stuff either just has my name on it, or has my name in katakana. But your seal can pretty much have whatever you want on it... Kanji, kana... a few of my friends just have their initials or some abbreviated form of their name in roman letters on theirs...

I have a hanko with my last name in katakana that I use at the bank, for my apartment lease/insurance, ect. Nothing fancy, had it made about 5 years ago when I was an exchange student so I could open a bank account then..... I think it cost me about 2000 yen. 　　It's not really necessary anymore, since a lot of places will let foreigners get away with a signature now....

I use katakana, since I don't have a Japanese name and don't see the point in making one up or using kanji phonetically (which would be much too long and no native would be able to read unaided anyways).

In Chinese I use 孟克 (given to me by a Japanese prof) though, since there is no equivalent of katakana in Chinese.

I've never actually owned a seal since I've always been able to use a signature.

rich_f Wrote:I bought a giant chunk of soapstone, cut it down with a hacksaw, then cut it down again, then sanded the heck out of it, then starting carving on it. If I made a really bad mistake, I just sanded the face down and started over.

Respect!
Especially if you consider that is has to be carved in mirror. I wasn't planning to carve one myself, so I shopped a nice fiery red stone which was superhard and had my 書道先生 do it hehe. Mine is 林志揚 which in Japanese reads Hayashi Shiyou, apart from my surname, Shiyou sounds weird to Japanese, but that's the same as Japanese names in Chinese sound really strange (no offense, often we joke about the Japanese names on the student's class lists cuz it sounds as if someone just took random characters and put them together ). Also, Japanese names usually consists of 4 or more characters whereas Chinese ones are mostly 3 (2 are rare).

*edit: mirror as in 'mirrored'

Actually, I didn't carve it in a mirror. I took a piece of card stock, traced out the design I wanted the seal to look like in pencil, drew over it in marker so the marker would bleed through a bit, then flipped it over and fixed it so it looked good backwards, then just used that as a reference and carved it freehand. I didn't draw on the stone blank itself. (I tried that one time, and it just didn't work for me.)

First I carved the characters very lightly with the awl, then just slowly carved it deeper and deeper.

If I had done it in a mirror, I probably would have broken it.

What I could really use is a good carving tool, though. The carbide scratch awl was okay from an improvisational standpoint, but it's not the Right Tool for the Job. I need a carbide knife or something.

To get that really smooth finish, you need 600 grit aluminum-oxide sandpaper, btw. It's nice stuff, because it works when wet, so you can just polish in the sink. (Just make sure you use a level surface.)

rich_f Wrote:Actually, I didn't carve it in a mirror.

He just meant 'carved as a mirror image', not actually using a mirror to do it. It's an odd way to say it, but it's valid.

My hanko just says my last name and my wife's says it in cursive. For the legal stuff it has to be your real name. I do have a kanji name stitched on my suit-coat inner-pocket though when I had it tailored

shneen Wrote:Yeah... In Japan, any sort of legal document or things like bank accounts, most utilities, etc. have to be in the name on your alien registration card..... which has to match the name in your passport. So all of my stuff either just has my name on it, or has my name in katakana. But your seal can pretty much have whatever you want on it... Kanji, kana... a few of my friends just have their initials or some abbreviated form of their name in roman letters on theirs...

Not sure where you guys are getting your info, but it's not true.

I have a kanji hanko.　戸真須　(とます）Really there should be a dash since my last name is トーマス in katakana, but it wouldn't have fit anyway. They go from top to bottom on my hanko and they surprisingly fit just fine:

戸
真
須

I have used my hanko for my apartment contract and two different bank accounts, other than that I haven't had a reason to use it. I use those kanji because they were given to me by a Japanese friend when I lived in Australia, and I like the meanings that fit with them as well.

If you want kanji on your hanko, no reason not to!

Ｓｏｏｏｏ．．．．．　Ｗｈａｔ’ｓ　ａ　ｈａｎｋｏ？

I have a hanko with my name written normally. Interestingly, it arouses much more fascination from my colleagues than a kanji one would. I wrote a blog post about it here:

http://wrightak.blogspot.com/2009/06/sig...vered.html

You can also find a link there showing you where you can get your own, if you want one.

Nice post wrightak, I also (amazingly!) have 6 letters in my first and last name, so I could have done the same thing. Ah well. I've never seen English lettering either!

My hanko is just my first name in kana. Some dude thought up some kanji for my name tag for a monthly enkai group I go to but honestly, it doesn't fit well and it's just his preference. Kanji names are not meant for foreigners.

Hmm, I don't know about kanji names not being for foreigners. I've met a handful of foreigners who had reached a level of proficiency in the language and culture that they decided that they deserved to finally use a kanji name, and I think that honor is very fair for many people. There are actually a lot of western names which can be translated very nicely into Japanese.

Off topic but going along with what Slivir and Aijin have mentioned. (Kanji names are not meant for foreigners and translating names into kanji)

My name is my name. I wouldn't ever translate it for anything serious. If somebody wants to write it phonetically in kanji that's fine with me, but I'd prefer if they just learned to pronounce it correctly and read it in my script. I've always been annoyed by the glib manner in which Americans (and now I see, Japanese) rewrite peoples names into their own script and pronunciation. "It only takes a few minutes more of genuine curiosity to find out how to pronounce a persons real name, so why not put forth the effort and do it," is what I think when I see my fellow Americans or Japanese mangling peoples true names. Of course a lot of people don't care that much when somebody misrepresents them, and that's their choice! But going along with that I think it's their choice and not ours and the world would be a better place if everybody believed it was a sign of respect to get somebody's name right.

Aijin Wrote:and I think that honor is very fair for many people.

Gee thanks :p You know in the US we can change our names to anything we like, including kanji, anytime we want. (in most states) So it's not really an honor that needs to be fair or not

It's not a matter of "Japan not letting foreigners have kanji", it's a matter of Japan requiring you to use your legal name. If you are from a non-Asian country, you cannot legally have a kanji name since your home country won't let you register one.

@welldone: You cannot register a kanji name in the US, or any other country that doesn't use Chinese writing. Keep in mind that even if you get permanent residence in Japan, you still aren't a Japanese citizen and thus it isn't Japan's place to let you register a new legal name anyways.

If a western foreigner takes on Chinese/Korean/Japanese citizenship, then they can register a kanji name in Japan, since they are actually able to have a legal kanji name (in the country of which they are a citizen of).

Name kanji aren't just a fancy exotic way of displaying one's name, it IS one's name.

Jarvik- then why haven't I had any problems using my kanji hanko? I'm just a random white guy that thought it was cool that I could get kanji if I wanted, so I did. No one has ever said they had a problem with it, and most people thought it was neat as it was unexpected. トーマス　is just a close to my original name as 戸真須- both are wrong. Now that I think of it, I think I used it to file my taxes (in addition to opening my bank account and renting my apartment) as well, can't be certain though.

A hanko isn't a legal name. It could be a picture of a boat on your hanko and it wouldn't matter. All that matters is that it's your hanko and that it's registered (except for personal seals for accepting parcels etc).

You cannot however fill out a contract/form/whatever and write your name down as some kanji that you pulled out of a hat.

Jarvik7 Wrote:@welldone: You cannot register a kanji name in the US, or any other country that doesn't use Chinese writing. Keep in mind that even if you get permanent residence in Japan, you still aren't a Japanese citizen and thus it isn't Japan's place to let you register a new legal name anyways.

In Minnesota there are very few restrictions to changing ones name and none of them prevent me from taking a kanji symbol as a name. Depending on the courts schedule you could have one by next month.

You don't register a name in the US. It depends on the state. We have no national ID system, and the social security system takes your legal name as determined by the state.

I very much doubt that it would be accepted, and even if a sleepy judge did let it by, you would never be able to use it.

A quick google finds this: The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that a name change to "1069" could be denied, but that "Ten Sixty-Nine" was acceptable (Application of Dengler, 1979), and the North Dakota Supreme Court denied the same request several years before (Petition of Dengler, 1976). [3][4]

If they won't accept a number, which any literate person can read, write, and input into a computer, they won't accept a series of characters which to the average person looks like a squished bug.

There may be no law that says "you may not have a kanji name", but acceptance is up to the judge and no judge would let it by. You can however do a common-law name change (aka just saying to yourself "from today onwards I am 山田金太郎"), which would then be up to the individual establishment (bank, store, cellphone provider, etc) to accept or deny. In most cases that would still be deny since whoever is taking your name has no way to input it into their system or really make any use of it at all.