Registration of Names of Officers

In a Japanese Corporate Registry, the names of officers (e.g., directors, auditors, etc.) are required to be registered.

The name in English is converted into katakata.

When a Japanese person assumes the office of officers, one’s name is registered in Japanese. On the other hand, since it is not possible to register the name of an officer in English, such names will be converted into katakana character. Also, it is possible to us “・” (middle dot) to separate the first and last name, or you can also simply connect first and last name together without any space (Separating those two with space are not feasible). Usually, the former way is used often.

e.g.) James Paul →ジェームズ・ポールor ジェームズポール

If you have Kanji characters’ name, you can register your name in Kanji as well.

Wang Fang →王芳or ワン･ファン(or ワンファン)

Middle names are omittable

Whether or not to register middle names is left to one’s discretion. However, if you are a resident of Japan and your katakana name including your middle name is already registered on your seal registration certificate, you may not be able to omit your middle name.

Order of the name

While European-American names are often written in the order of first name → last name, Japanese names are usually written in the other way; first name → last name. Therefore, when registering a name as an officer, the official method is to register the names in the same order first name → last name or first name → last name → middle name. However, in practice, either method is accepted by the Legal Affairs Bureau, and the registration will not be rejected for this reason. (If the katakana name is already registered on your seal registration certificate, you might not be able to change the orders)

Use of Alias (Business) Names

Some people who have lived in Japan for a long time sometimes have one’s alias name in Japanese. In such a case, if the name is recorded on an “official document (excluding business cards or postal address, etc.)” such as a seal registration certificate, it is possible to register under the alias name.