If I get a US court order changing my name into Chinese characters, but the passport still spells it in Latin alphabet, would the court order be enough to get a Kanji name in Japan?

Hi,

I have a part Chinese part German name in my US passport. I don't want to use the German part of the name in Japan, I only want the Chinese name ideally written in Kanji. I was looking up whether I can legally change my name to be written in Chinese characters in California and I can as long as the pronunciation is legible by the court. That being said, in US government issued identification (e.g. passport or driver's license) the name would still be spelled in the Latin alphabet.

I read that in Japan it will be difficult to change your name once you are there, so if I want to use my Chinese name, I'm thinking of changing the name now to be only the Chinese name and spell it in Chinese characters. I also read that the legal name in Japan would have to be written in the same alphabet that is on your US legal documents and that you can use an alias that is written in Kanji but you need documents with this name as proof for you to get the alias.

Regarding the issue of having a Kanji name but looking like a foreigner, the name is Chinese and has a different pronunciation than the Kanji in Japanese and I typically add the Katakana to show pronunciation, so would still identify me as a foreigner in Japan.

I am considering applying for a name change to have my Chinese name written in Chinese characters while still in California and get the court order as a legal document. I have 2 questions:

1. Would the California court order be enough to get the name in Kanji in Japan as a legal name.

2. If it wouldn't be enough to get a Kanji legal name, would it be enough to get the Kanji alias