Naming a child
I have heard that Japan does not allow middle names, even for children with foreign parents. Why not? Is there a way I can "sneak in" a middle name? Can I use a hyphen? I really want my children to have middle names.
We checked with the government. Firstly, if you are not Japanese there is no restriction whatsoever.
The restrictions are only for Japanese. If you are a Japanese, the official registration has space for only two names -- last and first. At the same time they do say you can do a lot with that space. For example, the "first" name can be as long as you want. It can also be all in Japanese characters or all in katakana or mixed.
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