Japan to Accept Unusual Baby Names

Dec 18, 2024 | News On Japan

TOKYO - Japanese 'kira-kira names,' with atypical pronunciation or meaning, could soon be partially accepted under certain conditions, according to proposed guidelines from Japan's Ministry of Justice.

The revised Family Register Act, set to take effect on May 26th, 2025, will require the inclusion of furigana (phonetic readings) for names in family registries. The law stipulates that the reading must be "generally accepted".

Ahead of the implementation, the Ministry of Justice has issued a draft guideline to local governments, stating that kira-kira names—highly unusual or creative names—will be permitted in principle, provided that parents can offer appropriate explanations for the chosen readings.

Examples of acceptable names include Kokoa (written as "心愛") where parts of the characters are pronounced using the on-yomi or kun-yomi, and Sora (written as "蒼空") where certain parts of the character are omitted.

However, cases that could cause societal confusion, such as reading Takai (written as "高") as Hikushi, or Jiro as the pronunciation for Taro (written as "太郎"), will not be approved.

Source: FNN

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