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On September 10, 2024, the Cabinet decided that the amended Family Register Act providing for furigana in family registers1 will take effect on May 26, 2025. This will bring preparations for recording furigana in family registers into full swing.

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Background and Purpose of the Amendment

The main purposes of this legislative amendment are:

  1. Promoting the development of infrastructure for digital government
  2. Use as identity-verification information
  3. Preventing circumvention of various regulations

These are the 3 principal purposes.

Under the current family-register system, the pronunciation of a person’s name can be unclear, causing inconvenience in administrative procedures and identity verification.

Overview of the New System

From May 26, 2025, furigana will be recorded in katakana in family registers. The main changes are as follows:

  1. For newborns, the furigana entered on the birth notification will be reflected in the family register.
  2. People whose names are already recorded in a family register will also need to notify their furigana.
  3. Certain standards will apply to furigana.

Notification Method and Deadline

  1. A “notification of furigana” must be submitted within 1 year after the system begins.
  2. The head of the family register may notify the furigana of the family name, while each other person may notify the furigana of their given name.
  3. Notification may be submitted in writing or through the Myna Portal (planned).

Points to Note

  1. If no notification is submitted, the municipal mayor may record furigana ex officio. A pronunciation different from the one currently used could therefore be registered.
  2. The furigana must be a generally accepted pronunciation. In other words, so-called “kira-kira names” are not permitted. Conversely, people who currently use an uncommon pronunciation will be able to register it by presenting evidence such as a passport or bankbook.
  3. As a transitional measure, the furigana may be changed once without permission from the family court.

Local Government Responses

Local governments are making the following preparations for implementation:

  1. Accurate and prompt dispatch of notices: Before the mayor of the municipality of registered domicile records the furigana of a person’s name in the family register, people will be given an opportunity to learn the furigana and related information planned for registration. Specifically, the mayor will notify everyone of information concerning the furigana of their names, referring to information held by municipalities for administrative convenience in resident records and other sources. These notices will be sent without delay after the amended Act takes effect on May 26, Reiwa 7.
  2. Combined online and analog methods: Notification of a name’s furigana is to be submitted to the municipality of the notifier’s registered domicile or current location, either in person at a service counter or by mail. Use of the Myna Portal is also under consideration.

This change will clarify the handling of furigana in family registers and is expected to make administrative procedures more efficient and identity verification more accurate. Citizens must remember to submit notification of their furigana within 1 year after the system begins and respond to the new system.

For details, please see the Ministry of Justice website.

(Added September 11)

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has published the Resident Record System Standard Specifications (Version 5.1) and related documents.

September 11, Reiwa 6

Publication of the Resident Record System Standard Specifications (Version 5.1) and Related Documents

The Study Group on Standardization of Local Government Systems and Related Matters (Study Group on Standardization of Resident Record Systems and Related Matters), chaired by Masahiko Shoji, Professor in the Faculty of Sociology at Musashi University, has compiled the Resident Record System Standard Specifications (Version 5.1) and the Supplementary Family Register System Standard Specifications (Version 3.1), which are hereby published.

Published Materials

• Overview of Amendments to the Resident Record System Standard Specifications (Version 5.1) and Related Documents (PDF)
• Resident Record System Standard Specifications (Version 5.1)
• Supplementary Family Register System Standard Specifications (Version 3.1)

Note: The Resident Record System Standard Specifications (Version 5.1) and Supplementary Family Register System Standard Specifications (Version 3.1) will also be published on the following MIC website.

MIC Top > About MIC > Study Groups, etc. > Study Group on Standardization of Local Government Systems and Related Matters
https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/kenkyu/jichitaishisutemu_hyojunka/index.html

Footnotes

  1. Promulgated on June 2, Reiwa 5, the Act Partially Amending the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures and Other Acts includes partial amendment of the Family Register Act (Showa 22, Act No. 224) and is Reiwa 5, Act No. 48.

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