sry nyororin, i completely misunderstood u.

well, if a japanese person can take a foreign last name, for instance at the time of marriage, i don't understand why a foreigner can't keep his name (with the exception of having to katakana-ise it). and i though (a big thought) the japanese naming conventions were basically only to prohibit indecent names.

I am getting married next month and the situation is this. You keep your name and use katakana. If you wish to take the Japanese family name as I do then you have to change your name by Deed Poll.
You will have to consult your embassy and pay money to do a name change. You can change your name to anything you want with a few exeptions but this must be done by dealing with your own embassy.

As my wife to be is the only daughter and I wish to live in Japan I will be changing my family name to hers, I will retain my first name as it can be TX'd to good kanji but my original family name is hard enough for english speakers, Japanese have very little hope of getting their minds around it. It has V's H's O's and R's so is about 2 hours of explaining.

真亜久

Thanks for the info which I am truely surprised at. Although this completely does not make sense imho lol.
これぞ島国の国民性丸出しだな。

Sorry, but changing a name through marriage, and changing through naturalization are two completely different things. The same rules do not apply.
And, by the way, you cannot change your name to one with kanji unless your original name included them (Chinese, etc). Even if you do take the Japanese family name, it will be registered in katakana. You can register an official alias using the kanji, but you cannot have a kanji name unless you naturalize.

そう？特別扱いを望んでるのなら帰化しなきゃいいので は？　そっちの方が私にとって理解しがたいのですよ。 　

Nyororinさんは日本人じゃないとわかってるけど、
言ってることは島国ならではの考えだとおもいますね。 欧米では、外国人が帰化するときに名前をかえるという きまりがないのに、どうも納得できませんな。

強いて言えば洗脳か？

WIKIPEDIAで調べてみたけど、帰化するときに、必ずしも名 前を変える必要がないようですが、確かに薦められる行 為のようです…　恐るべし。

This is quite a refreshing bit of info to hear. I always imagined myself being called to by meaning... it would probably also be easier for me to name my kids, when I have them (and I plan on having at least one in the future).

Sorry, but you are correct. I will not be naturalized and will only take my wifes name while still remaining a British citizen. Japanese law is very strict on naturalization and even Japanese citizens are not allowed dual nationality.
My British passport will reflect the change in my name in the Roman alphabet although my name on official Japanese documents will be in Katakana with a Kanji family name

As far as I know, the naming is optional. I do not believe it is required for for citizenship, but many choose to do so to make life in Japan easier.

No, unfortunately your name will not be in kanji on Japanese documents, unless you choose to register the kanji version as an official alias... And even then, official documents do not allow the use of an alias so you will be required to use either the katakana version or alphabet version.

Unless you really are naturalized, the kanji version will always remain an alias.

I got told off by the wife to be. She says you are right and that I will have to use katakana unless I get naturalized.
Note to self ... (talk to wife to be first before posting on this type of subject) :o

Thanks for your advice.