Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleGoetz
MMM, I think immigrants to the US adopt English names all the time. My high school friends' birth names were things like Chun-yu, Yan-ting, etc. Yet they all went by names like Adam, Lisa, etc. even though their legal name wasn't that. Note that you've moved from criticizing the use of kanji in a non-Japanese writing his name to criticizing a non-Japanese person adopting a name more popular in his new home country. My example here seems to argue well against your second point, and my Arudo Debito point seems to argue well against your first point.
We're still left only with that it's possible in every way, but choosing a long transliteration can be very harmful to the wrist.
And honestly, if a Japanese person is upset that you're using the same last name that he has, he can go suck an egg. You're required to take a Japanese name when you naturalize. Is it illegal to adopt a Japanese name that already exists? No: because I don't think having the same name as someone who isn't related to you isn't so great a problem as you make it out to be.
Of course, if you take the name Koike and then claim to be related to Kazuo Koike, that's a problem, but not a problem of last name, but a problem of going beyond that and affirmatively claiming relation. I don't think when Japanese people meet a Hamasaki they assume the person is related to Ayumi Hamasaki.
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Points well taken, Kyle. I may have stretched my argument too far. I would maintain that he isn't going to find kanji that universally read "jacob" or anything near it...especially with the generally used name kanji. And if he chooses kanji that aren't generally name kanji or are decidedly NOT name kanji it won't even appear as a name to the general Japanese eye, but look like Chinese and/or gibberish. And what's the point of that?