Welcome to Dave Higgins Office: Your Guide to Getting Married in Japan for Canadian Citizens
Hello! I’m Dave Higgins, a seasoned legal translator based in Okinawa, Japan. If you’re a Canadian passport holder looking to tie the knot in Japan, I’m here to simplify the process for you.
First, it’s important to understand that getting legally married in Japan is a paperwork-only affair. While you might want to have a celebration, party, or ceremony, these are entirely optional and don’t impact the legal status of your marriage.
To start, you’ll need a key document from the Canadian Embassy or Consulate in Japan:
- Affidavit
To obtain this Affidavit, you must visit a Canadian Embassy or Consulate in person. Fortunately, there are several locations across Japan where you can do this:
- Canadian Embassy in Tokyo
- Canadian Consulate in Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, or Fukuoka
For more details, you can visit the official Canadian government site here.
Once you have the Affidavit, it will be in English and needs to be translated into Japanese. At Dave Higgins Office, we handle this translation for you. Simply scan or photograph the document and send it to us, and we’ll take care of the rest.
After the translation is complete, we’ll guide you through filling out the marriage application, ensuring it aligns perfectly with your translated Affidavit. The marriage application requires two witnesses. My wife and I can act as your witnesses, and since we’re both residents of Japan, we don’t need to accompany you to the city office. If you prefer to bring your own witnesses, just provide us with their details (full names, birth dates, nationalities, and local addresses), and they’ll need to be with you at the city office on your wedding day.
With your documents in order, the final step is submitting them to the nearest city office. This could even be the office closest to your hotel. Some town or village offices might ask for additional documentation, so it’s a good idea to consult with us beforehand to ensure everything goes smoothly.
After submitting your documents, you’ll receive your marriage certificate. We recommend getting multiple copies of the A4-sized Japanese certificate for your records, as well as the larger B4 version if you’d like something beautiful to display at home.
These certificates will be in Japanese, but don’t worry—we can translate them back into English and provide you with certified copies. You can then use these to report your marriage to the Canadian Embassy, Consulate, Japanese city office, or back in Canada.
And that’s it!
