I can answer this maybe!
My boyfriend is half Chinese/Japanese and his mom purposely game him a kanji name that works in both languages though the pronunciation is totally different. The same for his sister.
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Think if I had to pick a kanji name, I’d probably just go with 山田, since my family name written in katakana contains the string サンダ. 
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With that choice there is cero キラキラ suspicion 
They use a Japanese-ified version even for very obscure kanji. In fact that is how most Chinese words get translated into Japanese. For example I wondered what a 恒大集团 (こうだいしゅうだん) was recently while flicking through TV channels. I dont know what the pronunciation is in Chinese but that is how Evergrande Group is said in Japan.
Edit - but there are things like 上海 (シャンハイ) which I assume are closer to the Chinese. While 四川 (しせん) is closer to Japanese.
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“Hengda”.
I’ve been wondering about this whole make-yourself-a-kanjified-name thing. I have a Japanese surname and a Japanese-passing first name, with kanji that even come out as “very lucky” in the stroke number name oracle (woo!!)… BUT when I go to townhall, for example, I get reprimanded if I ever dare writing just the surname in kanji, and asked to write the still very much Japanese surname again in romaji! Because, how could a foreigner use the Sacred Letters of the People?!
I also remember the case of my former teacher during undergrad studies in Osaka. An American guy who had lived here for 10+ years and one day decided that it’d be a good time to officially adopt kanji as someone with a forever-visa and no intention to leave his life in Japan. Well, he was also denied any such possibility on grounds of him having a foreign passport.
So is there actually a point in looking for a kanjified name if we get turned down anyway?
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I think my Shodo “artwork” won’t have an official namecheck 
But I totally agree that there is a lot of mystery around the official name issue.
My husband once wanted to explain parts of it to me,
and it seems there is a lot of things going on and to be honest he looks a bit stressed out about it which is untypical for him.
So at the current moment I don’t want to burden him with fancy requests like:
Change my name official to XY etc. I would only do it once I could apply for that by myself and I think I will never be able to do it. 
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That infuriates me no to end…
Japanese government be like: all Japanese married couples must have the same surname.
Me, a foreign woman: Yes, I would love to do that. I want my last name to be the same as my future husband’s.
The Government: No sacred kanji for you, gaijin. Keep your katakana badge of shame.
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That’s not true. I write my last name in Kanji officially.
I had to change that to sign properly for a contract.
If you are interested I can ask my husband about the procedure.
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Oh yes, I’d love to know more, thank you!
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My teacher belonged to a school and would actually send some of my calligraphy to a board of judges to get reviewed and graded. The pieces we sent should have been signed with a hanko, but I used katakana. The school had a level system that they published in a little book. I have no idea if this is common with other teachers, but it’s what she did. I don’t remember my exact level, but I was “intermediate” basically.
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Cool. Would you share your work?
Talked to my husband and I was wrong, sorry.
He just changed my 通称名 and because you know already more than I do, I can only hide somewhere in shame that I know so little about my own stuff here. 
But then, if everything is just layers of different names based on being a foreigner not being able to be registered in the 戸籍 other than a side note, I don’t feel that hesitation anymore to write my name in 当て字 whenever it is not a legal situation and it feels ok to me.
In the end, what is a “real” name and who is entitled to grant you that? It feels more real to me to take on a name from my 先輩s than some strange construction that seems to be the whole Katakana Catastrophe to me. In the end, a name is a box someone else made up for you and rather than restricting myself to that box I’d rather look for a box I can fit in more comfortably.
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I write my name (Martin) as マーティン, it’s closer to the German pronunciation, and “smoother” than putting ル in there.
When I was in Japan, though, everyone at work just called me マティ. They gave me a name stamp with the kanji 麻帝. “Lord of weed”? No idea how I earned that, but I took it with a smile 
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This was years ago. I’m not sure I have much of it left. Maybe I can find some. If I do, I’ll post it.
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No no, no need to feel ashamed. I was curious and bored at work so I ended up contacting the Canadian embassy to find out all about this kind of stuff! It’s not really easy to find this kind of information online
I have lived in Japan for 22 years and never once used (had need for) ateji to write my name, even when I did shodo, although I simply did that for fun and never displayed anything. Before I was married, my hanko was just my first name in katakana, which is short and easy. Now I use my Japanese family name. The only time I’ve considered ateji was as a conversation topic with students to see what kanji they would give my name. The one I liked the best and seemed appropriate since I am living on the other side of the world to where I was born, is 久里子.
I’m confused by this. Changing the name on your passport certainly requires a legal name change.
I’m Canadian and all I had to do was show my official marriage certificate, the same as any person who changes their name upon getting married. I had just renewed my passport before getting married, so I didn’t even get that changed until nearly 5 years after being married. Once the passport was done, I just went around to my bank in Canada and then all the places here in Japan to change the name. It was a hassle updating everything, but not difficult and definitely didn’t require going back to Canada for 6 months.
It may depend on which province you’re from. This is the response I received from the embassy in Tokyo:
Kindly note that name change applications can only be handled by the provincial/territorial government in Canada according to their rules and regulations. We suggest that you contact your provincial/territorial government in Canada to obtain information about name change. It is our understanding that you would need to be a resident in Canada for a certain period of time when applying for the legal name change in your province. Their contact information can be found at Member organisations.
If you decided and wish to have a new passport issued under your married surname (this will be an assumed surname, and it will not constitute a legal name change), you can submit a new passport application without first going through a legal name change. You can refer to “Changing your last name due to a change in relationship status” in the Name change policy of Passport Canada here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/passport/apply/name-change.asp
Are you certain that your legal name has been changed in Canada? Because it sounds like the Japanese 通名称 where you can have your new name on all your licenses, documents, residence cards etc, but it’s still not “officially” your name. (I apologize if my comment sounds know-it-all-y, I myself am also trying to make sense of it and want to make absolutely sure I know what I’m doing)
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Not know-it-all-y at all. My mind is blown that the name on my passport is most likely not my actual legal name. This is fascinating! I’m shocked that an assumed name could be used on a passport to being with, especially since everything here is based off of that as the be all, end all of documents. So basically this means that any woman/person who marries, changes their name, continues to live overseas and cannot go back to Canada for 6 months is wandering around under an alias on their passport. LOL! Imagine if all the little bureaucrats in city hall and elsewhere learned of this! The teeth sucking that would ensue!
I just did a quick google and it turns out that it’s uncommon to legally change your name after marriage. I asked my sisters. Neither did. Just like in Japan using the 通称名 on various IDs and documents, it’s the same in Canada. It is legally recognized to simply use the married name, but that’s not technically your legal name. Legally changing your name means changing all your documents-even a birth certificate. I wasn’t born married, so I’m ok with not having my name ‘legally’ changed.
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