Katakana names
U.S. place names appeared only in katakana
Each katakana rendering was reconstructed to its real spelling and verified against the packet.
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Japanese Birth Certificate Translation
戸籍謄本 · 全部事項証明書
Certified Japanese-to-English translation for USCIS, delivered within 24 hours. $24.95 per physical page, with no word cap.
Koseki family registers, hospital certificates, and older joseki records. Era dates converted, kanji readings matched to your passport, every notation translated.
Signed and stamped Certificate of Translation Accuracy
Accepted — or your money back
One physical page stays one billed page
Review and request corrections before certification
Your instant price
Japanese → English1
any length · no word capone or more · PDF, image · up to 25 MB ea.
Your total$24.95
Acceptance guarantee · unlimited free revisions
We check your files and confirm the total before you pay
4.9/5 · 2,400+ reviews BBB Accredited A+ 240,000+ documents since 2014
Your finished package
A complete certified package, ready to file.
Your delivery includes the source-document scan, a complete English translation, and a signed and stamped Certificate of Translation Accuracy.
- Every field, stamp, seal, signature, and notation translated
- Romanization matched to your passport — never a guessed kanji reading
- Every era date (Shōwa, Heisei, Reiwa) converted and labeled with its Gregorian year
- Certificate of Translation Accuracy signed and stamped on company letterhead
- Review the translation and request corrections before certification
Get my certified translation
Files checked and total confirmed before payment
Real Japanese casework
We have handled the details people usually worry about.
These are anonymized Japanese-to-English orders. Each case shows the source-document issue and the exact translation decision.
Register correction
The register carried a corrected mother’s name
The correction entry was translated in place, so the name history stays traceable for the officer.
Read the case
Form layout
Beyond vital records: a dense export certificate
Every field of the 輸出抹消仮登録証明書 was translated and the form layout mirrored for the U.S. filing.
Read the caseBefore you order
Do you have the right Japanese birth document?
Japan proves birth with the family register, and municipalities issue it in several forms. Upload every page — we will identify the type before work starts.
Koseki tōhon
The certified full register — 戸籍謄本 / 全部事項証明書
The full copy shows the 本籍, the 筆頭者, and every family member’s era-dated entries. This is the standard USCIS birth evidence from Japan, and family petitions usually need exactly this form.
Send every page, including the last one — the mayor’s certification and seal make the copy official.
Koseki shōhon
The individual extract — 戸籍抄本 / 個人事項証明書
The extract reproduces one person’s entries. Some authorities accept it, but when parentage matters we flag an extract that omits the parent and relationship fields a family-based filing relies on.
Other proofs
Hospital certificates and closed registers
The hospital 出生証明書, the 出生届受理証明書 acceptance certificate, and older 除籍謄本 (joseki) copies supplement the koseki. We translate each by its actual function, archival notations included.
How it works
How to get your Japanese birth certificate translated, step by step
Upload once. We check the files and confirm the total before payment. Then our team translates, reviews, and certifies the complete package.
- 01
Upload the full document set
Send a PDF, scan, or phone photo. Include every register page, the certification block with the seal, and a passport name page when available.
Files checked · total confirmed before payment - 02
We translate and cross-check
Kanji readings against the passport, era-date conversions, the honseki vs birthplace distinction, relationship labels, and every notation and seal are checked against the source.
Translated · independently checked - 03CertTranslateCertifiedTranslation
Review and receive your certified files
Request corrections free. Once approved, receive the source scan, full English translation, and signed and stamped Certificate of Translation Accuracy.
Certified · typically within 24 hours
One physical page means one billed page.
No 250-word cap and no dense-page rebilling.
Certified price
$24.95/ page
Get my certified translation
No payment until file review
Client reviews
Japanese civil records, handled without guesswork.
4.9 / 52,400+ client reviews
Google Trustpilot Direct feedback
Yumi T.
San Jose, CA
“My koseki tohon had entries dated in Showa and Heisei years. CertTranslate converted every date with the Gregorian equivalent next to it and USCIS accepted my I-485 packet without an RFE.”
Japan · Koseki tōhon
I-485 accepted, no RFE
Kenta M.
Seattle, WA
“My family name kanji can be read two different ways, and an earlier translation guessed wrong. They matched the spelling in my passport exactly and flagged the difference for my attorney.”
Japan · Kanji name reading
Passport spelling matched
Rachel O.
Honolulu, HI
“The koseki covered my husband’s whole family and I only needed his line proven for the I-130. The translation kept the register structure clear, so the officer could trace his entry easily.”
Japan · Family register
Register line kept traceable
Questions before ordering
Clear answers, before you upload.
If your document does not match one of these situations, send it anyway. Support replies in 15–30 minutes during support hours.
How much does a Japanese birth certificate translation cost?+−
The certified translation is priced per physical page. A typical one-page extract costs one page, even when the page contains more than 250 words; full registers usually run two to three pages.
How long does a Japanese birth certificate translation take?+−
Most one- to three-page orders are delivered within 24 hours after we receive clear scans. If the register includes many entries, older handwritten sections, or an attached joseki, we confirm the delivery window before work begins.
Will my Japanese birth certificate translation be accepted by USCIS?+−
The delivery includes your source-document scan, a complete English translation, and a signed and stamped Certificate of Translation Accuracy. If a receiving authority rejects the translation for a translation-related reason, we revise it free. If it is still rejected, we refund the translation cost.
Is a koseki tōhon the same as a birth certificate for USCIS?+−
Effectively yes. Japan does not issue a standalone Western-style birth certificate for adults — the certified copy of the family register is the birth evidence U.S. guidance points to, and we translate it in full.
What if the register is handwritten, faded, or hard to read?+−
We can usually work from scans with seals, embossing, handwriting, or slightly faded print. If a name, date, or register entry is too weak to read safely, we ask for a better image rather than guessing.
Can I review the translation before it is certified?+−
Yes. You can review the completed translation and request unlimited free corrections before certification. If USCIS later requests a translation-related change, we correct the certified file at no charge.
Is there a word cap on a page?+−
No. We bill the physical page you upload, never a 250-word unit. A dense register page remains one billed page.
How do you handle era dates like Shōwa, Heisei, and Reiwa?+−
We keep the era date exactly as printed and pair it with the correct Gregorian year — Shōwa 60 rendered alongside 1985 — so the officer reads real years while the source stays verifiable.
How do you romanize Japanese names?+−
By the passport. Most kanji names can be read several ways, so we follow the spelling in your passport or governing ID rather than guessing a reading — and we flag any discrepancy we find.
My koseki mentions U.S. places in katakana — how is that handled?+−
Katakana cannot be reversed mechanically, so we reconstruct the original spelling from context and your documents — カリフォルニア comes back as California, not a phonetic approximation.
Does USCIS require notarization?+−
USCIS generally requires certification, not notarization. Notarization remains available when a court, embassy, or another receiving authority asks for it.
Most frequent problems we correct
What can get a Japanese birth record questioned — and how we prevent it
These are the recurring issues we see in Japanese civil-record packets and in translations clients ask us to review.
01
Romanization guessed from the kanji instead of matched to the passport
Our check: Most Japanese names read several ways. We follow the passport spelling — or the established Hepburn form — so one person never appears under two names.
02
An era date transcribed without conversion
Our check: Shōwa, Heisei, and Reiwa dates are paired with their Gregorian equivalents, so the officer reads real years while the source stays verifiable.
03
The honseki read as the place of birth
Our check: The registered domicile is a legal reference, not the birthplace. We keep the two fields explicitly distinct in English.
04
Katakana renderings of foreign names round-tripped wrong
Our check: カリフォルニア has to come back as California. We reconstruct original spellings from context and the documents you provide.
Checked before certification. If an authority later requests a translation-related correction, revisions remain free.
Start my translationCommon filing contexts
When you may need this translation
Japanese family registers most often appear in family-based USCIS packets, but the same certified package may also be requested by a court, school, or benefits agency.
The key is consistency: names, era-date conversions, and register references should line up with the passport and the rest of the supporting documents.
I-130
Family petitions
The family register connects the beneficiary to the petitioner across its entries.
I-485
Adjustment of Status
The koseki tōhon proves identity and parentage; romanization must match the passport.
N-400
Naturalization
Era-dated entries are reconciled with modern documents into one consistent identity chain.
Other
Courts, schools, and benefits agencies
The certified English version stands in for the Japanese register wherever the reviewer works in English.
Document glossary
Japanese birth record terms
Common terms you may see on Japanese civil-status records and how they appear in the certified English translation.
- 戸籍謄本 (koseki tōhon)
- Certified full copy of the family register — Japan’s standard proof of birth.
- 全部事項証明書
- The computerized full-register certificate; the modern name for the tōhon.
- 戸籍抄本 / 個人事項証明書
- Individual extract reproducing one person’s entries from the register.
- 本籍 (honseki)
- Registered domicile — a legal reference address, distinct from the birthplace.
- 筆頭者 (hittōsha)
- Head of register under whom the family’s koseki is filed.
- 出生届 / 出生証明書
- Birth notification / hospital birth certificate by the attending doctor or midwife.
- 元号 (era dates)
- Shōwa, Heisei, Reiwa era years; converted and labeled with Gregorian equivalents.
- 除籍謄本 (joseki)
- Certified copy of a closed register; appears for older family lines.
Reference library
Helpful pages and official sources
Guidance and source links last rechecked .
More from CertTranslate
Ready when you are
Start with your Japanese document. We will check the rest.
Upload every page you have — the certification block with the seal included. We will confirm the document type, page count, price, and delivery time before you pay.
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