I have two passports(USA and Japan) with two different names on them. Which passport do I show when? -

I have been living in the USA all my life, but have dual citizenship by birth. I am going to be living in Japan for 1 year for school. I have read that I should show my American passport when entering/leaving the US and Japanese passport when entering/leaving Japan. My American name is on the ticket, so if I show only my Japanese passport in Japan, it would probably be a problem. If I show both, will I need to produce any additional documentation because of the difference in names?

I am guessing that you have your maiden name on the Japan passport and your married name on the US passport and ticket. You are right, show the ticket and US Passport entering and leaving the US (you have to). I don t know the regulations for Japanese passports, but I can t see why they would ask for documentation. That s the point of having a passport, you already showed the proof when you got it. You may want to update your Japanese passport to your US name if it doesn t affect anything such as an estate, property ownership, etc.

When you leave Japan you will show both passports. My brother also has two different names on his passports. The workers usually know what to do, that some people have this situation. But sometimes you encounter people who do not know what to do. Just be persistent and speak to someone higher up if needed. An incident happened with my brother once and upon return to Japan, the manager of the airline counter profusely apologized.

Although I m curious why you have two names on your passports, I m thinking you would want to use only one passport.