This is my experience of getting married in Japan, hopefully it gives some added insight. I was quite daunted by the process before I started but actually really enjoyed the experience.
Getting married in Japan (not the ceremeny) is not a simple process and if you cannot read or write Japanese you will need an interpreter .The process took some time to complete before we even left Australia but I cannot speak highly enough of the people I dealt with from the Consulate and the Ward office where we got married.
Also the requirement do vary from ward to ward.
Step 1.
Requirements
Certificate of No Impediment
From Australia - Obtain it from the Department of Foreign Affairs in your state. I tried from the consulate in Osaka but got stuck on the payment method (they had no way of processing the funds at the consulate) . It took 3 working days from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Sydney.
From Japan it may be possible to obtain from a consulate but I am not sure how you go about paying for it. Osaka consulate are the most helpful.
For this you will need certified copies (by a Justice of the Peace) of
Birth Certificate
Passport
Decree Nici (if divorced)
Birth Certificate - original and colour photocopies (unless you don’t mind leaving the original with your file in the ward office)
Passport
Decree Nisi
Certificate of No Impediment application form
Statutory Declaration provided by the ward office.
Note : Japanese New Years holiday is the last week in December ,for 2014 it was between December 26 and January 5. So don’t expect to get married between those dates. The Marriage Certificate cannot be mailed by the ward office, it must be collected by you in person or a third party that has been granted power of attorney. It takes approx 3 business days to be ready.
Step 2.
Translations
Depending on the requirements of the ward where you are getting married you may need the following as well ( I was required to supply them). I would suggest that you have them available. I will assume that the rules vary from ward to ward so be prepared.
Japanese Translation of:
Certificate of No Impediment application form
Certificate of No Impediment
Birth Certificate
Statutory Declaration provided by the ward office.
You will need to take with you all the paperwork completed and vetted.
Step 3.
Contact the Ward Office
Once you have all the paperwork contact the local council ward where you want to get married. I found it easier to make the initial contact by phone and then exchange emails along the way.
I sent the ward office scans of all the documents for checking before we left to be checked and then for me to correct. Understand that in Japan the ward staff cannot make corrections to documents on your behalf, thay must be completed by the applicant.
It seems to be uncommon for both parties to be foreigners getting married in Japan. So the person you are dealing with may never had to process a foreign application before, so be patient and understanding when you have redo forms and correct translations. The person I dealt with as the ward office were so helpful and went out of their way to make sure we could get married. It did take approximately 2 months to complete all the paper work in Australia and have vetted by the ward staff.
Step 4.
At the Ward Office
You will need two witnesses , depending on the requirements of the ward you may need Japanese citizens ( our children over 20 were enough for us). We turned up to the ward office on the day required with all the paperwork and met the ward officer. It then took approx 2 hours of filling out the marriage application form and other paperwork to complete the documentation for the ward office.
This includes filling out :
marriage application form in Hiragana and Katakana.
power of attorney to permit a third party to pick up the certificate on our behalf ( we left a stamped self addressed envelope with a friend)
In Japan everyone has a personal seal (Hanko) so that when you sign a document you also stamp it with your seal . These can be obtained fairly easily from a Hanko shop but may take a few days to produce. Otherwise you will be required to use you thumbprint as a seal.
Once all the documentation was completed we were then required to come back 4 days later to complete process with a witness, again this may vary from ward to ward. From my understanding from that point a file is created on you and all the documentation and certificates are stored there. It was quite thick by the time we had finished.
Step 5.
On the Day
You will need to take with you all the paperwork completed.
The day was actually during the public holiday period but the person from the ward office was only too happy to come in on her day off to complete the paperwork and get us married. After some further checking and signing (thumbprint included) we were married.
Our friend had the power of attorney because ther Marriage Cerfiticate cannot be mailed by the ward office, it must be collected by you in person or a third party that has been granted power of attorney.
Step 6.
Marriage Certificate
There is a choice of Marriage Certificates ,from A5 to A3 , they are very impressive. The cost was 1400 yen, that is all we had to pay for the entire process in Japan.
The A3 envelope was not available at the Post Office so I had to obtain from a stationery supply store. I inserted cardboard inside the envelope to protect the certificate. The cost to send via AirMail to Australia was 400 yen .
I think that had we not been leaving the town before the holiday period and travelling further before leaving Japan we would have come back and collected the Marriage Certificate ourselves, as it was the certificate arrived in the post approximately 10 days later.