Sōshi kaimei

Order No. 124

In 1909, the Korean Empire established a civil registration law, starting the creation of a modern family registry system. With regard to the recording of details about women such as the father's surname, age, and connection to the registry holder, due to attention that needed to be given to avoiding conflict with Korean customs, the drafting of the law was not completed until April 1910, just before the annexation of Korea. By that time, a portion of Koreans had already registered Japanese-style names and the like, which generated confusion. As a result, on the basis of memoranda such as Order No. 124, "Document regarding name changes by Koreans" issued by the Governor-General of Korea on November 11, 1911, the use by Koreans of "names which might be mistaken for those of native Japanese" was no longer permitted, and strict controls were placed on the registration of Japanese-style names for newborn children. Additionally, Koreans who had registered Japanese-style names on there were required to revert to their original names.

Ordinances No. 19 and 20

In 1939 and 1940, a new name-change policy came into effect by means of Ordinances No. 19 and 20. Originally, as in Taiwan, the new name-change policy was intended simply to allow change of surname (sei/seong) and given name, but because Korea had a long-established custom (recently abandoned) whereby people of the same bon-gwan (surname and clan) were not allowed to marry each other, in order that this custom could continue, it was decided that the policy would be implemented by leaving the clan name and sei the same in the family register, while permitting a new family name (shi/ssi) to be registered. On the other hand, in Taiwan, which was also under Japanese rule in the same period, but did not have an analogous custom, the policy was not described as "creation of a shi", but was simply "change of sei and given name" (改姓名).

With regard to the creation of a family name (shi), there were both "shi created by (individual) selection" (設定創氏) and "shi created by law" (法定創氏). In the half year between February 11 and August 10, 1940, those who provided notification could create a shi of their own choosing, while those who did not provide any notification would have their shi defined by the clan name (sei) of the head of the household. After the "creation of a family name", a Korean had three names which are a family name shi, a clan name sei, and a personal name mei (first name), all of which are recorded in a person's family register along with the origin place of the clan, bon-gwan. Since all members of a family share the same family name shi, wife's shi, and hence the first character in her legal name, would be the same as her husband's, which differed from the traditional Korean clan name sei, whereby a wife kept her original sei even after marriage (see table). Besides that, selection of a shi with a Japanese-style reading could also be approved; to go along with such a shi, it was also permissible to change one's given name to a Japanese-style name; as the change of given name was voluntary, a fee would be charged for it. Additionally, at the same time, the mukoyōshi system, i.e. an adoption of a daughter's husband (婿養子制度), which up until then had been forbidden under Korean law, was also introduced. This case was also included in the sōshi-kaimei policy.

Declaration of individually selected shi and changes of given name initially (in February 1940) were conducted on the basis of voluntary notification. However, at the April prefectural governors' meeting, because of instructions such as "Special consideration should be taken so that the shi registration of all households can be completed by the coming July 20" the administration began to seriously promote the policy, and as a result, starting from April, the number of households registering individually selected shi began to rise sharply. As of April, only 3.9% of all households had provided notification for creation of a shi, but by August 10, that figure had risen to 80.3%. Also, statements opposing the policy of sōshi-kaimei were censored according to the internal security laws.

There are several viewpoints regarding this sudden increase. Most argue that official compulsion and harassment existed against individuals who would not create a new Japanese-style shi, but disagree whether this was the result of individual unauthorised practises by low-level officials , the policy of some regional government organisations, or an overall intention of the colonial government. Others argue that Koreans seeking to avoid discrimination by Japanese voluntarily created Japanese-style family names.

Regardless, of Koreans living in Korea, the proportion of those who changed their given name reached only 9.6%. Among Koreans living in the mainland of Japan, the proportion of those who created a new shi by individual selection reached 14.2％.

Restoration of original names

After the liberation of Korea from Japanese rule, the Name Restoration Order was issued on October 23, 1946, by the United States military administration south of the 38th parallel, enabling Koreans to restore their Korean names if they wished to. However, not all Koreans returned to using their original names, especially Koreans living outside of Korea. Many Zainichi Koreans chose to retain their Japanese names, either to avoid discrimination, or later, to meet the requirements for naturalization as Japanese citizens, while some Sakhalin Koreans who had taken Japanese names were registered by Soviet authorities under those names (which appeared on their Japanese identity papers) after the Red Army occupied Karafuto, and up to the present day have been unable to revert their legal names to their original Korean ones.

Those who took a Japanese-style name

Those who retained their Korean-style name

Timeline of family registration procedures in Korea