Editing Japanese name (section)

===Regulations===
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2009}}
Kanji names in Japan are governed by the Japanese Ministry of Justice's rules on kanji use in names. {{As of|2015|alt=As of January 2015}}, only the 843 "name kanji" ({{transliteration|ja|[[jinmeiyō kanji]]}}) and 2,136 "commonly used characters" ({{transliteration|ja|[[jōyō kanji]]}}) are permitted for use in personal names. This is intended to ensure that names can be readily written and read by those literate in Japanese. Names may be rejected if they are considered unacceptable; for example, in 1993 two parents who tried to name their child {{nihongo|Akuma|悪魔}}, which means "devil", were prohibited from doing so after a massive public outcry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nistep.go.jp/achiev/ftx/eng/pol001e/html/pol001ee.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060406095423/http://www.nistep.go.jp/achiev/ftx/eng/pol001e/html/pol001ee.html|url-status=dead|title=Legal Regulations on the Advanced Science and Technology 15|archive-date=April 6, 2006}}</ref>

Though there are regulations on the naming of children, many archaic characters can still be found in adults' names, particularly those born prior to the [[Second World War]]. Because the legal restrictions on use of such kanji cause inconvenience for those with such names and promote a proliferation of identical names, many recent changes have been made to increase rather than to reduce the number of kanji allowed for use in names. The Sapporo High Court held that it was unlawful for the government to deny registration of a child's name because it contained a kanji character that was relatively common but not included in the official list of name characters compiled by the Ministry of Justice. Subsequently, the Japanese government promulgated plans to increase the number of kanji "permitted" in names.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.sanseido-publ.co.jp/wp/2008/11/06/so/ |script-title=ja:人名用漢字の新字旧字：「曽」と「曾」|access-date=2014-10-09 |publisher=Sanseido Word-Wise Web |language=Japanese|date=6 November 2008}}</ref>

The use of a space in given names (to separate first and middle names) is not allowed in official documents, because technically, a space is not an allowed character. However, spaces are sometimes used on business cards and in correspondence.