What is a certificate of translation (翻訳証明書)? What it states, and what Japanese offices ask of the translator

Sources checked: 1 November 2026

When you submit an English document to a Japanese office, you may be asked for details of the translator, such as their name, signature, address and the date of translation, as well as the Japanese translation itself. A certificate of translation (翻訳証明書) is a statement by the translator or translation company that the translation is a translation of the original, bringing those details together in one document. What's required depends on where you submit it.

What offices ask for: the translation and details of the translator

For family register filings, residence status applications, naturalisation and other procedures, you attach a Japanese translation to each foreign-language document. Some procedures also ask for the translator's name, signature, address or the date of translation on it (see the table below).

No law sets a format for a certificate of translation, so what matters is that it includes the details the office asks for. A certificate of translation shows them in one document.

What a certificate of translation states

The original document's title and issuer
The languages (for example, English to Japanese)
That the attached translation is a translation of the original
The translator's name and address (for a company, its name and the person responsible)
The date of translation
The translator's signature, or name and seal

Each of these answers something offices ask for, as in the table below. If the office you submit to specifies its own format, follow it.

What offices ask of the translator

Procedure	What's asked of the translator	Basis
Family register filings (marriage, birth and others)	A translation identifying the translator. Some municipalities also ask for the translator's name written in the translation (Musashino), the translator's signature at its end (Chiba), or the date and the translator's name and address (Kita Ward, Osaka)	Family Register Act Enforcement Regulations, Article 63; municipal guidance
Residence status and permanent residence applications	An accurate translation signed by the translator (anyone may translate)	Immigration Services Agency Q&A
Naturalisation (帰化)	A full translation on A4 paper stating the translator's address, name and date of translation. The Tokyo and Fukuoka bureaus ask for names and places of birth in katakana, hiragana or kanji	Legal Affairs Bureau naturalisation handbook and others
Tax deductions for relatives abroad	A Japanese translation. No rule on the translator	National Tax Agency guidance
Converting a foreign driving licence (the licence itself)	A translation by the foreign authority that issued it, that country's consulate, or a body set by law	Road Traffic Act Enforcement Regulations, Article 18

届書に添付する書類その他市町村長に提出する書類で外国語によつて作成されたものについては、翻訳者を明らかにした訳文を添付しなければならない。

Family Register Act Enforcement Regulations, Article 63

提出資料が外国語で作成されている場合には、訳文（日本語）を添付してください（出入国管理及び難民認定法施行規則第６２条）。翻訳が正確であり、翻訳者の署名があれば、どなたが翻訳しても結構です。

Immigration Services Agency Q&A, Q24 (Japanese; Article 62 became Article 66 on 1 October 2026)

If you translate it yourself

For family register filings, the Ministry of Justice says the translator may be the applicant (「翻訳者は本人でもかまいません」). For residence status applications (the Immigration Services Agency's Q&A) and naturalisation (the Legal Affairs Bureau's handbook), anyone may translate, the applicant included.

If you translate it yourself, you still need to check what each office asks for (the translator's name, signature, address, date and so on) and include it, and translate the whole document where the office requires a full translation. For a driving licence conversion, neither the applicant nor an ordinary translator can make the translation of the licence itself.

How it differs from a notary's certification or an apostille

A certificate of translation is a statement by the translator or translation company about the translation. It isn't a notary's certification, or an apostille (which certifies the signature and seal on a foreign public document). The guidance for the procedures in the table above (family register filings, residence status applications, naturalisation and tax deductions) doesn't ask for a translation to be certified by a notary or apostilled.

Applications to sit Japanese medical and nursing exams are an exception: both the documents and their Japanese translations must be confirmed by that country's embassy, consulate or a similar body (see the transcripts and degree certificates guide).

What our translations and certificates state

At the end of the translation: the date of translation, and our representative's name with the company seal as the person responsible for the translation, plus our address. These cover the translator's name, address and date that the offices in the table ask for
The certificate of translation: the original's title and issuer, the languages, the issuer (our company name, corporate number and address) and the person responsible, the certificate number and the issue date
A translation of the whole document. Anyone can check the certificate's status with its verification URL and QR code
If you give a katakana reading for a name, the translation writes the name in katakana, followed by the original spelling in brackets

Whether a translation is accepted is up to the office you submit it to. If it specifies its own format, follow it.

Questions

Is there a set format for a certificate of translation?

No law sets one. What matters is that it includes the details the office asks for (the translator's name, signature, address, date and so on).

Who can make a certificate of translation?

For family register filings, residence status applications and naturalisation, anyone may translate, the applicant included. A translation company gives you a translation and certificate with those details already included. A translation of a driving licence itself must come from the bodies set by law.

Does it need a signature or seal?

It depends on the office. The Immigration Services Agency's Q&A mentions the translator's signature, and Chiba City asks for the translator's signature at the end of the translation. The naturalisation handbook asks for the translator's address, name and date of translation.

Is it the same as a notary's certification or an apostille?

No. It's a statement by the translator or translation company, not a notary's certification or an apostille. Family register filings, residence status applications, naturalisation and tax deductions don't ask for a translation to be certified by a notary (applications to sit medical and nursing exams are an exception).

This page is general information. The documents required and the format of translations differ by country and office, and can change. Check the current guidance of the office you are submitting to before you file.