Yes they are all written exactly the same, and the reason it seems so bizarre to you is because you're trying to think of everything in the framing of phonograms, where rule number one is sound and characters are inseparably bound. Since that was probably the only type of language you dealt with your entire life, that feels like the natural way of things, and anything that goes against that rule feels wrong.
Japanese and other Asian languages operate under the concept of ideograms, where sound and characters are NOT 1:1 mapped. As unbelievable as it may be, not much problems occur in everyday life when everyone involved is aware of those rules and operates under that assumption.
The writing system you were born to is not the only valid way to do things, much like Imperial is not the only measurement system, Christianity is not the only religion, vi/Emacs are not the only text editors, etc, etc.
If there are people present in the same space with identically-appearing names, they are merely given secondary characteristics (be it family names, explicit pronunciations via yomigana, or some other property) to differentiate. How is that any different from if there are people present in western-language space with identical first names?
Japanese and other Asian languages operate under the concept of ideograms, where sound and characters are NOT 1:1 mapped. As unbelievable as it may be, not much problems occur in everyday life when everyone involved is aware of those rules and operates under that assumption.
The writing system you were born to is not the only valid way to do things, much like Imperial is not the only measurement system, Christianity is not the only religion, vi/Emacs are not the only text editors, etc, etc.