From a qualifications for Japanese citizenship point of view, my biggest concern was that I spent too many days outside of Japan to count years as "consecutive years of residence". Spend more than 100 days continuous or 150 days total outside of Japan and it doesn't count as a "year of residence". Likewise, I carefully watch the calendar to make sure I don't spend more than a month total in the U.S. on business trips, otherwise I lose my 2555 Foreign Income Exclusion exemption from U.S. taxes. U.S. citizens have to file and in some cases pay taxes regardless of where they live in the world every year. Obviously, I passed the residency requirement for naturalization.
After months of waiting, I got the call on my phone regarding the approval of my naturalization during a time when I least expected it. I expected it would take more time because I was in regular communication with the Ministry of Justice. The reason I was in regular communication was because while waiting for your naturalization to be approved, you're supposed to call your local bureau and caseworker every time you have a life changing event (job change, marriage, divorce, birth, death) or you enter/leave Japan. Because I enter and leave Japan often, I had my personal public servant, Mr. Kobayashi, starred in my phone's contacts for ease of dialing. The conversations usually went something like this:
"Nationality Section? Yes, Mr. Kobayashi please."During my wait, I was booked to travel to a few countries, with layovers in Narita and Haneda. With a week before this travel, I received a call from the Bureau of Legal Affairs from Kobayashi-san.
"Your case number please."
"1279."
"One moment please [ hold music ] Nationality section's Kobayashi speaking. This in Mr. Inoue, correct?"
"Hello, Mr. Kobayashi, as I stated before, I've returned. On schedule."
"Welcome back! Same flight details?"
"Yep, no change. By the way, I'll be flying again next month."
"Okay. Give us a call right before you leave again please."
"Sure thing. By the way, how's my application going?"
"Haven't heard anything yet. If something was wrong, I would've heard something, so don't worry. I'll call you as soon as I get word."
"Thanks!"
"Great news! You've been approved! You're now Japanese! When can you come and pick up your 帰化者の身分証明書 (proof of identity of naturalized person)?"So I go to the 法務局 (Bureau of Legal Affairs), pick up my 帰化者の身分証明書 (proof of identity of naturalized person) without any ceremony because I'm in a hurry and they only do the ceremony once a month apparently, and thank Mr. Kobayashi for all his help. He's really beaming, telling me "congratulations" and bowing and admitting that I was his first American to process. After going through the formalities, I immediately make a beeline for the ward office before closing and go through all the processes to convert me over to Japanese using my breeder document: the deletion of my Alien records and the return of my ARC (alien registration card), the creation of my 住民票 (local Japanese resident registration) and the creation of my corresponding 住基カード (local Japanese resident id card), which can prove nationality as they're only issued to citizens. The problem was my 戸籍謄本. I put on my naturalization application that I wanted my 本籍 (domicile) that stored my family register to be in Ōsaka City because that's where I spent my early years in Japan, it's where I met my wife, and it's where her family register was, so the place had special meaning to me as my "origin" in Japan. Your 本籍 (domicile) can be any legal address (down to block level) in Japan, regardless of where you actually live. The problem is that if your domicile isn't in the same place where you actually live, they need to forward any requests, creations, or changes to it from your local ward office via postal mail. So expediting it was not possible. No expedited family register means no expedited passport. I spent the remainder of the day going to the local police station to update my driver's license, changing the name to my new legal name in kanji and digitally changing the 本籍 (domicile) from United States of America to 大阪府大阪市 (Ōsaka Prefecture, Ōsaka City) inside the RFID chip. For privacy reasons, the 本籍 (domicile) is stored digitally encrypted with two PINs in Japanese licenses, but is no longer printed on the card.
"Um, is there any way we we can postpone my naturalization for a few weeks until I return from all my travel?"
"What? Er... sorry, no. It's a done deal."
"How long will it take to get a Japanese passport?"
"Expedited? Probably one week. But to get a Japanese passport, you'll first need a 戸籍謄本 (certified copy of a Japanese family register). Creating that by using the 帰化者の身分証明書 as the breeder document at your local 区役所 (ward office) takes anywhere from ten to fifteen business days, even expedited."
"Can I travel using my U.S. passport until I get my Japanese passport?"
"Um, I'm not sure. I'm not immigration. I just do Japanese nationality. Given how much you travel, I recommend you get your Japanese passport as quickly as possible."
The next week, I go to the airport to see if I am allowed to leave the country on a U.S. passport. I am enrolled in the automated gate system, which means my "alien" SoR — status of residence: 永住者 (permanent resident) — and the corresponding 数次再入国許可 (multiple reentry permit) that allows me to leave and enter without losing my SoR, as well as my fingerprints, are stored in a computer system. The only thing the immigration officer does is process the embarkation/disembarkation card for alien re-entrants and ask if one wants a physical ink stamp in the passport — which is optional for auto-gate users.
I scanned my U.S. passport and fingerprints, hoping for the best. No problem. Let me through. "Oh, cool, that's convenient" I thought. My 数次再入国許可 (multiple reentry permit) for my permanent residency status, which is registered with the auto-gates, was still valid. Probably until the expiration date. Of course, I knew I wouldn't be able to renew it, but for now, it helped me solve the problem of traveling while I waited for my Japanese passport. I'd just apply when I got back from traveling.
I should've known it wouldn't be that simple. Arriving back at Narita, I go through the automated gates again. The computer shows me a screen I've never seen before. "Please scan the QR code on your reentry permit." Uh oh. So I scan it anyway, hoping for the best. The next error message: "Please see an official for assistance."
The official comes over after being auto-paged, thinking I'm a noob that doesn't know how to operate the machine. He guides me through the process. Same result. He examines all the pages of my passport, and tells me to try again. Same error. He punches in a password for the admin screen, and this time he tells me to scan the 1D bar code on the back of the reentry embarcation card (I never noticed that before, by the way). Still, an error.
"Please wait right over there." He points to the bench by the diplomat/crew line, which is next to an open office. He goes into the office with my passport and gets behind a computer with yet another passport scanner connected to it. I'm watching him scan it, and I'm watching his facial expression as he reads the screen. I'm trying to determine if what he's seeing is giving him cause for alarm (terrorist, spy, wanted criminal), or disgust (visa violator, bogus passport etc). Fortunately, it's more of an expression of puzzlement / bewilderment. I watch him pick up the phone on his desk and call another person over for a second opinion. The second person comes, examines every page of the passport, then scans and punches some keys on the keyboard. Then I see the two point at various things on the screen, debate for a bit, pull out a manual from under the desk, look in the index, then read a page, pointing at various parts of the page, and discussing. The official returns about ten minutes later.
"Do you have Japanese citizenship?"I don't have it, so I explain my entire situation from the time of naturalization.
"Yes."
"Oh, thank goodness! That explains everything. You're supposed to use your Japanese passport. Can I see it please?"
"Hmmm. Let's see what we can do. Do you have a Japanese driver's license?" Apparently, immigration can use a Japanese driver's license as a backup identity for weird edge cases like mine. But damn! I have one, and I even updated it so it proved I was Japanese, but I left it in my car at home! So I give him my 住基カード (local Japanese resident id card), which is also a digital RFID legal Japanese ID that can prove Japanese citizenship. He apologizes, and says yes, it is a valid ID, but their computers haven't been updated to handle those cards yet.
They let me through (they had to, but they didn't fine me or anything), but they warned, "please get your Japanese passport as quickly as possible."
"What happens if I have to travel again and I haven't gotten my passport yet?"He discusses it again with his partner in the office. I'm worried, because the partner is shaking his head as they're flipping through thick procedure manuals again. He comes back ten minutes later.
"When do you travel again?"
"Um, in five hours."
His eyes widen. "Just a moment please."
"Go through the regular foreigner line. Whatever you do, don't use the re-entry line or the Japanese line. Use a regular embarcation/debarkation card for foreigners, not the ones for re-entry foreign residents.""What do you mean you're not sure?! You are immigration! I want an authoritative answer!" is what part of me was thinking. The other part of me was thinking I just got the immigration break of the year and be sure to memorize these guys' id badges (so I can later point fingers and blame it on them if this all blows up in my face) while thanking them profusely for their exceptional flexibility.
"What will happen when the immigration officer sees the Permanent Resident or Re-Entry stamp in my U.S. passport?"
"We're not sure."
The immigration officer then puts a foreign embarkation/debarkation (non re-entrant) card in my U.S. passport, tearing off the embarcation part and leaving the debarkation part in, and stamps my passport as if I had just entered Japan as a foreign tourist.
I clear immigration at Narita and take the shuttle to Haneda. I go through the foreigner (manual, non-automated) line. The official there takes the final debarkation part of the card out of the passport and stamps it again. No problems. No questions.
Coming back into Japan, I do as the Narita officials instruct me and complete an embarkation card for foreigners, but I'm getting nervous, because I haven't seen an embarkation card for regular tourists before, and there are questions on it that aren't on the re-entry version, such as "what is the purpose of your visit to Japan?" and "how many days do you plan to be in Japan?" Not wanting to lie, I leave those sections blank. They take my picture and digitally fingerprint me. No problems. They don't ask about the sections I left blank. There are no problems with the photo or digital fingerprinting either.
So I'm processed, no problems or questions whatsoever. I now have a still unused debarkation card for foreign vistors in my U.S. passport along with a 90 day temporary landing permit. This is amusing to me, because I've never been a tourist/visitor in Japan. Ever. From Day One in the early nineties I was on a work visa. This sticker/stamp is dated after a (still valid according to the sticker) re-entry permit and permanent resident sticker on the previous page. I finally get to be a tourist in Japan. After I was a permanent resident and am now legally Japanese.
In case you're wondering how an immigration officer could possibly let my weirdly stamped passport slip by, here's why: the reentry permit, which has a QR code and is recorded in a database, is digitally cancelled, even though there is no ink stamp saying "cancelled" or "void" or "used" on it. From immigration's point of view, I was a permanent resident who decided to prematurely cancel my multiple reentry permit and then leave the country, effectively canceling my permanent residency, for whatever reason (taxes?), then decided to visit again as a U.S. tourist. So the passport was not technically "out of order", though it was unusual. Most permanent residents do not abandon their status, as it's not easy to earn.
After getting some downtime from travel and finally getting a window to get my Japanese papers in order many months later, I call up Kobayashi and request that even though he claims to know little about immigration, could he please look into what happened?
He calls me back after a few weeks and says that basically, what happened was the Ministry of Justice contacted Immigration and digitally cancelled my 数次再入国許可 (multiple reentry permit) while I was overseas because I was Japanese and it no longer applied. What should have happened was they should have immediately digitally cancelled my 数次再入国許可 (multiple reentry permit) upon naturalizing me so there was no way I could have left the country using the automated gates with a foreign passport, bypassing the human passport-sanity check.
Kobayashi warned me to never use my U.S. passport at Japanese immigration again, because me, the U.S. citizen, was now recorded (digitally, including fingerprint biometrics) as being a tourist in Japan, who has now overstayed his legal welcome. "Will I get in trouble? Like a fine or anything?" I asked. "Probably not, because the MOJ and immigration made the original mistake. Your situation is very unusual. All the papers you presented were valid and presented in good faith. But it will be a big bureaucratic hassle and you'll probably have a very long day at airport immigration. And I wouldn't want you to miss your flight!" He laughed.
"Does this mean I can't use the automated gates as a Japanese because of the fingerprint check?"
"No, that shouldn't be a problem. The databases, for legal privacy reasons, are not connected."
So, the Japanese citizen version of me has the legal right to be in Japan no-ifs-or-buts-or-questions, but the American version of me — I am in the process of renouncing — is now technically an オーバーステー (alien visa "overstayer").
I now have a Japanese passport, by the way.
