Misinfo

FALSE
The internet is full of people who mean well but propagate the same myths regarding Japanese naturalization over and over. A lot of information has been linked to so often that it appears in the top results for web searches for Japanese naturalization and citizenship.

For these cases where the information is not mutable or correctable, this page exists to link to and point out these resources which contain major errors or misunderstandings about Japanese naturalization.

If the information is corrected, we will note it on this list by striking it out.
  1. eHow.com:
    1. eHow.com: How to Become a Japanese Citizen [2012-Jun-5]
    2. (corrected) deletes erroneous article on Japanese naturalization [2015-Jan-12]
  2. justlanded.com:
    1. Japanese citizenship: How to become Japanese [2010-Jul-21]
    2. (revised) Japanese citizenship: How to become Japanese [2013-Apr-22]
    3. (corrected) JustLanded.com article on Japanese naturalization: accurate [2013-Aug-14]
  3. tokyoimmigration.jp: I want to become a Japanese national [2012-Mar-11]
  4. metropolis.jp: Poll Position [2012-May-6]
  5. eHow.com: How to Obtain Japanese Citizenship [2012-Jun-4]
  6. cnn.com: Immigration lessons for the U.S. from around the world [2012-Jun-11]
  7. mainichi.jp: News Navigator: How can foreigners get Japanese citizenship? [2012-Jun-19]
  8. wikipedia.org: Japanese naturalization [2012-Jun-26]
  9. Tokyo Underworld: Naturalization Story True? [2012-Nov-30]
  10. Japanologic: Naturalisation [2013-Jan-28]
  11. debito.org: Prof. Kashiwazaki Chikako: Japan’s Nationality Law and immigration policy deviates from current international legal norm [2013-Mar-12; comments]
  12. Naturalization and permanent residency's effect on mortgages, credit cards and loans
  13. "Japan is the only nation that does not give citizenship to Muslims."
  14. Is Japanese immigration policy "anti-immigration" or "xenophobic"?
  15. Measuring Citizenship: Is Japan an Outlier?
    • "The Water's Fine, But Don't Come In," Tom Baker [Daily Yomiuri; 2005-Jan-16]
    • Japanese Only: The Otaru Hot Springs Case and Racial Discrimination in Japan [ARUDOU Debito; 2004]
  16. "You'll never be accepted as a Japanese."
  17. Did the Ministry of Justice ever FORCE those who naturalized to take "Japanese-sounding" names?
  18. Japanese gave Resident Registrations to animals & fictional characters but not non-Japanese
  19. (corrected) BBC News Magazine: "In some places it's impossible to become a citizen, like Japan." [2016-Jan-11]
  20. The Economist: Japanese naturalization | Inspector's Knock: Getting a passport is not easy [2016-Aug-20]
  21. "You will never get caught nor will they enforce single nationality if you cut corners"
  22. Business Insider, Chris Weller: No, there is no "mental-health exam" as part of Japanese naturalization [2017-Mar-8]
  23. The Japan Times, Philip Basor: No, even without an official father, kids can be Japanese [2017-Dec-9]
  24. JAPANESE RULE OF 7: You can't bring your girlfriend (or even your wife or lawyer) with you to consultations [2018-Dec-22]
  25. "… unless you are a “native” (or say, indigenous) Japanese, any identification that you carry such as your passport, will have an indication that you’re a legal citizen of foreign born in order to differentiate from the “native”… [2019-May]
  26. … according to [Meiji] Japanese law, children born to Japanese and foreigners could not be Japanese citizens.

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How much did it actually cost to naturalize?

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Pennies, compared to most other developed countries In 2010, an article was published here about how much it costs to apply for naturalization. It was true then, and it's still true now in 2022: The application itself is free . ¥0, nada, zilch. Compare that to the US ($725) , UK (£1,330) , Germany (€255) . However, there are many things throughout the process that can cost money: getting your civil documents both in Japan and your home country, tax documents, driving record, etc. You will also to make personal appearances to your local Legal Affairs Bureau. Here I will talk about how much it cost me personally, including the cost of gathering all documents, photocopying, travel, etc. List of Expenses Below is the list of my naturalization-related expenses. All told, it cost me about ¥18,500 to make a successful application. It is worth repeating: There is no application fee . Everything in the list above are expenses related to getting documents I need to submit with my naturaliza...
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Types of Japanese Passports

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The vast majority of people that naturalize will probably apply for a "red" Japanese passport after their 戸籍 { koseki } (family register) is created — which takes about a couple weeks followed by a few weeks for the passport to be issued. It is not necessary to apply for a passport. Just like the United States, the vast majority of the populace never actually travels outside of their country for their lifetime. However, realisticly speaking, it's very likely that a naturalized person would have a Japanese passport as they most likely have family ties overseas. Language The passport is in two languages: English and Japanese. Very old passports, similar to my U.S. passport, also had French, the language of diplomacy. My oh my, how the French empire's influence has faded. My last U.S. passport added Spanish. My oh my, how South, Central, and Latin America's influence has increased! ☺ On current Japanese passports, the message from the Minister of Foreig...
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All about Japanese personal inkan/hanko/chops/seals

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"signing" a payment slip at a bank In Japan (and other Asian countries), it is traditional practice to use an 印鑑 { inkan } ( aka 印章 { inshō } ) — colloquially called a 判子 { hanko } in Japanese or "chop" in British English — instead of a signature for acknowledging / signing / accepting documents. Pedantically speaking, a 判子 hanko is the actual stamping object, and an 印鑑 inkan is the ink impression that is made, but many native Japanese use the two words interchangeably. In the 21st century, Japanese recommend having three types of seals: one for casual informal acceptance: 認印 { mitomein } one for your bank accounts: 銀行印 { ginkō-in } the "real" registered one: ( 実印 { jitsuin } ) While it's perfectly possible to use just one seal for all of these functions, most people use at least two or three for the same reason that people should use different passwords for different services on the internet: in the case of a compromised s...
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