Becoming Japanese

There are five sets queues in the international airports in Japan: one for crew and diplomats/officials, one for non-Japanese, one for Japanese, one for non-Japanese with re-entry permits, and an automated gate for registered non-Japanese and Japanese. When lines are long, they may direct excess people in the Japanese line and the non-Japanese line into the less used Re-Entry line and Crew/Diplomat line. There is one line, however, that is rarely used and is the fastest: the automated gate. Both non-Japanese and Japanese can pre-register their biometric identification to allow for faster processing at airport immigration. Unlike similar systems in the United States , the process is free and even available to non-permanent residents. This registration can be done at many Immigration bureaus, which is convenient for non-Japanese renewing the reentry or residency status stamps in their passport, or at the airport itself right before immigration check exiting the country. Registration ...

It's legally okay to say goodbye to your Japanese nationality Yes. In fact, unlike many countries, the ability to renounce your Japanese citizenship and/or leave Japan is explicitly guaranteed by the Constitution of Japan: 第 { dai } 22 条 { jō } 　 何人も、 { nanibito mo, } 公共の福祉に { kōtsū no fukushi ni } 反しない限り、 { han shinai kagiri, } 居住、移転及び { kyojū, iten oyobi } 職業選択の自由 { shokugyō sentaku no jiyū } を有する。 { o yū suru. } ２　 何人も、 { nanibito mo, } 外国に移住し、 { gaikoku ni ijū shi, } 又は国籍を離脱する { mata wa kokuseki o ridatsu suru } 自由を侵されない。 { jiyū o okasarenai. } Article 22: Every person shall have freedom to choose and change his residence and to choose his occupation to the extent that it does not interfere with the public welfare. 2) Freedom of all persons to move to a foreign country and to divest themselves of their nationality shall be inviolate. The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights also says everybody should have this right: Article 15. ...

Keene's Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star Yesterday I was at the clinic for my annual full day physical, waiting between sessions (eye check, ear check, x-rays, ultrasound, etc.), flipping through an English  Time Magazine (Asia edition) . In it, I noticed a full page color advertisement sponsored by the Public Relations Office of the Japanese government. It's a good read, but what I found interesting was that the Japanese government was using his naturalization as an inspirational example even though he technically hasn't received permission to naturalize yet. Given that it would probably be very embarrassing not just for Keene but for the Japanese government if he were to not be accepted for naturalization, I think it's safe to say that the odds of Japan rejecting Keene are now very close to zero. If you're wondering if the government will give him preferential treatment, you don't need to. Even for an ordinary citizen that hasn...

Some countries require you to submit your medical history and/or be in good health for naturalization. While Japan does require people that are applying for 永住権 { eijūken } (permanent residency) to be in good health, there is no such requirement for naturalization. Also, unlike many other countries, Japanese permanent residency status is not a prerequisite for obtaining Japanese citizenship. In case you were wondering, the good health requirement for Japanese 永住権 { eijūken } (permanent residency) is defined with the following guideline: 公衆衛生上 { kōshū eisei jō } 有害となる { yūgai to naru } おそれのある疾病 { osore no aru shippei } （ 梅毒その他 { baidoku sonota } 伝染性疾患 { densensei shikkan } 及び { oyobi } 麻薬、覚醒剤等の中 { mayaku, kakuseizai nado no naka } 毒性疾患 { dokusei shikkan } ） に罹患していないこと。 { ni rikan shite inai koto. } 健康診断書等を { kenkō shindan sho nado o } 提出します。 { teishutsu shimasu. } Which roughly translated / paraphrased, is: Those who are not suffering from diseases that are harm...

Stop & think before you make a big life move. Sometimes I joke around and tell people I receive a free toaster oven from the Ministry of Justice for every person I successfully convert into a Japanese citizen. In truth, I actually spend a lot of my time discouraging people that ask me how I did it so they can do it themselves. What's the profile of somebody that I discourage? For people who come from "developed" (" first world countries " in the parlance of my Cold War non-P.C. upbringing) countries, these are people who are: the "young" (defined here as under 30 years old) the not-yet-married or recently married those without children, those with children who don't envision their children living or working in Japan (and those who intentionally or subconsciously are raising their children to emigrate for life or work upon becoming an adult), or child-less people under 35 those in a job, even if it's good (right now), that is un...

One of the most curious things that you get asked for during your initial paperwork collection is for a document called "proof of citizenship". You are asked for this in addition to  your passport. Your passport is a photo/biometric identification, and all passports clearly list the country that you are a citizen of, so why is additional documentation necessary? The answer is related to the length of time that a passport is valid for. The 法務省 { hōmushō } (Ministry of Justice), in general, wants all of the documentation is receives to be issued or certified within six months. For some documents, three months. A typical passport, on the other hand, often doesn't expire for five or ten years. Because the naturalization process of gathering and review by the case worker, which can involve multiple appointments separated by weeks to months, many applicants have stories of paperwork that they initially gathered at the beginning of the process "expiring" befo...

Today's random question discovered on the internet is: What if you're missing some of the paperwork (for example, it's impossible for you to obtain your parent's birth certificates)? Can you still naturalize to Japanese? It's handled case-by-case, country-by-country... and there are thick manuals under the desk of the case worker for the particulars for every state regarding the rules for these documents (with PRC and ROK on top of the desk, well worn). The purpose of getting this documentation is to make the new 戸籍 { koseki } (family register), which needs to be created from scratch for a naturalized citizen, as accurate and complete as possible. They are aware that it's not always possible to get this documentation, and it doesn't automatically disqualify you (although refusing to present it or not trying may not help you; naturalization is not a right) but they try really hard to get it.