Are you encouraging people to naturalize?

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:

1. the "young" (defined here as under 30 years old)
2. the not-yet-married or recently married
3. 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
4. those in a job, even if it's good (right now), that is unstable or lacks career mobility inside Japan
5. those with children but raise them in Japan in a non-integrated way (ex. an all-English upbringing)
6. those with a spouse who is not assimilated (lives in a non-Japanese way) and has not lived in Japan for more than a decade
7. those who believe in a "stateless" or "border-less" society or those enamored with the idea of being an "international person" or those that view additional nationalities as the ultimate bragging right among expats comparing visas.
8. those expecting or trying to keep their previous citizenship through a loophole, concealment, or deception
9. those who are having "identity" issues — that is, those who don't want to lose their previous citizenship because they believe that nationality is not just a legal connection to a political entity (the sovereign State of Japan and its Constitution and laws) but rather a proof or important symbol of their cultural heritage or ethnic identity
10. those who think naturalization is the solution to something (believing that citizenship will somehow solve some sort of perceived existing or future obstacle in their life, be it immigration, relationship, political, finance, employment or tax related)

Now, there are some people from "developing" (in Cold War lingo: Second World or Third World. Sorry, showing my age) countries that I am less reserved about — but I still make sure they don't fall into the above categories. In general, if someone is confident that being underemployed, lonely, without roots and barely getting by in Japan is a better situation than being steadily employed and fed with family relationships in their native land (ex. countries that have been oppressive or destitute for decades), then the permanence of switching one's citizenship from that developing country to a developed country like Japan does not seem so bad despite how different it may be culturally, economically, or politically.

I do know people that have gotten Japanese citizenship because they are very successful and/or talented in business and have the means to live and work anywhere, but their original country's passport made it difficult to travel (requiring visas from everywhere and/or having difficulty obtaining visas). But this is a rare case.

Citizenship is not just about rights, it is a social contract that links an individual to a state, and carries, in addition to the "rights" everybody knows about, responsibilities (both now and perhaps additional responsibilities in the future). More importantly, while it is possible to change your citizenship back or switch countries, you should view citizenship like a tattoo: in theory, you can change your mind and have it changed or erased, but there are no guarantees.

It should be viewed as more "permanent", and possibly a bigger decision, than marriage.

Thus, I think naturalization to any country is a very important decision, because there's no 100% guarantee you will be able to reverse it or change it. And even if you can, it will probably not be easy.

It's true that one of the reasons I started this site was to dispel the myth that obtaining Japanese citizenship is extremely difficult or impossible to obtain. However, that does not change the fact that it's still a serious decision not to be taken lightly, as it often solidifies and formalizes a lifestyle change.