Tokyo Immigration Service

"Naturalize and become a Japanese!"

It's been a while since I've written about a source of information on the internet that was incorrect. This next entry is unusual in that it comes from a source that should be reputable: a lawyer/consultant specializing in Japanese immigration.

On the page titled "I want to become a Japanese national" written by the Tokyo Immigration Service (Immigration Solicitor 佐藤正巳 {MASAMI Satō}), the following is written under "1. Duration of Stay":

You are required to have a valid visa (Status of Residence) from the Immigration Bureau of Japan at the time of application and you must have been living in Japan for at least 5 years. Also the bureau confirms whether you have been living in Japan at least 80% of the 365 days every year. The time spent on a Student visa cannot be counted in this 5 year period.

This isn't exactly true: all valid continuous 在留資格 {zairyū shikaku} (Status of Residence; SoR) count; even ones that do not permit work (such as a some student and spouse statuses). The only stamps that don't count are tourist ("90-day temporary landing permits") and stamps for in-transit travel, because they are not SoRs.

There's another thing that's incorrect about the above: it says "at least 5 years," but this is only for 普通帰化 {futsū kika} (ordinary naturalization). Those qualifying for 簡易帰化 {kan'i kika} (simplified naturalization) may only need three (3) or as little as one (1) year of residency. People that qualify for simplified naturalization generally have a pre-existing connection to Japan. This includes marriage to a Japanese national for many years.

Also related to residency is the time spent per year in Japan. The page says:

Another point is that if you are a businessman who travels overseas 100 days or more per year, then it is difficult to apply for Naturalization.

This is almost correct. The metric is no more than one hundred (100) consecutive days spent outside of Japan per year, and no more than one hundred fifty (150) total days spent outside of Japan per year if that year is to count as a year of residency in Japan for the requirement.

I do understand why this immigration service wrote the above: the odds of someone straight out of school qualifying for the other part of naturalization requirement (Livelihood requirement) is low. For both the applicant's benefit and Japan's benefit (and this Immigration Service's benefit: it apparently doesn't want to take the money from people whose chances of acceptance isn't near 100%), the Ministry of Justice does not want people that link themselves formerly and exclusively to the state to have a high chance of falling into poverty and living on welfare. With all due respect to students (everybody was one once upon a time), most haven't shown they can fend for themselves in the real world off campus for many years, in earnings and/or stable employment.

If you are a student and you come from exceptional circumstances — in other words, you're rich, you can prove it, and you can demonstrate that you can comfortably live in Japan for the foreseeable future without worry — I wouldn't let the fact that part of your Status of Residence was as a student stop you from applying. I would, however, caution you that naturalization is a bigger commitment and can be more permanent than marriage; you should think about the ramifications of naturalizing young the same way as people who caution those considering young marriage.

Continuing to a related requirement, the page mentions a Japanese language requirement:

You need to have Japanese reading and writing skills at least equivalent to an ordinary 7 to 8 year old Japanese primary school student. You need to understand basic "kanji" besides "katakana" and "hiragana".

It is true that there is an informal written test that the local Bureau sometimes administers which tests this. However, there is no formal requirement in the rules. The Japanese language "requirement" actually is part of the "Livelihood" requirement: if you can't read, write, and speak at least at a rudimentary level, the odds of you falling on hard times (poverty and welfare) because you're unemployable are much higher.

If your case officer, during interviews where you are casually chatting and reading materials with him or her, doesn't have any difficulty communicating with you and you do not show signs of struggling to communicate or read & write, odds are your Japanese ability will not be formally tested. There is also the edge case of the extremely wealthy; if you are so well off that you can prove your need to speak or read Japanese to survive in Japan for a lifetime is irrelevant, then Japanese ability is by-the-rulebook unnecessary.

I don't really want to come down on this page too hard because for the most part, this immigration service is intentionally being more conservative than the MoJ is when it comes to meeting the minimum requirements, and it's trying to explain the rules in as simple a manner (one web page) as possible. It is probably true that if you are very young and straight out of school, you will have a difficult time qualifying for nationalization by just relying on your years of residency in school in Japan. On that note, the last sentence of the page says:

The Naturalization process takes more than just declaring your eagerness to become a Japanese national.

This is absolutely true.