Can those who served in the U.S. military naturalize?

Today's question from both direct email to this site and on another site is about the eligibility for those that have served in the U.S. military. Can they become Japanese citizens? There are four angles to this question: the past wars, potential future wars, whether the U.S. will let you, and whether Japan will let you.

From the Japanese side, they are perfectly fine with people who have served in the U.S. (or any other country) military, with one caveat: one of the listed requirements is that you have not joined a group that encourages the (violent, non-democratic) destruction of the modern Japanese government or the modern Japanese constitution. Now, this clause is intended to refer to terrorist organizations, both foreign and domestic — ex. オウム真理教 {Ōmu Shinrikyō} (Aleph aka Aum Shinrikyo) or the 日本赤軍 {Nihon Sekigun} (Japanese Red Army aka JRA) — but it can also apply to the military forces of a hostile foreign state.

So, providing that the country does not go to war with Japan in the future while you are a member of their armed forces, you would be eligible to naturalize.

Also, the requirements for Japanese naturalization specifically mention the modern constitution and modern government. Those who served on armed forces who attacked and defeated the previous government and constitution of Japan (the Great Empire of Japan and the Meiji Constitution) are eligible for naturalization. And there's even a recent example of this: Donald Keene, a famous decorated and awarded Japanologist and scholar, worked with the U.S. War Department against the Empire of Japan during World War II.

Now, there is the question as to whether you would be able to naturalize from the perspective of the U.S. (or other country's side). I am not a lawyer, but people that join the military forces do have to take special oaths above and beyond what an ordinary American is required to do from a perspective of duty to one's country. Relinquishing one's U.S. citizenship (a requirement for Japanese naturalization) does disqualify one from receiving a U.S. military pension, for example. While a former member of the U.S. military has the right to naturalize to another country, those rights may violate some of the oaths they make. The subject of oaths (both the oath of office and the oath of enlistment) vs rights & law and ethics outside of Japanese civilian law, is unfortunately outside the scope of this site, so we won't deal with it outside of mentioning it here and recommending you consult the JAG regarding this if it pertains to you.

All we can conclude for now is from the Japanese Ministry of Justice perspective, those who have served in foreign militaries (including the U.S.), are permitted to naturalize so long as they have never attacked modern democratic Japan.

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