Completing the Personal History Form

One of the forms that will be part of a full naturalization application for Japan will be your 履歴書 {rirekisho} (Personal History form). Normally, this word in Japanese is used in the context of a résumé/CV, and the structured format of it is similar to a standard form. Unlike a western curriculum vitae which is loosely free formed, Japanese style forms are structured with lined off sections, and there's an industry standard (JIS) for the form that you can buy in bookstores and stationary stores in Japan.

The naturalization application has two forms, labeled その１ {sono ichi} (Part 1) and その２ {sono ni} (Part 2):

1. その１ {sono ichi} (Part 1): Where you were born, where you went to school (from primary school to higher education), who you married and divorced, births and deaths within the immediate family, all places of residence, and all places worked and positions.
   
   It is divided into three columns: the first column for residence related events, the second column for work/school related events, and the third column for personal/family (birth, marriage, divorce, death) events. A particular row may have all three columns filled out. For example, the third column will say "graduation", the second column will say the name of the school, and the first column will be the address of the school.
   
   One event occupies one row. Events should be listed chronologically top to bottom.
2. その２ {sono ni} (Part 2): All your entrances and exits to/from Japan (with reasons and destinations), any special qualifications or licenses you possess (such as engineering licenses), and any fines, etc., you may have received with respect to traffic violations.

Because this is no ordinary résumé/CV, events related to your family, not just school and work, are listed.

When filling out the first form, the instructions mention the following.

• Dates should be in the Japanese calendar (Emperor era years) system. They should be as specific as possible, but the examples show that in certain cases, specifying up to the month (and not the exact day) can be acceptable. As usual, everything must be written in Japanese script (no Latin letters). This means that the names of foreign places and names will be transliterated and translated into Japanese script: 漢字 {kanji} (Japanese sinograms) or 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet). In the example given, the Korean names and addresses are written with 漢字 {kanji/hanja} (Japanese/Korean sinograms).
• Begin with the past (starting with your birth) and omit nothing up to present. For example, the academic history should mention school transfers, dropouts, and graduations (with type of degree or honors). Work history should mention not just where you worked, but the position/title(s) held and type of occupation. Personal/Family history should include any deaths of mothers or fathers, as well as any common-law marriages.
• If one form is not enough to include all the information, you may use additional copies of the same form.
• In the case of a group/family naturalization, each applicant must complete this form. However, those under the age of 15 do not need to complete this form.

One Part 1 form has rows for fifteen (15) events. For me, a not-yet-forty man with a few job changes over a decade and a half, a marriage, a child, and an undergraduate education, I required two copies of the Part 1 form to list everything.

A copy of the sample completed form (using a fictitious Korean applicant) is available from our Documents and Forms page. In addition, we have a special Microsoft Word and OpenDocument format example listed with an American example (the name has been changed to protect the identity. And no, it's not me). Translated into English, the first example form for our fictitious Korean applicant looks like this:

Personal History (Part 1）		Name	GIM, Yong-jak
Year	Month	Day	Residence	School・Work	Personal
1951	４	１８	Gyeong Shàngsangdojin-yang-gunmunsanmyeon Anjeonli X Republic of Korea		Birth
1956	９	２	Moved to Japan with Mother & Father Saiwaichō X, Totsuka Ward, Yokohama （until March 1967）
1958	４			Gokō Municipal Primary School 　Enrolled
1964	３			Graduated
〃	４			Daiichi Municipal Middle School 　Enrolled
1967	３			Graduated
1967	４		Moved to Kashiwagi X-Y, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo （until Aug 1977）	Matsuki private High School 　Enrolled
1970	３			Graduated
1970	４			Employed by Shōwa Foods K.K. Sales Representative
1977	９		Moved to Higashijūjō X-Y, Kita Ward, Tokyo （until Aug 1985）		Common-law Married GANG, Kazuko
1978	８	２０			legally married
1985	３	１６			mother died
〃	９		Moved to Nogata X-Y-Z, Mason #301, Nakano Ward, Tokyo （until present day）
1986	３			Resigned prev. job Until H1, Mar 1, part time at K.K. Ishiyama Industries
1988	５	２６			Birth eldest daughter, Nobuko
1989	４	１		Employed by Tokyo Kotobuki Trading K.K. Sales Representative
2001	４	１		Sales Division 1, Trading　Section Chief （Up to present day）

When filling out the second form, the instructions note the following:

• Dates should be in the Japanese calendar (Emperor era years) system.
• The number of years of history for entrances and exits to Japan you must specify will be given to you by your case officer. For 普通帰化 {futsū kika} (regular naturalization), this will probably be five years. For 簡易帰化 {kan'i kika} (simplified naturalization), this may be three (3) or as little as one year. However, the instructions note that it will never be less than one (1) year. In the case that this form is not long enough to list all entrances and exits, you must continue them using a separate form. List as many as you can on this Part 2 form, then write つづく {tsuzuku} (continued) on the total line.

We will deal with the separate form for people with lots of entrances and exits — more than ten (10) — in a separate post. I qualified for simplified naturalization, and I had to document only three (3) years of travel in and out of Japan according to my case worker.

Part two of the personal history for the fictitious Korean applicant example looks like this when translated to English:

Personal History （Part 2）			Name	GIM, Yong-jak
Entrances and Exits （for last X years）	Times	Length of Time	Number of days	Destination	Purpose，companions
	1	2005-Mar-16 〜　2005-Mar-21	６	Hong Kong	Sightseeing with work colleague
	2	2007-Jan-19 〜　2007-Jan-25	７	PRC	Business trip with boss
	3	2008-Feb-3 〜 2008-Feb-10	８	PRC	Business trip with subordinate
	4	2009-Oct-1 〜 2009-Oct-20	２０	PRC	same as above
	5	H.　　　　YY　　MM　　DD 〜　　　　YY　　MM　　DD
	6	H.　　　　YY　　MM　　DD 〜　　　　YY　　MM　　DD
	7	H.　　　　YY　　MM　　DD 〜　　　　YY　　MM　　DD
	8	H.　　　　YY　　MM　　DD 〜　　　　YY　　MM　　DD
	9	H.　　　　YY　　MM　　DD 〜　　　　YY　　MM　　DD
	10	H.　　　　YY　　MM　　DD 〜　　　　YY　　MM　　DD
	Total days outside Japan		４１
Licenses and qualifications	1974-Aug-15　８月15 Class 1 Automobile Driver's License （License # 30〇16〇〇〇〇〇〇〇）
Penalties for moving violations	Speeding fine¥9,000 Parking fine ¥15,000 Speeding fine ¥9,000
Verification Column

The 確認欄 {kakunin-ran} (verification column) is not for your use; the case officer and/or the 法務省 {hōmushō} (Japan Ministry of Justice) uses this.

It should be noted that this is a contrived example to show as many cases as possible, and that your application shouldn't necessarily look like this. For example, it shows the Korean addresses in 漢字 {kanji/hanja} (Japanese/Korean sinograms) in 新字体 {shinjitai} (modern Japanese glyph) form so that Koreans who have hanja names and addresses know that they should use the original characters and not transliterate into 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet). The date rate is chosen so it crosses over different emperor dynasties, including the first year of the 平成 {Heisei} era. A common-law marriage is listed so you know you need to include this. And finally, but most importantly, the types of things that would qualify as a penalty are listed here, but in no way does it mean that you can have up to two moving violations and one parking fine up to certain yen amounts and have your application accepted.