Becoming Japanese

One of of followers, who is currently going through the process of naturalization, contributed this information regarding the Statement of Birth that　the mother is supposed to complete: Quite interestingly, my case worker told that the form 申述書 { shinjutsusho } Statement [of Births] (in its current format) is to be used IF only mother is alive. If both mother and father BOTH are alive then we are supposed to use slightly different format. This is interesting as both my mother and father are alive, they have never been divorced or had children with other people, and the case worker was obviously aware of this as he had both of my parents birth certificates and their marriage certificate. Yet I was told to fill out the other form. The explanation makes sense though, as the only difference in the information on my form is that only the information about the mother (and her　descendants) is provided. The form that was provided by a person currently going through the process, howev...

When you become Japanese, you need an official "Japanese" name for you newly created 戸籍 { koseki } (family register). Contrary to popular belief on the internet, this does not necessarily mean you need to abandon your original name. It does, however, mean you need to transcribe your name into the scripts used by the language of the land, Japanese: all or a combination of ひらがな { hiragana } & カタカナ { katakana } (Japanese syllabet) and/or 漢字 { kanji } (Japanese-style sinograms). So even if you keep your original name, you will still need to adapt it to the script of the land. This is called "transcribing." Transcribing is usually more of an interpretation of either the original spelling or pronunciation, rather than an exact 1-to-1 mapping. This is because there is often more than one "correct" way to transcribe a name, and also due to compromises you need to make for sounds that exist in one language that don't exist in the other. This is...

If you own a business, they may physically visit the business to verify its existence is not solely on paper. While they never visited or called (I think) my place of business, they have called the place of business of other people who are currently applying. To quote one person who is corresponding with Becoming legally Japanese : "... [M]y boss said the MOJ called her last week to ask about me, when I started and whether I was a good employee. Guess they really do employment background checks." Whether or not they physically visit a place of business depends on how easy it is to confirm the business' existence on paper. If you work for a major company that is a household name, it's unlikely they will drop by to see if the place exists. Just be sure that if they call that your employer at least knows who you are and that they may get a call from the 法務省 { hōmushō } (Ministry of Justice). My employer, for example, has a main line and is trained to igno...

A person from south-east Asia, who is currently going through the naturalization process in Tokyo, has been communicating with Becoming legally Japanese throughout the process. They wish to remain anonymous for now (most do until they are accepted), but they sent me us interesting update the other day that I was given permission to share: I just had my final interview (hopefully) at the Tokyo Homukyoku and house inspection this morning after submitting my application at end of April. The case officer went through my papers asking why I moved addresses and motives behind switching from one company to another - followed by having me fill-out a form stating I will give up my US and [southeast Asian country] nationalities once I naturalize to Japan. He then told me to go home first and came about 30mins after I got back. The home inspection was less than 5 minutes and had none of the going through your fridge rumors. Some comments: I had figured that home inspections occu...

The second Japan document that can take considerable time to obtain is the 出入国記録 { shutsunyūkoku kiroku } (Japan exit/entry record), and in my opinion it represents a significant new document requirement for naturalization . The 出入国記録 { shutsunyūkoku kiroku } was previously not required, although it may have been recommended in order to complete 履歴書（その２） { rirekisho (sono ni) } which is a record of exits from Japan over a period of 5 years (or less in some cases). The purpose of 履歴書（その２） { rirekisho (sono ni) } was to verify compliance with the requirement of not having been outside Japan for longer than 100 days consecutively or 150 days cumulatively during any year within the stipulated period. However, with revision of the alien registration system on July 9, the 法務局国籍課 { hōmushō kokusekika } (Legal Affairs Department Nationality Section) is now requiring the full record of ALL Japan entries/exits, not only for a current period residence, but for any and all previou...

When I was given the list of required documents at my initial consultation in early June, I decided that I should obtain my foreign documents (my own and sibling birth certificates, etc.) first and my Japan documents (tax payment records, residency-related records, etc.) later, since it might take some time to obtain the foreign documents, while the Japan documents needed to be recent (within 3 months at the time of acceptance of document submission; preferably more recent for some). And of course, the Japan documents simply required a trip to the 市役所／区役所 { shiyakusho/kuyakusho } (city hall or ward office) or tax office and could be issued in a few minutes. However, as a result of the changes in the alien registration system that went into effect on July 9, 2012, that strategy now needs to be adjusted, since their are 2 required Japan documents that take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to obtain, the 外国人登録原票 { gaikokujin tōroku gempyō } (alien registration record) and the 出入...

早川漣 { HAYAKAWA Ren } (하야카와 렌) was born 嚴惠漣 { EOMHYER Yeon } (엄혜련) in the Republic of Korea and was raised in 全州 { Jeonju } city, in the middle of South Korea. She took the bronze in Olympic Archery in the 2012 London games on July 29th along with medalists 川中香緒里 { KAWANAKA Kaori } and 蟹江美貴 { KANIE Miki } . She got her Japanese first name by using the 漢字 { hanja } (Korean sinograms) from her Korean first name, then simplifying the 繁体字 { hantaiji } (traditional sinogram form) to the 新字体 { shinjitai } (Japanese new sinogram form), and finally choosing a Japanese reading for it. Her Japanese family name was chosen to be the same as her mother, who was a resident of Japan years before when she was married to a Japanese. Ren moved to Japan in 2007. She naturalized in 2009, at the age of 22. Her older sister, 早川浪 { HAYAKAWA Nami } née 嚴恵浪 { EOMHYER Ang } (엄혜랑), was an Olympian for Japan in the 2008 Beijing Games, and she as well naturalized to Japanese citizenship. He...

[The following text is from a person who is going through the naturalization process now in Osaka Prefecture. Everything below is his words, not mine.] Paperwork was all submitted today. I have a case number, but still no caseworker. This was my third visit. Again the take-a-number machine indicated zero waiting. It appears that there are 5 booths for consulting, but I was there today from 2:30 to 4:30, and there was only one other person who came in for consultation during that time, and one person who was leaving as I arrived. So from 2:30 till closing, the 5 staffers in the outer room dealt with a total of 2 applicants. The staffers for consultation here in Osaka certainly seem lower on the ladder than what has been described elsewhere. They go through the document checklist and look for a few key points, but he never even glanced at any of the foreign docs or their translations, and he barely skimmed my motivation essay. When he was satisfied that I had all the docs on t...