The document that creates the family register

When you are get the call from your Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局 {hōmukyoku}), you will go their in person to pick up your 帰化者の身分証明書 {kikasha no mibun shōmeisho} (proof of identity of naturalized person).

They may or may not have a small ceremony with other people at the same time. Your last bureau worker you dealt with or somebody else will go over the items in this document to double check if there are any typos. There shouldn't be, because all of the information in it was copied from the 帰化許可申請書 {kika kyoka shinseisho} (permission for naturalization application form)

This is the "breeder document" that you give to your local 市役所 {shiyakusho} (city hall) or 区役所 {kuyakusho} that is used to officially create your 戸籍 {koseki} (family register), which serves as your domestic proof of Japanese nationality.

The first page is basically a notification regarding the particular official Ministry of Justice Notice (法務省告示 {hōmushō kokuji}) number, which is printed in the Official Gazette (官報 {kampō}) that the notice of naturalization appears in, giving an order to the 市区町村長 {shikichōson-chō} (city/ward/town/village chief) to create a family register with the details listed on the following page, by the authorized seal of the legal affairs bureau head. You do not need to provide any photo identification. This document is all that is needed to create a Japanese identity.

The second page contains the details used to make the family register. +神酒九龍 {MIKI Kaoru} has generously provided his copy (the personal details have been completely altered). I will also provide the second page of my version to show as a comparison.

The first separated row is your residence. The second row indicates the type of family register to create:

• If ① is circled then a brand new family register is created. This is the case for the family register that only takes half a page as less details are required.
• If ② is circled then somebody or some people (your spouse and/or children) are joining you on your family register. This was the case for me; my Japanese wife and children moved from my wife's family register to mine.
• If ③ is circled then you are entering into somebody else's family register. This is often the case for somebody marrying somebody and that person is the head of the household. It's usually a woman entering a man's family register, but not always. When a man enters a woman's family register it's called 婿入り {mukoiri}. It's not as uncommon as a man taking a woman's name in the West.

The next row contains the location of the 本籍 {honseki} (registered domicile) down to the block level (but not to the building level). In my case, it's not the same as where I actually live (Osaka instead of Tokyo), but most people have this as the same as their home address for convenience because if it is far from were you live, you'll need to deal with your family register (make changes, get copies) via the post. The next subrow will show your whole new Japanese name with a 全角スペース {zenkaku supēsu} (sinogram-width space) between the family and given name.

The next major row shows the personal details of the person, including their given name, their birthdate (【生年月日】 {seinengappi}) — in 和暦 {wareki} (Japanese emperor year date) — their status within the intermediate family (【配偶者区分】 {haigūsha kubun}). In my case, I'm listed as 『夫 {otto}』 (husband). Your father (【父】 {chichi}) and mother (【母】 {haha}) will have their official legal names converted to カタカナ {katakana} (Japanese syllabet) unless they were a national of a 漢字園 {kanji-en} (sinogram-using locale). Their family name will be separated from their given name(s) by a 全角コンマ {zenkaku komma} (sinogram-width comma), and if they have more than one given name they will all be strung together. Finally, they will show whether you are the first born son or daughter (長男 {chōnan} or 長女 {chōjo} respectively) via the 【続柄】 {tsuzukigara} field. If you are the second born or third born son or daughter the indicator would be 二男／二女，三男／三女 etc.

The next major row box is the personal details. This will always have your birthdate (【出生日】 {shusseibi}) — redundant as it was listed above — and your birthplace (【出生地】 {shusseichi}), which for a naturalized person will be a country and the next sub-unit below country. In my case, it was 『アメリカ合衆国コロンビア特別区』 {Amerika gasshūkoku Korombia tokubetsuku} (United States of America, District of Columbia [aka "Washington, D.C."]).

If you are married, there will be additional details below a dotted line: the date you were married (【婚姻日】 {kon'inbi}), the name of your spouse (【配偶者氏名】 {haigūsha shimei}), and which office processed it (【受理者】 {jurisha}). In my case, this was the head of the Meguro Ward Office in Tokyo (東京都目黒区長 {Tōkyōto Meguro-ku-chō}).

The next and last row in the table is the most interesting. The first field is the nationality you had at the time of naturalization. For most people that naturalize (such as people from the P.R.C. and the R.O.K., this will be 『無国籍 {mukokuseki}』 (stateless). This is because once all of your papers have been verified to be in order, the last thing you do as part of the naturalization process is lose/relinquish/renounce your other nationalities. In my case, because I was an American national, I had to relinquish my nationality after I naturalized, so mine says "United States of America". Whether or not you still had your previous nationality at time of naturalization is noted in your 戸籍 {koseki} (family register) in the 帰化 {kika} (naturalization) subsection.

The final right field on the last row is your previous legal name prior to naturalizing. This is the name that will be printed in the 官報 {kampō} (Official Gazette). Again, mine is a little special because I changed my name prior to naturalizing. It's also special because even though the U.S. is not a 漢字園 {kanji-en} (sinogram-using locale), my family name has 漢字 {kanji} in it. Because it's technically a foreign name, a sinogram-width comma (全角コンマ {zenkaku komma}) separates the family name from the given name(s).

Depending in the type of family register creation chosen above, the remaining half of the page can either be blank (as is the Case #1), or in my case reference items (参考事項 {sankō jikō}) may be itemized here. Because I fell into Case #2 (my spouse and daughter is transferring to my family register) and I have a child, details regarding them are here so the appropriate modifications and transfer of information can be made from the previous 戸籍 {koseki} (family register).

This document is a breeder document that is used exactly once: to create your family register. While I (and others) made copies of it, you turn it in and don't usually get it back. Even if you got your original returned, it really can't be used as a form of identification or to make any other sort of paperwork in Japan.