Becoming Japanese

"signing" a payment slip at a bank In Japan (and other Asian countries), it is traditional practice to use an 印鑑 { inkan } ( aka 印章 { inshō } ) — colloquially called a 判子 { hanko } in Japanese or "chop" in British English — instead of a signature for acknowledging / signing / accepting documents. Pedantically speaking, a 判子 hanko is the actual stamping object, and an 印鑑 inkan is the ink impression that is made, but many native Japanese use the two words interchangeably. In the 21st century, Japanese recommend having three types of seals: one for casual informal acceptance: 認印 { mitomein } one for your bank accounts: 銀行印 { ginkō-in } the "real" registered one: ( 実印 { jitsuin } ) While it's perfectly possible to use just one seal for all of these functions, most people use at least two or three for the same reason that people should use different passwords for different services on the internet: in the case of a compromised s...

" Just Landed " is a web site that enabled people to live overseas — everything from just visiting to naturalization. This naturally includes Japan. In the past, I (and other commentators that posted with their Facebook Comment widget) have criticized the accuracy of past versions of their page as being provably incorrect, not supported by verifiable facts, or being based on speculation. However, I'm pleased to report that the administrators of the site noticed this site's articles on it and contacted us to make sure a future revision was accurate. We indeed give feedback on their page, and they listened and rewrote parts (in their own words) of the page, and I reviewed it. The changed page is very good. Because I can now recommend Just Landed as an accurate source of information about Japanese naturalization, I am removing the previous posts from the Misinformation Page as well as recommending the page as a good one page summary to give a person the gener...

Real Sakuragi Fictional Sakuragi J.R. Sakuragi ( 桜木ジェイアール SAKURAGI Jeiāru ) is a naturalized Japanese citizen and member of Japan's national basketball team. Naturalized in 2007, he may be remembered by some as J.R. Henderson (né Milton Henderson Jr.), member of the UCLA Bruins 1995 NCAA championship team. After university, Mr Sakuragi played in the NBA, Europe and the Philippines before coming to Japan to play professional basketball. He decided to stay and contribute to building Japan's basketball prowess.

Japan Post Office's a bank too When people migrate to a foreign country, one of the frustrating aspects can be establishing a line of credit or receiving a loan. They have an equivalent job and income compared to what they had in their home country, and they were able to get a credit card there (at a much younger age). So why are they declined for credit (often for much lower rates) in Japan? One bit of misinformation that is floated around the net is that it is (sometimes depending on the bank) impossible to get credit (especially a home mortgage or a credit card) unless you are naturalized or perhaps a permanent resident. The truth is that yes, being a permanent resident and especially a naturalized citizen helps . But it is not the only variable. It is merely one variable. When a bank decides to extend credit to an individual, it considers a host of variables used to determine the credit worthiness. In other words, if you're a foreign resident of Japan, you will ha...

In a previous blog posts, I've often talked about the difference between permanent residency and naturalization in terms of rights and visas and other things: the right to vote (be a participant in Japan's democracy) the right to hold office (be a part of the legislative branch of Japan's government) the right to be a lay judge (be a part of the judicial process of Japan's government) the right to be a public servant such as work for the police, fire department, ward office, etc. (be a part of the executive part of Japan's government) the ability to pass Japanese nationality to your decendants ( jus sanguinis ) There are other intangibles as well: when one's credit profile is assessed for a loan or a line of credit, one's "stability" is calculated and that determines if and how much credit is extended to you. The presence of permanent residency or nationality alone is not the sole binary factor used in determining whether you qualif...

Last week I had an evening coffee with my friend who is a public worker in the Nationality Section ( 国籍課 { kokuseki-ka } ) of the Legal Affairs Bureau ( 法務局 { hōmukyoku } ) in 九段下 { Kudanshita } . He's a fan of this site, and often gives me tips and clarifies things from an insider's perspective. He wanted to clarify a point on some of the past posts regarding home and work inspections. Many people, especially those who have applied for naturalization in the 21st century (2001 and beyond) — including many of the contributors to this site — have told me they had no appointment for a home or work inspection, and have wondered why some get it, why some don't, and what the inspectors are looking for exactly. Contrary to popular belief, 小林 { KOBAYASHI } said, the home and work inspections have nothing to do with assessing how assimilated you are into Japanese society. The primary purpose of the home and work inspections is to make sure the residence and workplace ...

This was an unplanned impromptu Hangout on Air discussion where I joined the weekly program " 2½ Oyajis ", run by  +Hiko Saemon  and  +Victor Boggio  . The conversation was originally supposed to be about Deputy Prime Minister 麻生 太郎 { TARŌ Asō } 's controversial comments about "quietly revising the Japan Constitution" , but some people weren't prepared, so we talk about living in Japan issues instead. Issues covered: Immigration Policy in Japan Assimilation in Japan by immigrants Whether there is a " Japanese citizenship test " as part of naturalizing Urban myths regarding the naturalization procedure coming to your home and seeing if you're "assimilated" or not Japanese-Fillipinos seeking citizenship ... and lots of other (mostly silly) stuff +Victor Boggio  announced that he will soon be doing his own personal info on permanent residency versus naturalization on his YouTube channel , and he will be using...

not naturalized: Renhō ( DP , Tōkyō) The term "natural-born" means someone who acquired that nationality by being born. It does not mean being born on the soil of the country you're a national of. For example, if one of your parents is a United States citizen, you will be born as a "natural-born" citizen of the United States as well, even if you were born in Japan (and not in a U.S. embassy or military base). The opposite word for "natural-born" citizen is a "naturalized" citizen. In other words, you acquired that nationality not by being born into it, but by another means. Unlike the United States and some other countries, Japan does not grant additional rights or privileges to those with natural-born citizenship; you can rise to the highest level of political office (prime minister) even if you're naturalized. So does the above mean if somebody was born with Taiwanese citizenship with a Taiwanese passport, but then gets Jap...

弦念丸呈／ツルネン・マルテイ { TSURUNEN Marutei } né Martti Turunen Thanks for your service, Councillor Tsurunen His path to his Councillor's seat in the Japan Diet was a long one. Like many other politicians, he began by running for election as a local city councilman in his small mountainous 神奈川県 { Kanagawa-ken } 足柄下郡 { Ashigarashimo-gun } 湯河原町 { Yugawara-machi } (town of Yugawara, Ashigarashimo county, Kanagawa Prefecture) in 1992 as an independent. With a town size of 26,149 people, he got 1,051 votes, which is 4th place, which got him a seat as at least four seats were vacant. He resigned from his seat in 1995 to run for the 17th House of Councillors election in 1995 as a direct constituency representative ( 選挙区 { senkyoku } ) for 神奈川 { Kanagawa } . He got 339,484 votes, which was just shy of 371,889 votes that 斎藤勁 { SAITŌ Tsuyoshi } of the 日本社会党 { Nippon Shakaitō } ( SDPJ ) from 神奈川 { Kanagawa } got, losing to him. He tried again in 1998, running for the 18th Hous...