How to write a good motivation essay

What to write?
I thought about what to write for weeks.
Everyone except for those under the age of fifteen (15) and Special Permanent Residents (特別永住者 {tokubetsu eijūsha}; SPR) must write an essay, handwritten in Japanese, in one's own words, as to why you want to become a Japanese national by naturalizing. If you are over sixty (60) years old, your case worker may permit you to let somebody else transcribe it on your behalf — although it still must be your own words.

There's an alternative motive for the essay as well: because it has to be your own words and handwritten, it serves as an informal test of whether an applicant can write and understand Japanese. A Japanese immigration lawyer has told me that for applicants whose Japanese is weak, this is the hardest part of the application process. Some applicants study Japanese for three to five years just to get their Japanese level to the point where they can write this essay.

For this reason, it's probably not a good idea to have a Japanese person write it for you or first write it in English and then have it translated and copy the result: the case worker will be able to tell if your spoken Japanese does not match the level and style of the Japanese written on paper.

When I asked my case worker how long it should be, he was coy. "Write as much as you think you should write." My essay ended up being five pages long. They give you a standard international A4 sized form that is almost blank and the form says in small print at the bottom that you may make as many copies as you like if your essay is longer than one page.

横書原稿用紙
Japanese essay paper (horizontal style)
I placed traditional pre-scored paper — the 横書き {yokogaki} (horizontal writing) version, not the 縦書き {tategaki} (vertical writing) version — used for compulsory schooling in Japanese school underneath of my form which was on top of a artist's lit table so I could see through the stock application sheet. This paper looks like graph paper in that unlike paper used for English that has horizontal rules to keep your handwriting straight, it also has vertical rules — with space to the top or right of each line for 振り仮名furigana (pronunciation / reading / annotation) — so that every character's horizontal & vertical balance is correct; while professionally typeset Japanese (such as printed newspapers, books, and magazines) are moderately proportionally spaced, and in calligraphy the characters can be of different sizes for artistic and style reasons, a "balanced" Japanese character fits in a uniform square.

きちんと書けるボールペン字の基本練習
I bought this book. Good book;
but it doesn't help much without
constant practice and repetition.
I was worried that they might also be grading for penmanship. Handwriting is still relatively a big deal in Japan, and many companies require résumés (履歴書 {rirekisho}) for application to work by hand-written in special forms.

However, my handwriting is not great in English nor Japanese; when I wrote a passage incorrectly or wrote a character incorrectly, I'd simply cross it out rather than re-write the whole page. They still accepted it.

While I had originally learned to read and write the old school traditional way (handwriting characters hundreds of times over and over along with simultaneous reading and writing the definition and example sentences and doing handwritten quizzes), in both my work and home life I now write the vast majority of my Japanese using a computer or mobile device, which has affected my muscle memory retention of the correct strokes for characters. Attempting to handwrite an essay made me realize how much I had forgotten.

漢検要覧2～10級対応
I passed levels 10 to 4.
I had taken many levels of the JKAT (日本漢字能力検定 {Nihon kanji nōryoku kentei}) — a test designed to thoroughly test handwritten kanji ability and knowledge for native Japanese. Proud of this achievement, I now often set my mobile devices IME for inputing Japanese to handwriting instead of phonetic mode so I can preserve my retention.

While there indeed is no set format for the Motivation Essay (動機書 {dōkisho}), many immigration specialists recommend the following format if you must use a template:

Your Past (過去 {kako})

  1. 生い立ち {oitachi} (upbringing)

    • When and where were you born (from where and when did you come to Japan)?
    • What were you doing up to now?

The Present (現在 {genzai})

  1. 動機 {dōki} (motivation)

    • Why do you want to naturalize?
    • Do you want to live in Japan forever?

  2. 生活の状況 {seikatsu no jōkyō} (life situation)

    • If you are or were recently a student, what are/were you studying?
    • How do you make a living?

  3. 家庭の状況 {katei no jōkyō} (family situation)

    • Is there harmony with your family? Are you happy with your family situation?
    • What is the situation with your children's education, their search for a career, and marriage?

The Future (将来 {shōrai})

  1. 将来の目標 {shōrai no mokuhyō} (future goals)

    • What do you want to do in the future in Japan?

  2. 日本の社会と自分 {Nippon no shakai to jibun} (Japanese society and yourself)

    • Have you settled in to Japanese society?
    • Do you have any desire to return to your original country one day?

  3. 帰化に対する強い希望 {kika ni tai suru tsuyoi kibō} (strong desire to naturalize)

Below is a one page sample essay (that you should not copy; read the 3rd paragraph of this post for the reason why) written by a fictitious South Korean applicant to give you an idea of what somebody else's motivation / statement of intent essay looks like: 
　私は、韓国ソウル特別市生まれの在日韓国人です。
　本国の高校を卒業し、家事手伝い、会社のレストランの
レジ係等をへて、現在、主婦をしています。
　この間に日本人「森　三郎」と結婚しましたが、性格
の相違で離婚し、さらに、緑あって日本人「横田　淳」と
結婚できまして、今はとても幸せです。
　私は、夫と生まれてくる子供のためにも永住したいと思
います。
　私は将来夫が定年になった頃は、小さなアイディアの
オモチャ屋さんをして、子供達に夢をふくらませてもらい
たいと思います。
　私は夫と仲良くまじめに生活していますので、家庭はす
こぶる円満です。また、日本になじんで生活をいたしてお
りますので、今更本国に帰る気持ちはありません。
　従って、私は夫と生まれて来る子供のためにぜひ帰化を
したいと心から希望いたしています。
どうかご許可のほどよろしくお願いいたします。以上。
     I am a South Korean born in the capital city Seoul.
     I graduated from high school in the my country, and worked as a cashier at a restaurant. I am now a home maker.
     During that time, I married a Japanese national, "Saburō MORI". However, due to personality differences we divorced. I later found greener pastures and married the Japanese national "Jun YOKOTA". We are very happy now.
     I would like to permanently live in Japan with my husband and have children here.
     Although it is a small idea, when my husband retires in the future, I would like to run a toy store that brings joy to children.
     My husband and I have an honest living in Japan and we get along well. Our family is full of harmony, so I have no feelings about returning to my original country.
     Because of this, for my husband and future children, I strongly wish, from my heart, to naturalize.
     I humbly ask for your consideration. That's all.
Make sure you sign and date the essay at the end.

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