Becoming Japanese

Rita Taketsuru Once upon a time in the early 20th century, you couldn't get whisky in Japan. They were all poor Scotch imitations, with artificial flavors and colors, designed for profit more than quality. Japan was known as the country for 日本酒 { Nihon-shu } (saké; literally "Japanese alcohol") and if they drank something besides that, it was beer or wine. Today, however, the Japanese make some of the finest whisky† in the world. The Japanese were excellent and earnest students of the Scotch methods, and these days even the most patriotic Scot begrudgingly admits that they are now masters at crafting the drink. Japan's finest specimens are winning international awards and accolades from the most discerning critics and fans. Japan's whisky is unique because while the peat and environment in northern Hokkaido is similar to that of Scotland, they also sometimes use wood native to Japan for its barrels: モンゴリナラ { Mongorinara } (Japanese oak aka Mizunara ...

South Korea is so high it needs a separate scale: see yellow / right side I met a gentleman who was referred to me a few days ago by a friend. While I get this a lot from those who are interested in naturalization, his situation was a first for me: he was a native Japanese who had naturalized to United States citizenship . In doing so, he renounced his Japanese citizenship . However, life circumstances (returning back to Japan and he doesn't wish to be hooked into two tax systems) meant he now wishes to re-acquire Japanese nationality and relinquish his U.S. nationality along with his Japanese national wife's U.S. LPR status. This means he will have relinquished/renounced two nationalities in his lifetime. That's very unusual, but it made me wonder: but how often do people give up their other nationalities? The general answer is: with the exception of South Korea, not very often. Even the highest number of renunciations (excluding the ROK , this would be the USA ) ma...