Becoming Japanese

O Canada! Canada is the most recent country to pass legislation which allows it to remove its (Canadian) citizenship from people with more than one nationality. The legislation, bill C-24, passed June 11th of this year (2015), is called the "Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act". It's a broad bill, covering many portions of Canadian nationality. For example, one of the things it does is make it a little harder to become Canadian by naturalization. For example, you must now spend a total of 365 × 4 (=1,460 or four years; three with permanent resident status and be physically present in the Dominion of Canada for 183 days [about 6 months]) total days in Canada. The previous law required 365 × 3 (= 1,095 or three years; two with permanent resident status) days in Canada. Bill C-24 also made easier to give Canadian citizenship to some people who thought they were legally Canadian but discovered they weren't: such as those born out of wedlock many decades ago or th...

No. When you ask somebody what "naturalization" to Japanese gets you , the first answers off the top of their head are "the right to vote" or "the right to hold office", and they will usually follow that up with "these aren't things you do very often, so naturalization really doesn't give you much over permanent residency" However, there is one right that you get to exercise every day: the right to enter and live and work in Japan at will. When you are a foreign resident of Japan you have " permission to be in Japan". When you are a Japanese national, you have the right to be in Japan." Contrary to popular belief, "permanent resident" SoR ( 永住者在留資格 { eijūsha zairyū shikaku } ) does not give you the right to be in Japan, nor is it a promised to be truly "permanent" — either by the foreign resident or by the State of Japan. Permanent Resident Status, just like other "non-permanent"...

Some people have written in asking why diplomats aren't allowed to naturalize in most countries of the world. The reason is that naturalization is not just the bestowing of rights and privileges. It's not just an "award" for time lived in a foreign country, or an acknowledgement of one's parents' nationalities that you inherited. It's a Social Contract that binds a person, going forward until they die or legally give up that nationality , to a sovereign nation's laws. These laws include both current laws and any future laws, that you cannot foresee or expect now, that are created by the legislature — and the responsibilities that those laws create. You may not necessarily be able to necessarily escape those responsibilities by just leaving the country and living or working elsewhere . Those responsibilities could, either now or in the unknown future, include overseas taxation, military conscription, or anything else. When you beco...