Becoming Japanese

One of the neat things I accidentally discovered when I started this site is people from all walks of life contact me regarding private questions about naturalization. Some are directed to all the contributors of our site, but some of them, due to the seriousness of the matter of changing one's nationality, contact me directly and privately. During the middle of last year, a representative for Charles Robert Jenkins contacted me via email. Mr. Jenkins, during his forty years in North Korea beginning with his drunken defection from the U.S. Army in 1965, didn't really get a chance to learn how to use email or the internet. Or even develop basic skills in computer literacy. Charles Jenkins, however, was interested in obtaining Japanese nationality, so an acquaintance of his contacted me on his behalf asking for advice regarding his situation. "I'd like to thank the ministry for giving me permanent residency so quickly. I'd also like Japanese citizen...

credit: Ann Swinderman The December 9th, 2017 article published in the Japan Times' national news section , written by Philip Brasor , is titled with the bold alarming proclamation that: Without an official father, kids can be stateless [in Japan] Is this really true? With the semantics word "can", this is pedantically true, although in reality, many other, much more rarer conditions must also (fail to) be met. Although arguably not an ideal situation, there are countless children born in Japan who receive Japanese nationality at birth even without an official or known father. To be born without a nationality in Japan, many more conditions must not be met (such as, and arguably much more important, like the existence of a birth certificate). What IS true is that when neither jus sanguinis nor jus soli can be used to determine a child's origins, then it is possible that a child may not acquire Japanese nationality immediately at birth. The author of the a...

So you've decided to run for public office Good for you. Here is what you'll need. There are three minimum requirements which will concern you: You must be a Japanese citizen. You must be 25 yrs. old. You will need access to ¥300,000 in cash. There are other minor requirements, but my guess is if you were cleared to become a citizen, you need not worry about them. I'm talking about no ties to the yakuza, criminal record and other negative influences on your life. The following are requirements more of a personal nature and my opinion only. These requirements are more based on observation and my own experience. You will need: Communication skills: I'm guessing your conversation skills will be considerable. Of concern is your reading and writing. Being able to read a substantial number of kanji is highly recommended. Junior high level will probably be a minimum. Illiteracy will not stop you from getting elected, as long as someone in your circle of sup...

Many jobs with executive powers require nationality. Once you have received Japanese citizenship you are qualified to hold public positions.This includes becoming a volunteer firefighter.This position includes a small stipend to go along with the equipment and uniform that you receive. Becoming a volunteer firefighter requires more than citizenship. You need to be part of a community that would be willing to accept you in that role. If you are willing to lend a hand, you will more than likely be asked to help.  Of course not everyone is interested in public service but the fact is that you can take this path and some naturalized Japanese actually do with the support of their community.

Licensed under Creative Commons Zero - CC0 terms I have run this web site, along with over a dozen other authors and contributors, since 2010. During that time, according to both my personal email, this group's email folder, and other messages and posts from social media: I have exchanges emails, interviewed, and answered questions with over 300 different English speaking people who have become legally Japanese. This includes people of most English language speaking (first or second language) countries, including many in South America, eastern Europe, Russia, India, etc. These interactions are usually questions about naturalization, life post naturalization, and include the applicant's biography and concerns about the process. I have had lunch, dinner, or just a long coffee session at a cafe, personally, with about two dozen English speaking people who have become legally Japanese, which implies a deep conversation / interview of at least 45 to 90 approximate minutes....

(Most graphs in this post are redrawn to reflect absolute numbers instead of percentages) Last year, I encouraged people who were native English speakers in living in Japan, regardless of whether they were naturalized Japanese citizens or not, to participate in a short 26 question survey run by Victoria Ferauge, an American academic expat (and political advocate relating to various nationality issues) who has lived in various parts of the world including Osaka and Versailles, France. Over six hundred (615) valid participants were tabulated from June to August of 2016, and the results were published for the University of Kent on March 24th, 2017 as part of a master's dissertation. I received permission to republish the raw data and add my interpretation here. Of the questions, the first two questions: Do you live in Japan? Are you a native speaker of English? … determined whether or not the remaining 24 questions, listed below, would apply. Disclaimer : while the ...