Becoming Japanese

In an old post, I mentioned how unlike the United States, Japan has no civics test quizzing applicants about their knowledge of the constitution, the country's history, geography, or government. In fact, most people are not tested on their Japanese ability either, because if your Japanese ability is comfortable enough that the case worker does not think you are struggling to communicate, understand them, and read or write simple forms, they will skip testing to see whether or not you have rudimentary ability. But what if there was a test? What would it be like? Of course, a real test administered by the Ministry of Justice would be entirely in Japanese. But for fun, I made a make-believe test a few years ago, and it was relatively popular. The post is now old though and some of the questions are dated. Additionally, Google Forms now has the capability to make a proper test that will provide graded results after you submit your answers. I have been told that the test is not e...

When people learn I'm a Japanese national , they naturally (and correctly) first assume, from my very non-Japanese appearance and because I speak Japanese with a slight non-native accent, that I was neither born nor grew up here. South Park creators parodied the Native American / Japanese conspiracy theory in " Cannibal! The Musical " So their follow-up question and assumption is often about how or "why" I am Japanese. Laughably, I have had many people ask if I was ハーフ { hāfu } (mixed race) , even though there is absolutely no DNA affecting my phenotype that should give people that idea. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is probably more Native American than I am Asian. They ask this question because most Japanese and non-Japanese have met people who don't appear to be Japanese yet are, and the most common explanation is that their in Japanese ancestry in their lineage. There actually are Japanese people who were born in Japan, grew up complete...