A big difference between Japanese Permanent Residency and Citizenship: the Right of Abode

This little guy completely changed the notion regarding
international freedom of movement

In early interviews with people done many years ago, people would often ask me,

"Why did you naturalize? Why not just have Permanent Residency?"

People expected me to answer with things like "so I could vote" or "so I could run for office". When I actually answered, "so I have the right to live here," they would follow-up with: "but doesn't permanent residency give you that?"

I would reply, "No, Japanese permanent residency gives you permission to be in Japan. With Japanese nationality, you have the right to be in Japan."

I would then talk about how that in theory, there is nothing "permanent" about "permanent" residency — it is simply an idiomatic expression meaning you no longer had to qualify or keep renewing your SoR (status of residence {as a non-Japanese}).

Many people scoffed at my reasoning. "The only reason one would ever lose permanent residency was if you were a criminal or you were outside of Japan for more than half a decade. Surely, for all practical purposes, having a PR or Permanent Resident (永住者 {eijūken}) status gave you de facto Right of Abode in Japan" was the common retort. And for some people (especially if you're married to a Japanese national), permanent residency is easier to obtain than nationality.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. And normal assumptions regarding the ability to travel freely among countries, which were taken for granted in the late 20th and early 21st century, were turned around on their head.

On April 29th, to contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (新型コロナウイルス {shin-gata korona uirusu}) in Japan, the MoJ / Ministry of Justice (法務省 {hōmushō}) announced:

Even in cases where a foreign national with the status of residence of “Permanent Resident”, “Spouse or Child of Japanese National”, “Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident” or “Long-Term Resident” (including the spouse of a Japanese national or Japanese child who does not have these statuses of residence; the same applies hereinafter) departed from Japan with re-entry permission (including special re-entry permission; the same applies hereinafter) such person will, in principle, come under denial of landing as not existing special circumstances (see note 2), so please refrain from traveling to the following countries / regions which are subject to denial of landing.
(Note 2)

1. In cases where a foreign national with the status of residence of “Permanent Resident”, “Spouse or Child of Japanese National”, “Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident” or “LongTerm Resident” departed from Japan with re-entry permission on or before April 2, 2020, in principle, they will be deemed to be eligible for “special exceptional circumstances”.
2. In cases where a foreign national with the status of residence of “Permanent Resident”, “Spouse or Child of Japanese National”, “Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident” or “LongTerm Resident” re-enters Japan having departed through re-entry permission between April 3 and April 28, they will be deemed to be eligible for “special exceptional circumstances” only if they have a record of staying in one of the 14 countries newly added on April 29 to the countries or regions which are subject to denial of landing. However, if the foreign national also has a record of staying in some other region which comes under denial of landing (73 countries or regions), in principle, even if they have one of these statuses of residence, they will come under denial of landing as not existing “special exceptional circumstances”.
3. In cases where a foreign national with the status of residence of “Permanent Resident”, “Spouse or Child of Japanese National”, “Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident” or “LongTerm Resident” attempts to re-enter Japan having departed through re-entry permission on or after April 29, in principle,

Having a family, loved ones, a job, or having "permanent resident" or "spouse" or having dependents in Japan would not necessarily guarantee that you'd be able to enter Japan during a time of crisis. The only type of non-Japanese that would be permitted to leave and enter Japan would be a SPR or Special Permanent Resident (特別永住者 {tokubetsu eijūsha}) like a "Zainichi" (在日 {Zainichi}) Korean or Chinese — a status that one can't obtain unless you have roots to non-Japanese residents during or before World War Ⅱ.

Of course, one of the disadvantages of naturalizing to Japanese citizenship is that because you must change your nationality to be exclusively Japanese, you may lose your Right of Abode in the country or countries you previously possessed nationality in before becoming legally Japanese.

Thus, the Right of Adobe for Japan must be carefully weighed against the privileges you will lose by changing nationality.

When I first answered over a decade ago about how the most important thing to me was the right of abode, I was answering hypothetically in the same way you'd answer the question about "why do you possess life insurance?" While the answer is "so that my family is protected financially in case I die", very few people expect to die unexpectedly from a tragic unplanned fate.

Likewise, when I answered the question, I did not actually expect to see a scenario in my lifetime where non-Japanese, law abiding Permanent Residents would be prevented from entering Japan.

But it has happened.

Per the United Nations UDHR, a national of a country can always return and enter a country for which they possess valid nationality, regardless of war, economic conditions, or global pandemic. The ability of a Japanese national to have freedom of movement, both within Japan and for leaving and entering Japan, is codified in its Constitution and is absolute. There are no Emergency Provisions (yet) that would prevent a Japanese national from exercising their ability to enter Japan, even if they're a criminal or have a disease. Of course, if they're a criminal, they will be promptly arrested and tried in a Japanese court of law once they enter Japan. But criminals and those with records are still allowed to return to Japan — which is something that not all countries allow despite it being in violation of UN rights.

It's an important distinction between a non-Japanese permanent resident and a legal Japanese national.