Why did I decide to apply for Japanese citizenship?

Do I really want to do this?

Hello everyone! My name is Den (pen name for now). I come from a country in Southeast Asia, and I am the newest contributor to "Turning Japanese". I am currently in the process of applying for naturalization, and I would like to remain relatively anonymous until its conclusion.

I would like to talk about one of the first steps for anyone considering naturalization: actually thinking about taking the plunge. It's one thing to go through the motions of applying, and another to first decide whether you really want to or not. And I would like to tell it to you through my own personal story.

Backstory:

I first came to Japan in 2011 when I was 18 years old, through a student exchange program with a Japanese university in Tokyo. Coming from a developing country, everything in Japan enamored me: how convenient it is to live in Japan, the good public transport, blazing-fast internet, nice people, delicious food, and the list goes on. Towards the end of my one-year exchange program, I actually felt a bit depressed that I would have to leave this wonderful country, and I knew that I wanted to come back.

My 内定通知曞naitei tsÅ«chisho (job acceptance notice)
18-year old me would have been over
the moon upon seeing this

Fast forward to 2016. I graduated with a degree in a STEM field, and -- wait for it -- got employment in Japan! To 18-year-old me, this would have been the news of a lifetime. 23-year-old me living my dream! Of course, not everything was sunshine and rainbows. Once the honeymoon phase ended, I also started seeing the not-so-good sides of Japan: lopsided work-life balance, politics, sexism to name a few.

However, one takes the good with the bad, and for all the bad things, there was one very big good thing that happened in Japan: I meet my (Japanese) fiancée.

 

Main Topic:

The thought of seriously getting naturalized crossed my mind in early 2021, around the 5-year mark when my first SoR would expire and -- coincidentally -- the minimum required continuous residence period in Japan to apply for naturalization. Up to that point, I have only been toying with the idea. Besides, I did not qualify for it (at the time). I was vaguely familiar with the minimum requirements: 5-year residency, be self-sufficient, etc., but I lacked one thing, and arguably the most important thing of all: a motive. An excuse, if you will. A good reason to get Japanese citizenship.

Of course, there were the pragmatic reasons.

1. A powerful passport
With a developing country's passport, I need a visa to go to most developed regions, notably the North America and Europe. A Japanese passport would allow visa-free access to most countries, and would actually be useful for me as I sometimes have to travel for work, and the extra 2 weeks it requires to apply for a visa means that I often get left behind as my Japanese colleagues just hop on a plane on a week's notice.

2. Convenience
No need to renew a visa, no limits to what kind of work I do, etc.

But of course, there are drawbacks.

1. Must give up all other nationalities
As of 2021, Japan does not allow multiple citizenship (and has has upheld it in court), and for me specifically, Japan would require me to renounce my original nationality should I be given Japanese nationality. That would entail the loss of all my rights as a citizen of my original country, such as the right of abode (I would now need permission to visit my home country) and the right to own real estate (except that I would still be eligible under my home country's law to inherit property, even if I cease to be its citizen)

2. ... that is all I can think of really. Japan does not have a mandatory military service like Singapore or South Korea, nor does it have a global taxation policy like the US.

But in the end, what really brought me to seriously consider getting citizenship had nothing to do with the convenience of a powerful passport nor the potential drawbacks of losing my home country's citizenship. It was simply because:

Japan is my home now. And I see it being so for a while. I am happy to be here.

Think about it: After graduating university I went directly to Japan. I own no property or business in my home country, only a bank account with a paltry amount. All of my professional life I have spent in Japan. My belongings, income, savings, investments, pension, are all in Japan. I am happy and content to be here. My fiancée is Japanese, and although she is not against moving out of Japan, we do not foresee ourselves doing so in the near future. If we have kids, they will grow up in Japan. If I buy a house, or a car, it will be in Japan.

Simply put: my future is in Japan.

This is the epiphany that I came to earlier this year, and it is the reason I decided to apply for Japanese citizenship. And the reasons above have made their way to my 動機曞dōkisho (motivation essay), which I will write about in a later date. As to why I decided to get citizenship rather than permanent residency, Eido-san has actually touched upon their differences in a few previous articles, talking about the ability to enter Japan amidst a global pandemic and whether your being in Japan is a right or a permission. I have thought long and hard, and consulted with my family and fiancée along the way. And I have made my decision, despite being in the demographic that Eido-san discourages from getting Japanese citizenship ;).

 I do not see myself going back to my home country with the intention of staying there permanently. Also, if I were sad, lonely, depressed, or otherwise unhappy in Japan, I know that obtaining citizenship or permanent residency would not solve those problems. For me, realizing that Japan is where I see my future is similar to when I realized that the woman I have been dating, is the one with whom I would love to spend the rest of my life.

My fiancée said yes. Here's hoping Japan would too. :)

Epilogue:

As I have mentioned in the opening paragraph, I am still in the process of applying for citizenship. In future entries, I plan to go into more detail regarding the process: the consultations with the Legal Affairs Bureau, the gathering of the documents, etc., with particular focus on the procedures concerning my home country. Stay tuned!

Popular posts from this blog

How much did it actually cost to naturalize?

Image
Pennies, compared to most other developed countries In 2010, an article was published here about how much it costs to apply for naturalization. It was true then, and it's still true now in 2022: The application itself is free . ¥0, nada, zilch. Compare that to the US ($725) , UK (£1,330) , Germany (€255) . However, there are many things throughout the process that can cost money: getting your civil documents both in Japan and your home country, tax documents, driving record, etc. You will also to make personal appearances to your local Legal Affairs Bureau. Here I will talk about how much it cost me personally, including the cost of gathering all documents, photocopying, travel, etc. List of Expenses Below is the list of my naturalization-related expenses. All told, it cost me about ¥18,500 to make a successful application. It is worth repeating: There is no application fee . Everything in the list above are expenses related to getting documents I need to submit with my naturaliza...
Read more →

Types of Japanese Passports

Image
The vast majority of people that naturalize will probably apply for a "red" Japanese passport after their 戞籍 { koseki } (family register) is created — which takes about a couple weeks followed by a few weeks for the passport to be issued. It is not necessary to apply for a passport. Just like the United States, the vast majority of the populace never actually travels outside of their country for their lifetime. However, realisticly speaking, it's very likely that a naturalized person would have a Japanese passport as they most likely have family ties overseas. Language The passport is in two languages: English and Japanese. Very old passports, similar to my U.S. passport, also had French, the language of diplomacy. My oh my, how the French empire's influence has faded. My last U.S. passport added Spanish. My oh my, how South, Central, and Latin America's influence has increased! ☺ On current Japanese passports, the message from the Minister of Foreig...
Read more →

All about Japanese personal inkan/hanko/chops/seals

Image
"signing" a payment slip at a bank In Japan (and other Asian countries), it is traditional practice to use an 印鑑 { inkan } ( aka 印章 { inshō } ) — colloquially called a 刀子 { hanko } in Japanese or "chop" in British English — instead of a signature for acknowledging / signing / accepting documents. Pedantically speaking, a 刀子 hanko is the actual stamping object, and an 印鑑 inkan is the ink impression that is made, but many native Japanese use the two words interchangeably. In the 21st century, Japanese recommend having three types of seals: one for casual informal acceptance: 認印 { mitomein } one for your bank accounts: 銀行印 { ginkō-in } the "real" registered one: ( 実印 { jitsuin } ) While it's perfectly possible to use just one seal for all of these functions, most people use at least two or three for the same reason that people should use different passwords for different services on the internet: in the case of a compromised s...
Read more →