Becoming Japanese

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...

I believe I made the choice the moment I applied Hello everyone. It has been a year since I formally applied for citizenship. I am happy to announce that I finally have an update: I am officially Japanese! It took a bit more than a year, and in the interim, there was nothing to do but wait. And wait. And come for the interview. Then wait some more. Here is what happened during that time. The Naturalization Interview I got the call for the interview from the Legal Affairs Bureau some time in February 2022. Along with deciding the interview date, I was asked to bring some additional documents: Additional Documents For me ねんきん定期便 nenkin teikibin , Pension coverage letter A copy of my parents' passports' data page For my fiancée 住民票 jūminhyō , Certificate of Residence 市県民税納税証明書 shikenminzei nōzeishōmeishō, Certificate of payment of municipal and prefectural tax 市民税県民税証明書 shiminzei kenminzei nōzeishōmeishō , Certificate of residents’ tax  For both me and my fiancée 源泉徴収票 gensench...

Greg Lam is a professional videographer who is probably best known to Japanophiles from his YouTube channel(s) "Life Where I'm From". He's been producing vignettes about what it's like for a Canadian or any other non-Japanese to live in Japan, and has often explored the topic of bridging multiple cultures and origins, either from the viewpoint of an adult or a child growing up in Japan. Thanks to his professional interviewing, recording, and editing skills, Greg introduced me to a new, younger audience that digests the internet primarily through video as opposed to written websites and blogs, which is what this site is. Sitting down with me in my home office, crammed with professional lighting and mics and high end cameras, Greg came prepared with countless questions that I could tell were well prepared and showed me that he had thoroughly read and researched the information on this site. Given that the creation of this site was partially inspired by two things:...

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry seal & the Fair Trade Commission Seal The nationality law for Japan says that all applications must be approved by the Minister of Justice ( 法務大臣 { hōmu daijin } ). And indeed, when you are approved, your documents are returned with an enormous seal from that Minister, serving effectively as a signature in official Japanese legal documents. In Japan and other Asian countries that use this system, the bigger the seal, the more important the person or entity is. A personal seal ( 印鑑 { inkan } ) is usually about 1cm in diameter . The seals for companies are usually square and about 3cm wide and high. The seals for important public officials, such as Ministers and members of the Cabinet are the largest. Only the Emperor's seal (seen on the last page of the Japanese Constitution) is larger. While it's neat to think that the current Minister of Justice has taken his or her time away from important legal matters affecting the future of...

Statelessness is the condition where a person has no legal nationality associated with them. The Japanese Constitution, Article 22 , specifically grants Japanese nationals the right to lose Japanese nationality by choice: Freedom of all persons to move to a foreign country and to divest themselves of their nationality shall be inviolate. Despite this, however, it is currently impossible for a Japanese national to simply give up their only  nationality and become a person with no nationality. This is because Japan is a signatory to the 1961 UN Convention to reduce statelessness . The Japanese Constitution was written before this, and Article 98 of the Constitution says that Japan must obey the UN Conventions and treaties that it signs: The treaties concluded by Japan and established laws of nations shall be faithfully observed. Thus, the only way to lose Japanese nationality is if you already have another nationality to fall back on. What if it's discovered that one's naturaliza...

The system for how Japanese banks reports Americans Unfortunately, the answer to this is "sometimes." And this includes Japanese financial institutions, even though it's not Japan's fault: their hands are tied by international financial agreements. For the case of Japanese and other countries financial institutions treating naturalized citizens differently, we can blame America. People who have opened a bank or other financial account that can hold money recently (within the last half decade) in Japan may have noticed an odd question: "Do you possess U.S. citizenship or possess U.S. LPR (Lawful Permanent Resident) status?" You might ask yourself: why does Japan (or any other country)'s banks need to ask this? Japan is a sovereign nation. Its banks are subject to Japanese Law  and private and not any other countries' business, no? Well, technically yes. Practically, no. The reason is because almost every major financial institution in the world needs ...

The "No Entry" road sign in Japan is also the same in much of Europe. Legally in Japan, there is no difference in the rights between Japanese nationals who were born with the nationality (often called "natural born citizens" in American terminology) and those who changed from one nationality to another voluntarily via a qualifying process (usually referred to as "a naturalized citizen" or national). Some countries may small differentiations between natural born and naturalized citizens. For example, the United States requires U.S. Presidents to be natural born. Some countries make it easier to lose or forfeit their nationality if the nationality was acquired via naturalization (ex. Mexico). But in Japan, a naturalized person is legally capable of becoming, for example, the Prime Minister. Just like somebody who has only had Japanese nationality their entire life. A naturalized Japanese citizen "commoner" woman could even theoretically become a me...

One of the requirements for naturalizing is to show you have a reasonable chance of supporting yourself financially until the end of your days without ending up in poverty or on welfare in Japan. Being wealthy or even well off is by no means a requirement. Being stable and predictable and consistent, however, may be. Also, you do not need to be self-made or self-sufficient; you may include assets and revenue from your family and household if you can show they are a consistent and reliable source for your livelihood. To prove this, you will be required to complete a two part form known as the 生計の概要 { seikei no gaiyō } (Livelihood Overview) . The form is divided into seven sections: income expenses main debt real estate savings stocks & bonds valuable property One of the requirements for assessing livelihood in Japan is that you have a relatively  stable source of resources that is evaluated or translates to  Japanese yen . Obviously, no cryptocurrencies are denominated in...

...the Bureau of Legal Affairs is, too TL;DR: yes and no, sometimes in surprising ways.  So since I have finished the document-gathering and initial submission phase of my application, I thought I would write about how the current pandemic is affecting the process. Note that I am writing from the perspective of someone doing the process in mid-2021 . As such, my experience will definitely be different from someone doing the same in 2020, when lockdowns were stricter.  Part 1: In terms of time and money Making appointments with the Legal Affairs Bureau: Yes First, for scheduling consultations: yes, but not directly. At the time I was having consultations with my local Legal Affairs Bureau, which was April-July 2021, the average waiting time (which I mean to be the earliest future date when an appointment slot is available) was 1 month. When I went for my third consultation , I asked the case worker if the pandemic affected how busy the Legal Affairs Bureau was with naturaliz...