Becoming Japanese

The Amendments and Endorsements page of an American passport is in the back. In a Japanese passport, it is in the front. In a previous post, our contributors documented how to add your pre-naturalized name to a Japanese passport after it has been issued . This is still possible, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has changed its policy so that if somebody changes critical information on the first page of their passport, they now issue an entirely new passport rather than note the change on this special page as our previous post illustrated. The new protocol became effective March 20th, 2014 . Changing the following things on the first page will now require the issuing of a new passport : Your Japanese family and given names, transliterated into alphabet Your alternate alphabet names in parentheses, if any Your Japanese registered domicile Your sex Your birth date Note that in some changes, changes to your Japanese Register may not necessitate needing a new passport:...

Some people have written in asking why diplomats aren't allowed to naturalize in most countries of the world. The reason is that naturalization is not just the bestowing of rights and privileges. It's not just an "award" for time lived in a foreign country, or an acknowledgement of one's parents' nationalities that you inherited. It's a Social Contract that binds a person, going forward until they die or legally give up that nationality , to a sovereign nation's laws. These laws include both current laws and any future laws, that you cannot foresee or expect now, that are created by the legislature — and the responsibilities that those laws create. You may not necessarily be able to necessarily escape those responsibilities by just leaving the country and living or working elsewhere . Those responsibilities could, either now or in the unknown future, include overseas taxation, military conscription, or anything else. When you beco...

Amendments and Endorsements Page of a Japanese Passport For those of you who have chosen a Japanese name that may sound completely or partially different from your name prior to naturalizing to Japan - you still have the option to use that name as a Japanese national on most legal transactions or items as you may have previously. This can simply be done by adding your pre-naturalized name to your passport as a 別名併記( betsumei heiki ) which translates roughly to "alias additional listing". In my case, as I already applied and recieved my passport before requesting the "alias additional listing", I had to go through a seperate process where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (most likely the Passport Center of your City/Prefrecture, or the Consular Section of the Japanese Embassy if overseas) uses a seperate page (Amendments and Endorsements Page) usually right after the identification page with your picture and personal details. Apart from...