Becoming Japanese

(Most graphs in this post are redrawn to reflect absolute numbers instead of percentages) Last year, I encouraged people who were native English speakers in living in Japan, regardless of whether they were naturalized Japanese citizens or not, to participate in a short 26 question survey run by Victoria Ferauge, an American academic expat (and political advocate relating to various nationality issues) who has lived in various parts of the world including Osaka and Versailles, France. Over six hundred (615) valid participants were tabulated from June to August of 2016, and the results were published for the University of Kent on March 24th, 2017 as part of a master's dissertation. I received permission to republish the raw data and add my interpretation here. Of the questions, the first two questions: Do you live in Japan? Are you a native speaker of English? … determined whether or not the remaining 24 questions, listed below, would apply. Disclaimer : while the ...

Some sites and people have claimed that certain types of 在留資格 { zairyū shikaku } (Status of Residence) for foreigners living in Japan do not count — such as a 留学 { ryūgaku } aka "Student" SoR — towards the continuous physical presence test of five (5), three (3), or one (1) year – depending on whether you qualified for regular naturalization ( 普通帰化 { futsū kika } ) or simplified naturalization ( 簡易帰化 { kan'i kika } ) — requirement. This is not true. All time spent legally in Japan, even on a 15/90 day visa-waivered temporary landing permit (TLP aka "tourist visa" ← a misnomer), can theoretically count towards the physical residency test. However, if the bulk of your time was spent in Japan as a student, the odds of you getting successfully approved for naturalization are slim, in my opinion. Why? You must still pass the "livelihood requirement", which says: 自己又は生計を一にする { jiko matawa seikei o ichi ni suru } 配偶者その他の家族の { haigūsha sonota ...