Becoming Japanese

We can't refer to the protected images of the international winter games in Sochi, Russia Former South Korean national 安賢洙 { AN Hyonsu } — in ハングル { hanguru } (Korean syllabet): 안 현수 { AN Hyeonsu }  — in his English preferred spelling: Ahn Hyun-Soo — is a world-class short track speed skating champion. He changed his nationality from South Korea to Russia, becoming Виктор Ан { Viktor AHN } . He won three gold medals and one bronze for the Republic of Korea in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Now, in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, he has won a gold medal for the hosting country, the Russian Federation ( ロシア連邦 { Roshia Rempō } ). Athletes changing nationality is nothing new. What is unusual about Ahn is how high profile and how he had such a long and successful sports winning career with his previous country. Compared to most naturalized elite athletes, and his motives for changing nationality were a little unusual: he had a falling out with the sports asso...

I became a Japanese citizen in March this year (2013). But as of the end of May, when I went on a trip to Hawaii, I had not yet relinquished my US citizenship. (In a sense, I believe I committed the act of relinquishment when I accepted Japanese citizenship. But I had not been to the US embassy to undertake the official relinquishment procedures that the US government requires.) And I still had a valid US passport, along with my newly issued Japanese passport. I had learned that both the Japanese and US governments require their citizens to use their respective passports when reentering their respective countries. In other words, I had to use my old US passport at the airport in Honolulu. I wondered if this would cause any complications. As it turned out, there was no serious problem. But there was one minor glitch: When I arrived in Honolulu, I went to the line for returning US citizens and presented my US passport to the immigration officer. He looked at it, but instead of han...