Becoming Japanese

City Councillor elections for Tokyo were last month. A number of politicians who were originally another nationality have run for office in Japan , and quite a few get elected. We have covered other city councillors (as well as national level politicians in the House of Representatives and upper house of Japan's Diet) who were originally of another nationality but naturalized and took Japanese nationality. For this article, I'd like to feature 井上ノエミ { INOUE Noemi } , formerly a Bolivian national who has been representing Sumida City in Tokyo ( 東京都墨田区 { Tōkyō-to Sumida-ku } ) for many years now. She was re-elected to a second term last month. I should note that Ms. Inoue shares the same family name (Inoue) as I do, and also writes her given name in カタカナ { katakana } (Japanese block-style syllabet). Of course, there's no relation: "Inoue" has been a very common name throughout Japanese history — it is sometimes spelled "Inouye" overseas due to ...

This post is a followup to my post on how to run for office . My aim is to give potential politicians an understanding of just what a city councillor does. I include what my year is like as well as a more detailed description of the day-to-day of a session. I’ve chosen to use Japanese titles for some of the jobs in government. Kōmu-in is just easier to use than civil servant or government worker. Also, I am not consistent. Like many long-term residents in Japan, I find my English vocabulary salted with more convenient Japanese words. By the end of the article you may have a few new words as part of your own vocabulary. Je m’excuse, je m’accuse… So you've been elected Congratulations. Here is how things are done in my home city of Tsukuba (your city may vary but I’m thinking the basics will be the same). A few days after the election there was a 10 minute ceremony for all winning candidates to receive our certificates of election. About two weeks before the beginning of the f...

One of the neat things I accidentally discovered when I started this site is people from all walks of life contact me regarding private questions about naturalization. Some are directed to all the contributors of our site, but some of them, due to the seriousness of the matter of changing one's nationality, contact me directly and privately. During the middle of last year, a representative for Charles Robert Jenkins contacted me via email. Mr. Jenkins, during his forty years in North Korea beginning with his drunken defection from the U.S. Army in 1965, didn't really get a chance to learn how to use email or the internet. Or even develop basic skills in computer literacy. Charles Jenkins, however, was interested in obtaining Japanese nationality, so an acquaintance of his contacted me on his behalf asking for advice regarding his situation. "I'd like to thank the ministry for giving me permanent residency so quickly. I'd also like Japanese citizen...

So you've decided to run for public office Good for you. Here is what you'll need. There are three minimum requirements which will concern you: You must be a Japanese citizen. You must be 25 yrs. old. You will need access to ¥300,000 in cash. There are other minor requirements, but my guess is if you were cleared to become a citizen, you need not worry about them. I'm talking about no ties to the yakuza, criminal record and other negative influences on your life. The following are requirements more of a personal nature and my opinion only. These requirements are more based on observation and my own experience. You will need: Communication skills: I'm guessing your conversation skills will be considerable. Of concern is your reading and writing. Being able to read a substantial number of kanji is highly recommended. Junior high level will probably be a minimum. Illiteracy will not stop you from getting elected, as long as someone in your circle of sup...