Becoming Japanese

It's not uncommon for political posters of Japanese candidates to use nicknames or kana to help voters remember them. プラニク・ヨゲンドラ { PURANIKU · Yogendora } (पुराणिक योगेंद्र / Nickname in Japanese: よぎ { Yogi } ) was born in western India in 1977. He is the eldest son of three brothers. His father works at a factory and his mother is a seamstress. After graduating in India, he continued his education and earned a master's degree in international economy and international management. At the same time, he holds degrees in IT (computer development) and the Japanese language. He first visited Japan as a student in 1997 and 1999, funded by the government. After college, he was given a job offer from a US company, but he chose to work in IT in Japan in 2001. He got married that year, and had his first child the year after that. His wife teaches at an overseas university, so he raises his son alone in Japan. Because of this, he became acutely aware of the challenges and diff...

A received a question a while back from a potential naturalization applicant who asked me if it was possible to use a Legal Affairs Bureau for his naturalization application that is not the bureau which would be closest to either his home or work. This person, whose first language was French, told me he had a bad experience with interviewing in Tokyo because the case worker felt that his Japanese language ability was not good enough to meet the requirements for naturalization. For those that don't know, there is no actual clause about Japanese language ability in the requirements for naturalization. However, having "abilities" and skills that are deemed useful and relevant enough to support a modest, stable, lifestyle financially is  a requirement. Thus, for that requirement, they are looking at a variety of factors: Your formal education level (college) Your career related certifications in addition to one's diplomas Your employment / income stability and pa...

Donald L . Keene passed away due to heart failure in a Japanese hospital at the age of 96 on February 24th, 2019 at 6:21am in a hospital near where he lived in 東京都台東区 { Tōkyō-to Taitō-ku } (Taito City, Tokyo). This site has followed Donald Keene's path to naturalization only, as covering his entire contributions to Japan would be too difficult and too long for a site like this. On a personal note, I should add that I had the opportunity to communicate with Donald Keene for a bit related to this site. This site has had over fifteen direct contributors (who have written directly for it in some way or form), and over two dozen contributors who have contributed documents and resources behind the scenes. All of these contributors were naturalized Japanese. And Donald Keene was among them. When the site first hit one million visitors about a half decade ago, I hosted a party for all the naturalized Japanese in Japan who had contributed to the site. We rented out the big party r...

Yokohama DeNA Baystars coach "Alex Ramírez" ( アレックス Arekkusu ・ ラミレス RAMIRESU ), born Alexander Ramón Ramírez Quiñónez — and transcribed into Japanese in the Japanese government naturalization notices 官報 { kampō } (Official Gazette) as ラミレス RAMIRESU ・ カプリレス Kapuriresu ・ アレキサンダー Arekisandā ・ ラモン Ramon — but known by his Japanese nickname of ラミちゃん { Rami-chan } to his fans, officially became a Japanese national on January 23rd, 2019 at the age of 44. Ramírez started in the American minors (earning a player of the year award), then progressing to the MLB 's Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates before going to the Tokyo's Yakult Swallows then the Yomiuri Giants , where he became the first player to get 2,000 career hits in 2013. This led him to being the first and only foreign player to be invited to the 日本プロ野球名球会 { Nippon Puro meiyakyū-kai } (Golden Players Club) , one of the two hall of fame organizations for Japanese baseball. Having played fo...

Can You Bring Your Spouse, Family Member, Boy or Girlfriend, S.O. , Lawyer, Friend with you to all the personal interviews? The placeholder photo that serves as the avatar for the pseudonym "Ken Seeroi" aka "Ken C Roi". TL;DR : "No". I noticed a popular blog, called "The Japanese Rule of 7" , had written recently an anecdote about attempting to acquire Japanese Citizenship because it had a link to this site, which generates an automatic notification to me. I read it. And I enjoyed it. Very funny tale. However, it's important to keep this in mind while reading it: It's a fictional account. Normally, I'd leave fiction alone and not file it in the "Misinformation" page . Unfortunately, from reading the comments on the post and other entries in the blog, it's not clear that most of the blog's fans are in on the joke. In the real world, they want to interview only the actual candidate (or if it is a l...

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...

Eiji (Evan) Koehler, born American, and Olaf Jong, born Indonesian, describe their experiences about acquiring Japanese nationality for the YouTube channel "Where Next Japan?" In the video, they describe the process of becoming Japanese citizens and explain not just how they did it, but also how other people reacted, and their thoughts on the place they now call home. 00:06 Intro 02:17 Why did you change your citizenship? 04:16 How did your family react to your decision? 04:57 How do other people react to your decision? 05:29 When did you start the process? 09:26 Were you surprised by any part of it? 10:48 Did you encounter any misinformation or misconceptions? 11:57 What was it like choosing a Japanese name? 14:20 Has your sense of self changed at all? 18:28 Final comments It's an interesting video, and I recommend checking their blog out for other interesting Japan topics.