Becoming Japanese

Do I really want to do this? Hello everyone! My name is Den (pen name for now). I come from a country in Southeast Asia, and I am the newest contributor to "Turning Japanese". I am currently in the process of applying for naturalization, and I would like to remain relatively anonymous until its conclusion. I would like to talk about one of the first steps for anyone considering naturalization: actually thinking about taking the plunge. It's one thing to go through the motions of applying, and another to first decide whether you really want to or not. And I would like to tell it to you through my own personal story. Backstory: I first came to Japan in 2011 when I was 18 years old, through a student exchange program with a Japanese university in Tokyo. Coming from a developing country, everything in Japan enamored me: how convenient it is to live in Japan, the good public transport, blazing-fast internet, nice people, delicious food, and the list goes on. Towards the end...

Japan has been, for the past six years, slowly changing all its laws that define an adult from 20 years of age to 18 years of age. This process will complete next year. This also means that one will be able to naturalize as an adult at 18 instead of 20 (providing their original nationality recognizes them as a legal adult). It is possible to naturalize now before the age of 20, but only as a dependent of a family whose guardian is also changing to Japanese nationality. People who acquire a nationality involuntarily in addition to their Japanese nationality have 2 years from the time of acquisition AS AN ADULT to perform the "Choice of Nationality" process. This 2 year timer can occur in the following scenarios: The most common way is to be naturally born with two nationalities, and then become an adult according to Japanese law. So Japanese dual-national children, upon turning 20 (the age of majority in Japan), must perform the Choice of Nationality for their Family Register ...

Not just for 20-year olds anymore Until a few decades ago, the age of majority for being able to do anything in Japan, was twenty years of age. That was when you were considered to be an adult. Over recent years, however, the age to be able to do things such as vote, drive, view mature movies, etc., has been changing from 20 to 18. This first started in 2015, when they lowered the voting age from 20 to 18. Then in 2018, the Japanese Government approved a bill that would lower the age of adulthood from 20 to 18 by 2022. This will enable 18- and 19-year-olds to sign contracts and get married without the consent of their parents. However, just like many countries don't allow 18 year old adults to drink or smoke until they're older (21 in America), Japan will still require you to be 20 to purchase or consume alcohol and tobacco. The Japanese law lowering the age of majority that will come into effect next year in April will allow eighteen year old non-Japanese to naturalize. Previo...

The website has been around for over 10 years. As with everything, things change, and previous information written years ago on this website will become obsolete. When that happens and old information is no longer relevant, we will try to make a note of it on the site (just like how we point out when other sites on the internet make mistakes about Japan's naturalization process: we mention that in our "misinformation" section. Before the nationalized, digital 在留カード { zairyū kādo } (Residence Card [for non-Japanese]) and database existed, non-Japanese carried a card called the 外国人登録証明証 { gaikokujin tōroku shōmeishō } (Alien Registration Card, or " ARC "). Because these cards were not digital (they didn't have chips in them with cryptographically signed credentials and they were not NFC — near field communication), as part of the naturalization process, you would need to go to your local municipal office such as a 区役所 { kuyakusho } (w...

  Eight former Japanese nationals, aged 30 to 80, men and women, six who have acquired Swiss or Liechtenstein nationality and two others who plan to obtain Swiss or French nationality, led by Hitoshi Nogawa, currently living in Europe, attempted to sue the Japan government arguing that the Nationality's Laws policies regarding acquiring additional citizenships was unconstitutional and also against the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights. The trial started on August 20th, 2020, and was ruled upon January 21st, 2021.  They are attempting to appeal. I suspect that the intent of the lawsuit was never to win, as the arguments it presented, while making for a good show for the press, were extremely weak from the perspective of both constitutional law and international law. Among the arguments they attempted to make: They argued that the Nationality Law contradicts the second paragraph of Article 22 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right of expatriation. Article 22 o...

Nick Zappetti, American "mafia boss of Tokyo" A few years ago, I reviewed the excellent book "Tokyo Underworld" by Robert Whiting , which featured an Italian-American by the name of Nicholas aka Nick Zappetti who immigrated to Japan after The War and became a bit of a minor kingpin in the legitimate (and illegitimate) recovering economy of the State of Japan during the "anything goes" days of the black markets. One of his big contributions to the post-war creature comforts of Tokyo, especially if you were a soldier (or spy) stationed in Japan, was his American-style Italian restaurants that featured American style pizza (contrary to what Americans believe, the common U.S. versions of pizza is no more authentic than Japanese style pizza ). I featured the book on this site because Zappetti was one of the early pioneer Americans who would naturalize to Japanese, becoming 小泉二コラ { KOIZUMI Nikora } . While he was definitely not the first to do so — not just As...

This little guy completely changed the notion regarding international freedom of movement In early interviews with people done many years ago , people would often ask me, "Why did you naturalize? Why not just have Permanent Residency?" People expected me to answer with things like "so I could vote" or "so I could run for office" . When I actually answered, "so I have the right to live here," they would follow-up with: "but doesn't permanent residency give you that?" I would reply, "No, Japanese permanent residency gives you permission to be in Japan. With Japanese nationality, you have the right to be in Japan." I would then talk about how that in theory, there is nothing "permanent" about "permanent" residency — it is simply an idiomatic expression meaning you no longer had to qualify or keep renewing your SoR (status of residence {as a non-Japanese}). Many ...