Foreign-born Japanese - Legal Issues

Legal Issues

By Japanese laws, adult persons generally cannot hold both foreign citizenship and Japanese citizenship (dual nationality):

• those who have acquired dual nationality before age 20 must choose a single nationality before reaching age 22.
• those who have acquired dual nationality after age 20 must choose a single nationality in 2 years.

Many who naturalize as Japanese also adopt a Japanese name, since names must be chosen from a list of approved kanji. Chinese or Koreans with kanji-character names may or may not have problems in this regard.

No law forbids a foreign-born Japanese to be elected as a member of Diet (as Marutei Tsurunen in fact became one). Theoretically, therefore, a foreign-born Japanese can become the Prime Minister of Japan.

Probably because of the difficulty in gaining citizenship and because of cultural difference, foreign-born Japanese people account for a very small percentage of the population in Japan. Many who were born and live in Japan permanently, particularly Korean and Chinese, tend to maintain their citizenship. There has been a constant discussion among the government and lawmakers whether to expand their rights of permanent residence to include provisions such as the right to vote in elections, etc. Few statistics are kept on how many Chinese and Koreans have naturalized, as such statistics are not maintained by the Japanese government. Once such a person naturalizes, they are, for all intents and purposes under the law, Japanese.

The Japanese jus sanguinis policy contrasts with other countries, such as in Canada and the United States where people born natively (under jus solis) acquire citizenship on birth.