♪ Bad girls, bad girls Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do When they come for you ♪

Hopefully, very few people plan to get into trouble with the law, either in Japan or overseas, after they naturalize. After all, in order to naturalize in the first place, your record (even for driving offenses), including immigration record, needs to be almost flawless. Both inside Japan and outside of Japan.

However, the real meaning of becoming legally Japanese isn't about speaking or acting Japanese or even living in Japan forever (it's perfectly possibly to gain Japanese nationality then live as a Japanese expat elsewhere in the world). Naturalizing and becoming Japanese is about establishing a legal permanent link between you and the sovereign state of Japan.

When the Constitution of Japan says "sovereign power resides with the people" (『主権が国民に存すること』 {"shuken ga kokumin ni son suru koto"}) in the preamble, by "people"— a constitutional law term that means the nationals/citizens of a country; it doesn't mean everybody in the world — the constitution is talking about you. Your nationality, and the laws of your new country, are attached to you forever. When you naturalize to Japanese, you don't take an oath to the Emperor, becoming a subject. You take an oath to the Constitution of Japan and the laws made under it.

So what happens when you, as a new naturalized Japanese national, break Japanese law in a foreign country? If Japanese law enforcement is aware of the crime, you'll probably be arrested once you return to Japan.

But what if you never return to Japan? Depending on many variables, Japan can request that foreign countries extradite you back to Japan to face justice. If you're on the run jumping from country to country, they can cancel your passport to impede your ability to travel/flee (much like what happened to Edward Snowden).

Can Japan extradite a Japanese National living legally overseas for Arrest, Trial, & Punishment in Japan?

Whether or not a naturalized Japanese person can be extradited back to Japan depends on many factors:

• Japan may need to have an extradition agreement with that country. There is no such thing as a universal UN international law that says countries are required to extradite foreigners to other countries. Countries are sovereign, and what they wish to do to its nationals and foreign residents (within the context of human rights and international law) is their business if they don't have a treaty. If Japan does not have a treaty with a country, its rules for extradition default to its 1953 Extradition Act (Act #68).

  The U.S. has no extradition treaty with Russia. The U.S. asked for him, but Russia said no. America cancelled Snowden's U.S. passport, so Russia gave Snowden a travel document.

  The phase "may need" was used above because Japan not having an extradition agreement with a country doesn't mean Japan can't extradite you. It simply means that without a treaty, Japan has to ask the country, and most likely that country would need to deliberate it on a one-off basis (and/or refer to default laws of extradition) and judge whether to allow it by the merits of the case. The reason the United States can not extradite Edward Snowden is because they don't have an extradition agreement with the Russian Federation.
• Unless there's an extradition treaty with Japan that overrides the below criteria, the alleged crime committed has to meet the following criteria:

  • Perhaps not in good taste, but not illegal in the U.S. or Japan

    The offense must be illegal in both countries (known as "dual criminality"). For example, a warrant for arrest was put out for actor Richard Gere (for obscenity/lewdness) in India for kissing a Bollywood star in public. The United States would never extradite somebody for that because kissing somebody in public (PDA) is not a crime in America.
  • The crime must be serious enough. The minimum punishment usually has to be a few years or more in both countries. No country is going to extradite somebody for shoplifting or any crime that has a prison sentence of less than a year.
    
    By Japanese law, unless there's a treaty that says otherwise (see below), Japan will not allow the extradition of any legal foreign resident in Japan if the crime carries less than a minimum three (3) year punishment either in Japan or in the country requesting extradition.
  • The punishment can't be too severe; countries don't extradite if the person would face the death penalty (unless there's a treaty that says otherwise; see below) or would be tortured.
• The crime can't be considered to be a political crime.

Hanging is the only execution method used by Japan.

An interesting paradox to the above is that even Japan will not extradite foreign residents if they were to face the death penalty in a foreign country (unless there's a treaty that says otherwise; see below), even though Japan itself uses capital punishment (death by hanging) as the maximum punishment for first degree murder.

Murder is currently the only crime eligible for capital punishment in Japan, and it must either be a multiple murder or a first degree murder that is particularly cruel and brutal.

Can Japan extradite a Dual National (Japanese National) living legally overseas for Arrest, Trial, & Punishment in Japan?

The possession of an additional nationality only affects extradition if both of the following two conditions are true:

1. The multi-national is in one of the countries or territories that he/she is a national of.
2. One of the two countries has an extradition policy/law prohibiting the extradition of its own nationals from its sovereign territory to other countries, such as:
   • Japan
   • Austria
   • Brazil
   • Czech Republic
   • Germany
   • People's Republic of China
   • Republic of China (Taiwan)
   • France

A killer criminal with clear skin.

To use a recent example, dual national (natural-born American + French nationality from his mother due to jus sanguis) Hans Peterson, a "pro" Internet gambler, stalked and threatened before gruesomely murdering his dermatologist, Dr. David Cornbleet, by viciously stabbing him to death in Chicago, Illinois in 2006. His motive was dissatisfaction with his what he believed to be side effects of the prescribed controversial acne drug Accutane® (アキュテインAkyutein) aka isotretinoin. He claimed the drug made him sexually impotent.

Peterson fled to the French-controlled side of St. Martin, a Caribbean island, before the United States authorities could arrest him in America.

So, the United States requested that France extradite Peterson back to Illinois to face American justice. The late doctor's friends and family as well as the state prosecution feared that the French justice system was too lenient compared to the the United States. Their maximum for murder is 20 years and he would serve 16. That's unacceptable, said Cook County prosecutor Bob Milan. Both Illinois senators pleaded with the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. The prosecution even agreed to not press for (Illinois') death penalty, which hasn't been used since the year 2000. Instead, they wanted Illinois' penalty of life imprisonment without the chance of parole.

However, the French government was firm. No matter how evil Peterson was, French law prohibited the extradition of those possessing French nationality — even if he held U.S. citizenship and committed the crime on U.S. territory and he didn't even manage to flee all the way to the mainland of France but rather a French territory.

The Master Nationality Rule

In the case where a natural born or naturalized citizen has more than one nationality and they happen to be on the soil of a country that they have a citizenship for, they can't nor should they expect that any of the consular protections that normal citizens would receive will apply to them. Additionally, when the laws of two or more countries of which you have a nationality for conflict with each other (and they often do, especially with regards to things like family divorce and custody and tax law), the country that one is physically in takes precedence, and the other country's laws and international courtesies can be ignored in the name of sovereignty.

The United States Department of State FAM advises this with regard to dual nationality [emphasis added]:

While recognizing the existence of dual nationality and permitting Americans to have other nationalities, the U.S. Government does not endorse dual nationality as a matter of policy because of the problems which it may cause. Claims of other countries upon dual-national U.S. Citizens often place them in situations where their obligations to one country are in conflict with the laws of the other.

In addition, their dual nationality may hamper efforts to provide diplomatic and consular protection to them while they are abroad. It generally is considered that while a dual national is in the other country of which the person is a citizen, that country has a predominant claim on the person. In cases where a dual national encounters difficulty in a foreign country of which the person is a citizen, the ability of the U.S. Government to provide assistance may be quite limited since many foreign countries may not recognize the dual national's claim to U.S. Citizenship.

Nevertheless, Japan has shown considerable generosity with dual national Japanese (even those who have flaunted the nationality law and not properly completed the naturalization process by renouncing their other nationalities when they could) in the past, and allowed the consulate/embassy officials from the detained person's other countries to visit and talk with them. Legally speaking, though, Japan is under no obligation by international law to do this.

Japan's extradition treaties and agreements which override or complement its Law of Extradition

Japan has only done this twice for extradition

The above conditions regarding the death penalty and minimum sentence apply to cases where the terms for extradition are not spelled out in a separate treaty.

Amazingly, as of 2014, Japan only has TWO (2) extradition treaties with other nations!

1. The Republic of Korea Extradition Treaty (2002)
2. The United States of America Extradition Treaty (1980)

To compare Japan's two treaties with other ~190 countries (2007 data) in the world:

Formal Extradition Treaties with Countries

Serving justice for crimes you commit overseas in foreign countries & territories

As a Japanese national, no matter where in the world you break Japanese law, you will get your day of judgement in a Japanese court.

Just because France (and Japan) and other countries like PRC and ROC won't surrender their nationals on their turf doesn't mean someone can go wild in a foreign country and as long as they make it back to their home they won't face justice.

The jury in French-controlled Guadeloupe (グアドループ {Guadorūpu}) found French-American Hans Peterson to be guilty of "murder with acts of barbarianism". After listening to the victim's family testify and observing Peterson display no remorse for his crime — he said in court that he "got his revenge"— the jury sentenced Peterson to the harshest penalty under French law: life in prison with the possibility of parole in 22 years. Peterson is currently filing an appeal as of March, 2014.

In summary, an additional (and hopefully rarely needed) benefit of becoming legally Japanese is that you're protected (so long as you're on Japanese territory) from facing the justice system of other counties. If you do commit a serious crime overseas, and are arrested in Japan, you will face the courts of Japan and face punishment inside Japan. After one is punished, you stay in Japan, because unlike permanent residents, naturalized Japanese can not be deported as they are legal nationals/citizens and they have the absolute right of abode in Japan. You can be fined, you can be imprisoned, and you can even be executed. But you can't be deported.

One motivation for naturalizing to Japanese that I hear from well-to-do foreign residents of Japan who travel a lot is the practicality of a Japanese passport over their native country's passport.

In particular, businessmen and engineers who travel internationally often find a PRC passport, an Indian passport, or a Russian passport (especially given recent events in Crimea and the Ukraine and how the international communities responded by restricting visa-free travel for Russian passport holders) to be too restrictive for frequent international travel.

If you tally up the number of countries (depending how you define a "country", there were anywhere from 189 to 219 "destinations" in the world in 2013), and rank passports by the total number of places one can enter without pre-arranging for a visa, the world's top five passports of 2013 rank as follows:

1. 173 territories
   • Finland
   • Sweden
   • United Kingdom
2. 172 territories
   • Denmark
   • Germany
   • Luxembourg
   • U.S.A.
3. 171 territories
   • Belgium
   • Italy
   • Netherlands
4. 170 territories
   • Canada
   • France
   • Ireland
   • Japan
   • Norway
   • Portugal
   • Spain
5. 168 territories

• Austria
• New Zealand
• Switzerland

All of the G7 countries are in the top five for passports that give access to the most countries in the world visa-free (meaning that you don't need to apply in advance or upon arrival at the airport). The difference between the number five countries and the number one is three countries or less.

Additionally, ranking the desirability of one passport over another is hard because there are other variables besides visa-free:

• How many countries allow not visa-free, but practically visa free entry (visa upon arrival, pre-travel internet registration)
• How long one is allowed to stay in the country visa-free
• Whether or not vaccinations are required

Most people are not interested in the total number of countries one can travel to, unless collecting passport stamps is a personal hobby or sport. Most people are interested in which countries a passport provides easy access to, considering that all the G7 passports provide easy visa-free access to most major developed democratic countries.

Japan's passport's advantages over other G7 countries:

• provides visa-free travel to the People's Republic of China
• provides visa-on-arrival travel to India (except for dual nationals and naturalized citizens)

I had a long video chat and exchanged a few brief emails with an American last night who wanted me to share his story with this site. Because of his fear of the U.S. IRS (tax agency), he has asked that I not reveal his identity. I have seen (digitally) much of the paperwork he describes in the account below. The below is a rough transcript and rewrite of what he has told me:

---

David [pseudonym] is a natural-born U.S. citizen who immigrated to Japan in 1997 [confirmed] and lives in western Tokyo and works in the 23 wards of Tokyo. He works in the finance industry [unconfirmed] for a foreign multi-national, and makes "well over ¥10 million a year" [unconfirmed].

He naturalized to Japanese in 2007 [confirmed], receiving his Japanese nationality before losing his American citizenship. In 2009, rather than relinquish his U.S. nationality, he went to city hall and submitted a "Choice of Nationality Form" (国籍選択届 {kokuseki sentaku todoke}) and chose "Japanese nationality" [confirmed]. He then did nothing about formally relinquishing his nationality.

In the spring of 2013, he got a letter from the Ministry of Justice mentioning his nationality, the Oaths he signed — both the Oath to obey the Japanese Constitution and all its laws, which includes the Nationality Law which mentions the giving up of other nationalities, and the Oath to Renounce— and a request to call them or meet with them to discuss the state of his "other nationalities (外国籍 {gaikokuseki})". [unconfirmed] He did not respond to the letter.

Four months ago, he got another letter from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ; 法務省 {hōmushō}), this time sent via registered mail (書留 {kakidome}) repeating the same request, but this time setting a time and place for a formal meeting, giving him a list of paperwork to bring (up to date family register, any and ALL passports, birth certificate, marriage/divorce certificates, and bank statement books). It told him that if the date or place was not convenient, he could call to reschedule. It also warned that if he failed to show or respond, there would be consequences.

Two months ago, he met at the 法務局 {hōmukyoku} (Legal Affairs Bureau). He claims that the "banks had noticed inconsistencies" with respect to his nationality and residency and had notified the MoJ [unconfirmed]. He believes that this is due to Japanese banks efforts to ramp up for compliance for American FATCA rules, in which the U.S. requires foreign banks that deal with U.S. banks to be aware of and cooperate with the United States with matters of U.S. income and asset reporting for taxation. He said that he had not been filing annual mandatory U.S. 1040 income tax forms since he acquired Japanese nationality.

He told the Japanese that he thought he effectively renounced his U.S. citizenship when he did his Choice of Nationality at City Hall. The MoJ responded that no, the Choice of Nationality is not the same thing as renouncing and they believe he knew this because they explained that to him both orally and in writing.

He then said that he would be levied an "exit tax" [unconfirmed] if he renounced his U.S. nationality, and therefore the Choice of Nationality declaration was an acceptable alternative. They disagreed with him. He claims they said, "being wealthy does not excuse you from following the law."

At the end of the meeting, they believed that he had not naturalized in good faith and because he was in possession of another nationality, they were prepared to annul his Japanese nationality on the grounds that all the conditions for acquiring Japanese nationality via naturalization were not met.

He asked what would happen once his Japanese naturalization was removed. They said he would receive a temporary visitor status stamp, and he could attempt to apply for a Status of Residence or possibly apply for naturalization sometime in the future again. He asked if his annulled naturalization would go on his record and affect his ability to obtain a visa, get permanent residency, or apply for naturalization again. They said that yes, it would be on his record, and this event would affect his ability to get permission to live and work in Japan.

He said that he would go to the U.S. embassy and relinquish as soon as possible. They said no, because his not relinquishing citizenship did not appear to be a mistake, but a willful deceit and it had been over five years.

He pleaded and made a deal: he agreed to renounce his Japanese nationality. In exchange, he asked that his permanent residency be restored. They said that they would give him a 定住者 {teijūsha} (long term resident) Status of Residence (SoR; 在留資格 {zairyū shikaku}), but they would not give him permanent resident status. He asked if he could apply for Permanent Resident Status (永住者資格 {eijūsha shikaku}; PR) in the future.

"You can try, but we can't promise you'll receive it."

He went to immigration a week later and handed them a special paper prepared by the MoJ [unconfirmed]. They issued him a Long-Term Resident status, and cancelled his Permanent Resident stamp (big "VOID" over the sticker stamp) [confirmed] in one visit.

A few weeks later, he received his Japanese passport, cancelled, in the mail, along with a copy of his family register showing that it had been cancelled/he had been removed. His wife and children were moved to a separate, new family register. On the new family register, it mentions his name, his nationality, his loss of Japanese nationality, with the reason being listed as 「身分行為による喪失 {mibun kōi ni yoru sōshitsu}」 (loss due to individual's actions).

He seems to accept his loss, jokingly saying "he had a good run... at least I got to vote!". However, he is worried about squaring up with the IRS, and he is worried as to whether he'll be able to renew his SoR, or ever upgrade to PR (永住者資格 {eijūsha shikaku}; Permanent Resident Status), as he has a lot invested in Japan (career, home, family) that can't be moved easily anymore. When I told him that because he was no longer a Japanese national, he could possibly be extradited from Japan to the United States for tax evasion, he got worried.

When I asked if he had any advice for others considering naturalization, he said, "when I first did what I did, I did it because I thought that even if I was caught, it wouldn't be a big deal. But it is a big deal. I'm sorry I ever did it, because now I'm worse off than where I was before I applied." ☹

Canadians, like Americans, renounce after obtaining Japanese nationality

Depending on your nationality, you may have been required to Relinquish, Renounce, Abandon, or Lose — the exact legalese word that applies depends on your country and your situation— your foreign nationality after you receive your Japanese nationality. The reason why this is done before for some countries, after for others, or not at all for some countries is due to the legal procedures of your other citizenships or nationalities.

You will know whether you are required to renounce afterwards or not based on the oath to promise to renounce they give you along with additional written instructions regarding the final steps for naturalization that they give you.

Officials inspecting paperwork generally know if you need to get rid of your other nationalities by the field in the 帰化kika (naturalization) 身分事項mibun jikō (personal event) in your 戸籍koseki (family register): the 『帰化の際の国籍』"kika no sai no kokuseki" (nationality/nationalities at time of naturalization). If you renounced your nationality prior to receiving Japanese nationality like U.K. citizens, this field will read 『無国籍』"mukokuseki" ("stateless").

Not always a substitute for nationality loss.

Note that submitting to the Choice of Nationality form (国籍選択届 {kokuseki sentaku todoke}) is not the same thing as renouncing or abandoning your foreign nationalities and may not be an acceptable substitute or alternative to doing then reporting the loss of foreign nationality. Just because your city hall / ward office (市役所／区役所 {shiyakusho/kuyakusho}) allows you to do the Choice of Nationality procedure does not mean that the 法務省 {hōmushō} (Ministry of Justice) considers it to be or allows it to be a substitute. You will know which one you are supposed to do based on what your case officer tells you to do, and he/she will base that decision on your nationality and possibly individual circumstances.

They know if you were supposed to report (and have the event recorded in your family register) either a Choice of Nationality (国籍選択 {kokuseki sentaku}) or the Loss of Foreign Nationality (外国国籍喪失 {gaikoku kokuseki sōshitsu}) based on this field too.

However, similar to the Choice of Nationality Declaration, you will be given two (2) years from the time you become a Japanese adult (for naturalization, this is the same date that you are naturalized) to complete the procedures, although the Oath to Renounce says「日本に帰化したときは、直ちに［外国］国籍を放棄・離脱します。」 which means "After naturalizing to Japanese, I will immediately abandon/renounce my [foreign] nationality."

To file your completion of loss of nationality, you do not go back to the 法務局国籍課 {hōmushō kokusekika} (Bureau of Legal Affairs Nationality Section) where you applied for your Japanese citizenship; you go to the same place where you do your updating of your new 戸籍 {koseki} (family register) — which may not be where your 本籍 {honseki} (registered domicile) is. You can also have a proxy (such as your spouse) file this paperwork on your behalf.

You or your representative will need to prepare the following paperwork:

外国官公署の発行する国籍離脱証明書（１通）

A certificate of loss/relinquishment/abandonment/renunciation of nationality issued by an authorized foreign state department (one copy)

お持ちしていただくもの国籍を喪失した旨の記載のある外国の戸籍謄本（１通）

A copy of the family register etc. from the foreign nation from which nationality was lost [if applicable] (one copy)

外国の国籍を喪失したことを証する書面（１通）

Additional documentation indicating the loss of nationality [if applicable]

外国国籍喪失届

A completed "Loss of Foreign Nationality Form"— available at your city hall / ward office (市役所／区役所 {shiyakusho/kuyakusho}) — one copy. This form is also available for download from our site's "Docs" page.

外国語によって作成されている場合は、訳文も必要

All documents that are not written in Japanese will have to have an accompanying translation

After this is done, your family register will be updated with a new entry in 身分事項 {mibun jikō} (personal events) section, probably right after the 帰化 {kika} (naturalization) event, titled 外国国籍喪失 {gaikoku kokuseki sōshitsu} (loss of foreign nationality):

This is the first page of my own two page family register filed in Ōsaka.

In the Loss of Foreign Nationality personal event section, there will be the following fields:

外国国籍喪失日 {gaikoku kokuseki sōshitsu hi}

This is the date, according to your submitted proof and certificates, that the foreign country recognized the loss of nationality as being valid.

喪失した外国籍 {sōshitsu shita gaikokuseki}

The nationality that was lost (as you can have more than one nationality listed in the 帰化身分事項 {kika mibun jikō} (nationality personal event) section.

届出日 {todokede hi}

This is the date the form / application / notification was submitted to the city hall / ward office (市役所／区役所 {shiyakusho/kuyakusho}).

送付を受けた日 {sōfu o uketa hi}

If your registered domicile (本籍 {honseki}) is different from where you filed, this is the date your actual registered domicile received the forwarded paperwork.

受理者 {jurisha}

This is the city hall / ward office (市役所／区役所 {shiyakusho/kuyakusho}) that processed your form initially.

For some nationalities such as the United States, you may find that the date of recognized relinquishment of nationality to be very surprising: it will be the same date as the date of naturalization in that you were technically never a dual national. However, from both the U.S. tax office (IRS) and the MoJ's perspective, the gap between the date you receive your certificate of Proof of Naturalized Person Identity (帰化者の身分証明書 {kikasha no mibun shōmeisho}) and your CLN is real and the backdating is not factored in.

Should You Try to Conceal and Keep Your Former Nationalities?

In this ruling, "welfare" means the 生活保護 {seikatsu hogo} (livelihood protection), not any other "social service" like (un)employment insurance (雇用保険 {koyō hoken}).

A recent ruling by the Japanese Supreme Court that denied the right to receive welfare payments to a Chinese permanent resident in Oita Prefecture as reported in the Japan Times, has created a stir among the foreign residents of Japan. Many argue that receiving public assistance and participating in government programs should be a taxpayer right.

For some, this move by the court may serve as an example of an advantage for naturalizing, while for others it is a symbol of the battle non-citizens face in being counted fairly in society.

In any country a lack of citizenship creates vulnerabilities. In the United States, non-citizens became more susceptible to deportation following changes in the law and the inception of the Department of Homeland Security.

Those interested in gaining Japanese citizenship undertake the journey in order to fully participate in all aspects of society, something not easily done with permanent residence or a multi-year visa.

An unusual casual photo; he's usually in a suit.

ジョン・ムウェテ・ムルアカ {John · Muwete · MURUAKA} (Dr. John Muwete MULUAKA) was born in 1961 in Republic of Zaire (which is now officially known as the République Démocratique du Congo), in the city of Kinshasa (the capital & largest city and one of the ten largest cities in Africa). In Japan he is primarily known as a television talent, an electrical engineering researcher, and an authoritative commentator on international world politics. Dr. Muluaka's native language is French, the official language of the DROC.

He first came to Japan in 1985 after graduating from the national university ISTA in electrical engineering. He worked for about four years as a journalist for Zaire's state broadcasting agency before coming to Japan in 1985

After arriving in Japan, he continued his studies in electrical engineering at TDU (東京電機大学 {Tōkyō Denki Daigaku}) in Adachi Ward (足立区 {Adachi-ku}).

When the Shōwa Emperor passed away in February of 1989, he served as the special assistant and interpreter for the Republic of Zaire's prime minster at the time, "Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga" (born as Joseph-Désiré Mobutu) — commonly known as "Mobutu Sese Seko".

He naturalized to Japanese nationality in 2005. Upon naturalizing, he chose the legal name ムウェテ武流阿加 {MUWETE Muruaka}, which is an interesting choice for a naturalized name as both names are foreign-origin, but he deliberately rendered his family name to be in カタカナ {katakana} (Japanese syllabet [often used for foreign words like italics]) but then used 当て字 {ateji} (Japanese sinograms that phonetically correspond to foreign sounds) for his given name. This has an advantage of being able to tell where the family name ends and the given name ends in Japanese script that has no punctuation or spaces. In the the public media, however, he continues to use his Zaire birth name rendered in pure 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet) for professional reasons.

PM安倍 {ABE}'s 「アッキー」 {"Akkī"} and 「ビッグ・ジョン」 {"Biggu · Jon"}

Dr. Muluaka's involvement in the Japanese television entertainment industry has crossed the path of Bobby OLOGUN (近田ボビー {KONDA Bobī}) a few times as they are both represented by the same talent agency. In 2006, Bobby Ologun supposably had a dispute over money with the agency's management, and "Big John"(ビッグ・ジョン {Biggu · Jon}) — as he is affectionately nicknamed by the press due to his 209cm stature — personally separated and broke up a brawl between Bobby and the agency staff. At a reconciliation press conference featuring both of them, Muluaka defended Bobby from accusations of lying about his age, explaining that in Africa, it is quite common to not have birth certificates and thus not be sure of one's own exact birthday. 谷川貞治 {TANIGAWA Sadaharu}, a K-1 kickboxing/martial-arts fight promoter and producer similar to America's Don King, speculated that the two would fight in a K-1 fighting event, but this never happened.

ガチャピン＆ムック {Gacchapin & Mukku}

One of the products of his "talent" activities was a duet called "JUMBO DANCE" (1993) performed with fellow African continent talent オスマン・サンコン {Osuman · SANKON}（Ousmane Sankhon) from the République de Guinée on the children's television show 『ひらけ!ポンキッキ』 {"Hirake! Ponkikki"} which is famous for its two mascot characters Gachapin& Mukku as well as its catchy children's songs. They called themselves the "African Brothers" (「アフリカン・ブラザーズ」 {Afurikan · Burazāzu}).

Since naturalizing, Dr. Muluaka spends much of his time lecturing at universities such as:

2007. KAIT (神奈川工科大学 {Kanagawa kōka daigaku}) — lecturing professor
2009. CIS (千葉科学大学 {Chiba Kagaku Daigaku}) — professor
2011. Takushoku University (拓殖大学 {Takushoku Daigaku})

Beginning in 2010, he started advising the government, serving terms in the following ministries:

2010. MIC (総務省 {sōmūshō})
2011. 2011: MEXT (文部科学省 {mombukagakushō})
2011. An adviser for Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry METI (経済産業省)

He has authored or coauthored three books in Japanese.

1. 『光るマンゴー―ザイールの心』 ("The mango that shines — Zaire's Heart")
2. 『アフリカを知るための基礎知識』 ("Fundamental knowledge for knowing Africa")
3. 『ムルアカ・クレッシェンド―あなたはムルアカを知ってますか?』 ("Muluaka Crescendo — Do you know Muluaka?")

Involved with politics early

Dr. Muluaka is also known for having a close mutual friendship and relationship with Japanese politician 鈴木宗男 {SUZUKI Muneo. He served as his personal private secretary beginning from 1992. Despite the scandals and prison time and losses in elections which resulted in him being let go, he has said that he would support him in the future should he decide to run for office again.

"Muneo" was released on parole in 2011.

"YAMAMOTO" Mona

中西モナ {NAKANISHI Mona} (Mona NAKANISHI née YAMAMOTO) is a retired television journalist and announcer of Japanese and Norwegian descent.

She was one of the pioneers of the mixed-heritage public personalities in Japan, even though she grew up entirely in Japan and her connection to Norway is more racial and (was) legal rather than ethnic.

She is also known as one of the "intelligent" television announcers / personalities, having received a Masters in Business Administration and graduated from an elite Japanese university.

Once she began working for the Tokyo television station TBS, other competing networks had to have educated 「国際人」 {"kokusaijin"} ("International Person") in their lineup of talent, leading to the success of well-known multi-lingual multi-background Japanese nationals such as 滝川ラルドゥクリステル雅美 {TAKIGAWA Rarudu Kurisuteru Masami}; Takigawa even changed her early "professional public-use" (stage) name from 滝川雅美 {TAKIGAWA Masami} to 滝川クリステル {TAKIGAWA Kurisuteru} (Christel TAKIGAWA) — aka 滝クリ {TAKI-Kuri} or クリちゃん {Kuri-chan}— to emphasize her foreign connection when it became clear having a non-obvious foreign connection was an asset in 21st century Japanese showbiz and television journalism.

Trilingual Christel Takigawa lands the 2020 Olympics for Tokyo

Unfortunately, Mona was involved with not one, but two affairs with powerful married men which was discovered, photographed, and published by Japanese paparazzi working for the weekly domestic tabloids: House of Representatives member 細野豪志 {HOSONO Gōshi} (DPJ) and NPB player 二岡智宏 {NIOKA Tomohiro}. As the opposition party Democratic Party of Japan is currently choosing a new leader, the effects of the scandal are still felt today. If that wasn't enough, she abruptly left her powerful talent management agency, オフィス北野Ofisu Kitano. She lasted only five days in her last news position when the tabloid spread got her terminated.

Exiting a Japanese Love Hotel

She retired from showbiz after the turmoil, got married, had two children, published a autobiography, and is now attempting to return from retirement as a talent/blogger focused on mothers/women's personal life management — called 「元気塾」 {"genki juku"}— with her own independent one-person talent agency, ARIES.

Norwegian/Overseas Connection

A typical Sanko freighter

Mona's mother met her Norwegian father near the ports of western Japan. He was the chief purser working for the Japanese freight shipping company 三光汽船 {Sankō Kisen} (Sanko Line). She was born in 広島県尾道市 {Hiroshima-ken Onomichi-shi} (Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture) and raised entirely in Japan. As her father was Caucasian, she's known as a Eurasian ハーフ {hāfu} (literally "half", but actually used to mean "mixed-blood person" in Japanese), which would be responsible for her model looks.

Father in Center, Mother on Right

Due to the nature of the work, her father would spend only one month in Japan for every seven months out at sea away from his family. She said her father would try to spoil her by bringing back M&M candies from overseas when he arrived at port.

However, her father's Japanese shipping line never recovered fully from the Oil Shocks of 1973 and 1979 (which peaked in 1980), and it declared bankruptcy in 1985. During the restructuring, her father's job was affected, and he had to return to Norway to look for work. One day, he left and said he'd come back as usual, but he never did. Mona and her mother did correspond via letters and talk on the telephone, but she never saw him again. The Japan Times claim that "her father died when she was young" is false.

Although she earned an MBA from the University of Wales via HABS, the curriculum was primarily (70%) in Japanese; the other 30% was English. Her other education is at the prestigious Gakushuin University (学習院大学 {Gakushūin Daigaku}).

Mona does not have any extensive overseas life experience, nor is she known for speaking foreign languages, although she can speak some English.

How Mona got her name(s)

Mona at around age two

Her name at birth was ヘグダル・モナ {HEGUDARU · Mona} (Mona HEGDAL). She and her father could have separate family names (別姓 {bessei}) because they were legally non-Japanese and thus there would be no conflict with the mother's 戸籍 {koseki} (Japanese national family name/unit register). Her family name came from her father. For her given name, they decided on a name that started with "M" to honor her mother's parent's names, which both started with 『Ｍ』. Initially, her parents wanted モニカ {Monika} (Monika) for her given name, as many international parents like names that work in both Japanese and foreign languages. Her grandparents, however, decided that the name sounded too foreign, and that モナ {Mona} (Mona) sounded more Japanese. This was a 1976 decision, remember; in the 21st century, there are some (not many; it's unusual) native-born Japanese girls with the name もにか {Monika} (Monika), many easy to read 漢字 {kanji} (Japanese sinograms) that don't look like unnatural 当て字 {ateji} (sinograms phonetically chosen for foreign words) at all.

Upon naturalization, she entered her mother's 戸籍 {koseki} (Japanese national family/unit register), which only allows for one name, and her family name changed to 山本 {YAMAMOTO}.

When she retired from showbiz and married a "commoner" that was not a politician, a sports star, or another sort of celebrity, she changed her publicly used name to match her legal name, 中西モナ {NAKANISHI Mona}, and did her autobiography as well as her blog and official web site under these names.

However, she has recently expressed an interest in returning to the public eye as a ママタレ {mama tare} ("Mother Talent"), and she has said that she intends to capitalize on the brand of her previous name that she's (in)famous for: 山本 {YAMAMOTO}.

Path to Japanese Nationality

Mona is not a typical naturalized citizen case in that she did not naturalize as an adult; she naturalized at the age of six. Additionally, she was born and raised in Japan and her mother is a Japanese national (her father is Norwegian).

You may be asking "How is this possible?"

Mona was born in 1976, nine years before the big changes that Japan made its current Nationality Law to make it compliant with the UNCEDAW which Japan ratified in 1979. Prior to 1985, inheriting Japanese nationality (regardless of bloodline or where you were born) was from the father only. After 1985, the Japanese Nationality Law was changed so a child could be natural-born as a Japanese national from either the father or mother. Another change made to the Nationality Law in 1985 was the introduction of the Choice of Nationality procedure and law (国籍選択制度 {kokuseki sentaku seido}) to close the loophole regarding becoming involuntarily dual national.

If Mona and her mother had waited a few years (until 1985), the naturalization would not have been necessary. Like the [as of 2015] DPJ politician 村田蓮舫 {MURATA Renhō} ("Renho") whose father was Taiwanese and her mother Japanese, she would have become a natural-born citizen (at the age of 9) due to the law change without any naturalization procedure being necessary. Examples of others born prior to 1985 to a Japanese national mother and non-Japanese father are:

LiLiCo: became natural-born JP

• politician 『蓮舫Renhō』 ("Renho"| 1967; ♂: TW)
• broadcaster & animal rights supporter『クリステルKurisuteru』 ("Christel" | 1977; ♂: FR)
• TV & Film personality 『リリコRiriko』 ("LiLiCo" | 1970; ♂: SE)

All of these ハーフ {hāfu} (mixed-blood heritage) Japanese who were born before the 1985 law change — they all became natural-born Japanese citizens by default without needing to do the naturalization process.

SHEILA: natural-born JP

Do not confuse these ハーフhāfu (mixed-blood people) like シェイラ {Sheira} ("SHEILA"; MLB fan / sportscaster / model), born in Cuba to a Cuban mother and a Japanese national father before 1985: because her father had Japanese nationality, she is a natural-born Japanese national, regardless of her mother's nationality.

Her autobiography explains that people were aware of the law change, and some people, like Mona's mother, interpreted (incorrectly, as no naturalization permission would have been necessary for Mona after 1985) that the naturalization procedure would become stricter after 1985, so they reasoned it would be better to apply for naturalization in 1982.

As the naturalization law says you must be an adult (20 years old in Japan) to naturalize, the process required her parent's permission. Normally, families naturalize together as a set simultaneously, but the father no longer lived or came to Japan. It's unclear as to whether the father consented to the change of nationality or if she formerly renounced her Norwegian nationality upon becoming an adult — or if she legally has a second, Norwegian passport or if the Norwegian government has knowledge of her existence and/or other nationalities.

The Decision

Her Post-Scandal Tell-All Book

According to her autobiography, her mother taught her from an early age to make decisions and understand the consequences and stick with it. For example, she used to take ballet at the age of four. She complained that it hurt her feet, so her mother asked her if she wanted to quit. Four year old Mona said "yes". However, she said she soon regretted that decision, and told her mother she wanted to take ballet again. Her mother scolded her, saying she had already decided to quit and she needs to understand the importance and possible finality of decisions.

After her father returned to Norway after losing his job with the shipping company, her mother then asked the six year child: "Do you want to naturalize? Yes or no."

Mona asked if her family name would change to 『山本』"YAMAMOTO"upon naturalization. Her mother said yes. Mona, who had been conscious of being labeled as a foreigner by other kids and thus disliked her foreign name, told her mother she wanted to naturalize and take the Japanese family name.

Obscure Trivia: Head of [MTV's] Jackass, Japan Division

Jackass' Spokesperson for Japan

Celebrities in Japan often "open" movies as part of the film's promotional activities; Mona has done a few. One of the last films she promoted was "jackass number two". Done after the scandals, she wore a beauty queen-like sash that said she was in charge of the Japan division of Jackass... which is strange, because while the first movie had many scenes shot in Japan, the second movie did not.

When asked by the press why she was promoting this movie about, uh, "Jackass"es, she explained, "Well, my life seems to have had a blowout. So I might as well." When asked if she had seen the jackass movie, she said that yes, she had, but she couldn't watch it straight through without having to pause and take a break (perhaps due to the intensity of some of the scenes). When asked if there were any stunts in the movie that she thought that she herself could do, she said that she thought she might be able to attach a leech to the white of her eye like jackass member, "Steve-O", did.

Personally, I'd like to see Mona do this on television.

And before you can bleach your eyes of that image, I leave you on that note with a scene from the first movie, filmed in Tokyo. The reason these, er, Jackasses are wearing panda outfits is because they (mistakenly) thought that pandas are indigenous to Japan; just because Chinese and Japanese end in "-ese" does not mean they're the same thing.


Note: if you are caught by the authorities doing any of the rougher illegal activities in Japan (as depicted in the video), there is a very high likelihood that the government will not let you be legally Turning Japanese.

There is a lot of erroneous and false information on the internet, in English, about Japanese naturalization. So much of it is false that we actually have a section of this site dedicated to collecting false articles and pointing out their errors.

Sometimes, the webmasters of these sites, when doing SEO tuning, discover the articles on this site that point to and embarrass them by disclosing their site's lack of accuracy.

For example, a nice editor at justlanded.com, who was revising and revamping and modernizing the content at the site, reached out to us and let us know that they had seen our article and had rewritten it with the correct information. We replied and noted and thanked them for correcting and propagating the correct information.

eHow is another site that has done this. The old article has been deleted, and the old link has been reconfigured to now point to a generic article about Japanese immigration. They have, however, commissioned new article writers to write about Japanese naturalization, currently in the form of two articles:

1. Japanese Citizenship Requirements
2. How to Apply for Japanese Citizenship

Both of these articles, while lacking detail, are essentially accurate, and lack the hyperbole about it being next to impossible to naturalize, needing "Japanese blood", or needing to speak perfect Japanese.

As per our policy on the Misinfo Page, we will strike out the old article, remove the link to it, and point out and recommend they visit the new corrected posts and site.

Thanks, eHow!

You do not have to have a "kanji name" when you become Japanese. In fact, I know many naturalized people that opted to not choose kanji for their official legal Japanese name. You don't even have to have a name that "sounds Japanese". I also know many people who chose a Japanese kanji name, but continue to use a katakana form of an English name for their "professional" life in Japan (and often they continue to use their English name outside of Japan). However, you can't have a legal Japanese name that is written in:

• Latin letters (ex. the English alphabet *)
• Even initials are forbidden (JR Sakuragi's given name is not literally "JR" even though it's pronounced that way, and C.W. Nichol's (Ｃ・Ｗニコル {Shī·Daburu NIKORU}) legal given name is not "CW".
• The alphabet is allowed, of course, on Japanese passports, and there is considerable flexibility with respect to how you can write it, "Englishnization" it, and add alternate, additional, or original names.
• Cyrillic script (ex. русский алфавит)
• Arabic script (ex. الحُرُوُفْ العَرَبِيَةُ)
• Korean hangul script (ex. 한글)
• Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese sinograms — hanzi, hanja — that do not exist in the current Japanese database of allowable sinograms for names
• The database is huge — far beyond what Japanese use in daily life — and grows over time, so most traditional glyphs (繁体字 {hantaiji}), even ones that have been replaced by new Japanese glyphs (新字体 {shinjitai}), are available.
• China and Japan, in the middle of the 20th century, simplified their sinograms. Sometimes, they simplified them in the exact same way. Other times, they did not. Simplified Chinese sinograms (簡体字 {kantaiji}) that does not have a Japanese equivalent cannot be used.
• ... or any other non-Japanese writing system

This can't be your name.

Being forced to adapt your foreign script name for a new countries official writing system is no different from other countries. This isn't just for cultural reasons but also for pragmatic reasons: the technology in the country isn't designed to record, collate, morph, and process all the characters of the world. Additionally, the people recording the name haven't been educated as to how to properly record it. You can't write your name in Cyrillic on most data-processed forms outside of countries that use it.

Even things as simple as diacritics (acute marks over vowels, etc.) have to be removed for countries like the United States.

This means that your new Japanese name must be any arbitrary combination of:

• 平仮名 {hiragana} (Japanese syllabet)
• 片仮名 {katakana} (Japanese syllabet)
• 日本漢字 {Nihon kanji} (Japanese sinograms)

You can theoretically even mix it up within one of your two (you may only have one family name and one given name — no middle names, multi-part family names, suffixes, prefixes, or mononyms) names.

For example, 『えイ度』 {"Eido"} would technically be legal — although the wisdom of doing such a thing is dubious. There are cases, especially for women, where this would appear natural. For example: 『えり子』 {"Eriko"} or 『エリ子』 {"Eriko"}.

"After using a katakana name for so many years in Japan, why would you keep it?"

Palau, the only state except Japan with Japanese as an official (minor) language

Although having a "kanji name" may be considered "cool" to some — and there's nothing wrong with having a 当て字 {ateji} (foreign sounds transliterated to sinograms) name— I do not think of having or needing a kanji name as being "proof" that I am legally Japanese. I am legally Japanese, and I don't need a legal name that "looks Japanese" to prove it.

Were Naturalized Japanese ever FORCED to take "Kanji Names" or "Japanese Sounding Names"?

Confirmation of official naturalization and other records show that no, there was never an official policy that forced people who took Japanese nationality; you can find many documented examples throughout Japanese history, going on the way back to the 明治時代 {Meiji jidai} (Meiji Era) when the naturalization laws were first created, as well as throughout the eighties & nineties of the 20th century when many people immigrated and naturalized during the wealthy bubble era.

Billionaire (American+Japanese) iPhone fanbois

There are rumors on the English internet that billionaire / Softbank CEO naturalized Japanese (of Korean ethnicity) 孫正義 {SON Masayoshi} (Masayoshi SON) refused to naturalize until they let him keep his Korean name (손정의 {SON Jeong-ui}), but this is not confirmed in any statement or interview that has been published.

Many Koreans in Japan have voluntarily chosen Japanese aliases. The Alien Registration System was even designed to accommodate this in that, until very recently, it allowed all non-Japanese to officially register aliases (通称 {tsūshō}). The alias system was never created with the intent of allowing non-Asian foreigners from setting a Japanese name; it was created to allow 在日 {zainichi} (legally Korean ethnically Japanese) to register a Japanese name. 孫正義 {SON Masayoshi}'s family used the Japanese family name 安本 {YASUMOTO} when he was a child.

It's very conceivable that case officers have strongly recommended or dissuaded people from choosing or not choosing one name or another. Names are extremely important to one's success in society, after all. The evidence, however, does not support the claim that people are or have been forced to take Japanese names.

There are no quotas or limits on Japanese naturalization. In fact, there are no limits or quotas for permanent residency or other types of visas (including refugee and asylum seekers) in Japan.

There are many misunderstandings about Japan's immigration rules and polices. Superficially, people look at the small legal foreigner population — approximately 2% of the population of Japan if you include the legally non-Japanese but born and raised in Japan that are colloquially referred to as the 在日 {Zainichi} (literally, "residing in Japan", but with the nuance of Koreans born and raised in Japan).

There are many reasons for the small foreigner population in Japan, but a restriction on the number of people they let immigrate is not one of them.

It's also not true that the immigration process is difficult compared to other countries with respect to the procedures. The procedures and requirements for naturalization are very similar to many European countries such as Germany.

It is true that Japan is stricter with respect to determining who is and isn't a genuine by-the-book-definition of a refugee / asylum seeker. Other countries are far more liberal with respect to examining individual cases.

Countries like the United States have huge immigration rates because they have an immigration policy that Japan does not: the United States historically (and even today) receives the majority of their (legal) immigration through "family reunification" policies. While America's policies can apply to extended family, Japan's policies regarding the getting a visa on the basis of family already living in Japan is limited to two cases:

1. immediate family dependants (your spouse and children)
2. connection to a Japanese national up to three generations. This is how the Brazilian-Japanese population swelled in the late 80s and 90s; many Brazilians immigrated using this policy to receive a 定住者 {teijūsha} (long term resident) 在留資格 {zairyū shikaku} (foreigner Status of Residence / SoR).

The real reason that Japan's immigration numbers are low is probably due to one reason: the Japanese language. Most countries that have high naturalization / immigration rates have environments where English, the most common second language in the world, is commonly used. When the country doesn't have a large English environment, other political factors are involved. For example, Russia has a high immigration / naturalization rate due to the legacy of the Soviet Union, and people from the Warsaw nations becoming legally Russian.

Just because there is no quota or limit today or yesterday does not mean there won't ever be a quota in the future. However, so long as the Japanese language is required for general purpose economic success in Japan — excluding specialized jobs in English teaching, finance, and professional STEM jobs — it's foreseeable that the "unwritten language requirement" will naturally keep the annual immigration numbers low.

The Japanese Constitution begins "We, the Japanese people,"

The Japanese Constitution uses the word "people" a lot in the official English translation where the official Japanese version says 国民 {kokumin} (Japanese national). I've heard conspiracy theories on the Internet that claimed that this was Japan's sneaky way of changing the Constitution from the unaware Occupying Forces who had a significant hand in designing and writing the Constitution by basing it on various Constitutions and legal documents of the world. (When Japan made its first Meiji Constitution, it also evaluated existing overseas supreme laws to craft its own first Constitution)

To make things more confusing, the Japanese language version of the Constitution occasionally translates "people" or "all people" more closely to 何人 {nanbito} (everyone).

Generally speaking, the high courts of Japan consider the Japanese language version of the Japanese Constitution to be the canon official version that they use to interpret the law.

So, does this mean that when the word "people" is used (in English or the equivalent Japanese) this means the Constitutional Article applies to non-nationals / foreigners as well?

The answer is: not necessarily.

Many English language constitutions from around the world use the word "People" (capitalized or not) to mean exclusively citizens / nationals.

For example, the United States constitution says this about voting rights:

• "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States …"
• "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; …"

When the United States talks about electing leaders to serve the entire nation, they do not mean minors, criminals, or non-citizens. Note that "people" is capitalized in one phrase and not in another; the capitalization does not imply citizen.

On the other hand, there are many parts of the U.S Constitution where the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the word "people" does indeed include non-citizens / non-nationals.

The word 国民 {kokumin} (Japanese national), however, when used in the Japanese Constitution or other laws, is not ambiguous: it means a person who possesses valid Japanese nationality (including naturalized persons).

Why do constitutions not talk about non-citizens?

Not many constitutions in the world talk about or specifically mention non-nationals or non-citizens. According the The Constitute Project's database of 180 constitutions from the world, only 62 mention "foreigners".

The primary reason for this is because the target audience for most constitutions is the people to whom the country belongs to; who has sovereignty. Many constitutions make this crystal clear in their opening preambles when they state that sovereign power resides with the People (as in national citizens). The is especially true with respect to constitutions that were born through warfare, when one group is defining who the land and power belong to: Japanese People / Nationals — as opposed to a monarch, colonial power, or foreign occupying force.

The Japanese Constitution makes it very clear who their Constitution is "for" in the first four characters of it: 日本国民 {Nippon kokumin} (Japanese national) is translated in the English version as:

"We, the Japanese people, …"

This doesn't mean that non-nationals in Japan have no human rights; Japan's constitution contains Article 98 says:

This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the nation and no law, ordinance, imperial prescript or their act of government, or part thereof, contrary to the provisions hereof, shall have legal force or validity. 

The treaties concluded by Japan and established laws of nations shall be faithfully observed.

この憲法は、国の最高法規であつて、その条規に反する法律、命令、詔勅及び国務に関するその他の行為の全部又は一部は、その効力を有しない。  

日本国が締結した条約及び確立された国際法規は、これを誠実に遵守することを必要とする。

The second paragraph ensures that when Japan signs treaties and conventions at the United Nations or with other countries, it is constitutionally bound, by its supreme law, to obey them. For example, Article 98 was used to enforce the UN Convention of the ICERD for the case of Ana Bortz. Ana Bortz was able to win her lawsuit for racial discrimination because of Article 98 and not because of Article 14, which limits the right to 国民 {kokumin} (Japanese national) in Japanese even though the English version says "All of the people …".

All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.

すべて国民は、法の下に平等であつて、人種、信条、性別、社会的身分又は門地により、政治的、経済的又は社会的関係において、差別されない。

I was reading the English Wikipedia entry for the Japanese Nationality Law under the section of Naturalization (which apparently was originally written by a young student as part of an assignment) and came across an interesting bit:

For many years naturalized citizens were required to adopt a Japanese family name¹. The Ministry of Justice determined in July 1983 that naturalizing citizens were no longer required to adopt Japanese names. As of that time most naturalizing citizens were Koreans². A well-known example of someone who did not adopt a Japanese name is Masayoshi Son, the wealthiest man in Japan as of 2007, who naturalized using his Korean family name rather than the Japanese family name he used during his youth³.

I was curious as to where it got this information, so I looked at the sources. There were three, all English:

1. The Boston Globe: "In Japan, Koreans still feel sting of discrimination" by Charles A. Radin (July 29, 1994)
2. Hoover Press: "Japan Disincorporated: The Economic Liberalization Process" by Leon Hollerman (1988)
3. The Washington Post: "Masayoshi Son was among the first to flout Japan's business establishment; now he is one of the nation's wealthiest businessmen; Jump-Starting Japan Inc.; Nation's Slide Paves Way for New Breed of Entrepreneur" by Sandra Sugawara (May 9, 1999)

The first Boston Globe source is about Koreans in Japan using the official registered alias (通称 {tsūshō}) field for foreigners in Japan to use a Japanese-appearing name for day-to-day life to avoid discrimination. This is true, although many also used had a Japanese-sounding and appearing alias for convenience, as foreign names are naturally hard for people to say and remember.

The second Hoover Press textbook source is referring to the 28th footnote (page 171) of the text, which says:

"As another step towards internationalization, in July 1983 the Justice Ministry decided that naturalized citizens (most of whom are Korean [in 1983; in 2015 most are Chinese]) would no longer be required to adopt Japanese names."

As the author gave a month and year, checking the official Diet records was possible. It turns out the author and/or the source(s) he used misunderstood the MoJ's policy. The actual policy, which was clarified and explained to House Councillor 竹村泰子 {TAKEMURA Yasuko} in the 147th regular session of the Diet — 第１４７回国会（常会） {Dai-147-kai kokkai (jōkai)}— in response to a formal submitted question regarding Japan's enforcement of the treaties related to the UN's CERD which Japan ratified, was:

• The MoJ never required naturalization candidates to choose new names which "appeared Japanese" (「日本人らしい」"Nihonjin-rashi"}).
• They did, however, for a time in the late seventies and eighties, advise applicants to choose names that would enable them to best "establish themselves as a Japanese national in Japanese society with the least amount of obstacles and hindrances." This advice was not given to just Koreans, but to all naturalization applicants. The implication is that the names given to them would be easy to use (for paperwork), remember and say by the majority of the population.
• They realized though, that this could appear that the government was endorsing a policy that ethnic appearing or sounding names were being discriminated against or eliminated, so they adopted the following policies:
• Case workers now only advise applicants regarding names if they ask, or if the name might have unexpected negative consequences. For example, if a candidate named "Gary" decides to use 『ゲリ』 {"Geri"} for his Japanese given name, the case worker might advise him that word means "diarrhea" (下痢 {geri}) in Japanese and he might want to change or alter the spelling or pronunciation. Additionally, candidates with names not connected to Chinese character areas (漢字園 {kanji-en}) and choose 当て字 {ateji} (phonetically matching sinograms to foreign words) might get advise as to characters and/or character combinations that have unexpected or negative meanings⁑.

• 2002 data from Ōsaka City Foreign Residents Measures Experts Committee

  In the example 帰化許可申請書 {kika kyoka shinseisho} (naturalization permission application form) inside the 帰化許可申請のてびき {kika kyoka shinsei no tebiki} (naturalization permission application guide) which is part of the documentation applicants receive, they show the most common case among applicants in the example paperwork showing the "before naturalization" names for a fictitious South Korean applicant, 『金 龍作』 {"KIN Ryūsaku"}, but and making the 帰化後の氏名 {kika-go no shimei} (name after naturalization) name the same as the 通称 {tsūshō} (alias) name, which is the most common case for applicants.
  
  Prior to this, both the alias field and the after-naturalization fields contained generic Japanese-sounding names like 『山本太郎』 {"YAMAMOTO Tarō"}— this name is similar to "John Doe" or "Jane Smith" in American English in that it's often used as an example due to its commonness.
  
  

  金 {KIN} becomes 関口 {SEKIGUCHI}

  The example paperwork mimics the most common case for its applicants in the sixties, seventies, and eighties: most applicants were Korean†, and they did have Japanese-appearing official aliases and they did choose the same name as their alias (often a name they had been using exclusively for their whole life in Japan) for their "new" post-naturalization name. Often times, the new names chosen were loosely based on their original Korean names.
  
  Example conversions (both sinogram changes and reading changes):
  • 金→金本、金田　張→張本、安→安田
  • 金海金→金海、光山李→光山、平山申→平山
  • 黄→共田、崔→山住、朴→木下
  • 呉 {o}→呉 {kure}、柳 {yu}→柳 {yanagi} etc.

  Year 2000 data from the Ōsaka Prefecture Board of Education

  However, Japan's Ministry of Justice decided to eliminate the examples as they feared that their attempts to be "helpful" were being interpreted as a rule or an attempt to coerce applicants into choosing a Japanese name over a non-Japanese ethnic (Korean, Chinese, etc.) name.
• As part of Ministry internal anti-discrimination campaigns, they increased written reminders, as well as revised their training, to remind case workers and staff to be careful on how they communicate and what they recommend regarding names for naturalization candidates.

2002 data from Ōsaka City Foreign Residents Measures Experts Committee

Two Public Figures

There are two high-profile ethnic Koreans who have claimed or implied in the press that they were forced to choosing a Japanese sounding name:

Korean-Japanese activist 朴実 {PAKU Shiru} (né 新井実 {ARAI Minoru})

Multicultural Human Rights Education Center

박 {BAK} is a musician/activist born in 1944 and raised in 京都都東九条 {Kyōto-to Higashi kujō}, which is home to a lot of ethnic Koreans. A second generation Korean (二世在日朝鮮人 {nisei zainichi chōsen-jin}), he claims his Japanese primary school forced him to pronounce his legal ethnically Korean name with Japanese-style よみがな {yomigana} (Japanese reading/"pronunciation" for sinograms) rather than more "ethnic sounding" (you can't perfectly pronounce or transliterate Korean into Japanese due to the differences in the vowels, consonants, and writing system): 『朴実』 {"BOKU Minoru"}.

He naturalized to Japanese nationality in 1971. At that time, he claims, he was forced to take a Japanese name, so he did, choosing: 『新井』 {"ARAI"}). After marrying a Japanese national and having a child and reflecting on the meaning of names and its effect on children, he decided to change it back. So in 1987, he went to court and had his name changed back to his Korean ethnic name. Note that 戸籍 {koseki} (Japanese family unit registers) do not record the readings for Japanese national names, so how he chose to read his name was not relevant to the court.

New immigrants to Japan don't do this.

That was not the end to his activism regarding naturalization, though. Because the MoJ had stopped recording fingerprints for foreigners, they also decided to stop recording and checking fingerprints for naturalization candidates as well in December of 1993. So he went to court again and demanded that his existing fingerprint records be destroyed. The court approved his request, and verified that the now-Japanese national's fingerprint records were erased in 1994.

Softbank CEO孫正義 {SON Masayoshi} (손 정의 {SON Jeong-ui} né 安本正義 {YASUMOTO Masayoshi})

Emoji was a hit on the iPhone. 1seg TV tuner? Not so much.

In his official biography, which was compiled from newspaper interviews done by one reporter, 『志高く 孫正義正伝 新版』 {"Kokorozashitakaku SON Masayoshi Seiden Shinban"} ("Aiming High; A Biography of Masayoshi Son"), the biographer/journalist 井上篤夫 {INOUE Atsuo} wrote:

However, obtaining Japanese nationality was not simple. The Ministry of Justice did not accept him. "Son" was not a Japanese surname. It was unprecedented. If he wanted to be naturalized as a Japanese citizen, he had to assume a Japanese name. Son came up with a plan. In Korea, husbands and wives have different surnames, so his wife's name remained "Ohno." Therefore, his wife, a Japanese citizen, went to court to change her name from "Ohno" to "Son." Son visited the Ministry of Justice and once again asked if there were any Japanese nationals named "Son." If there were precedence, the name would be accepted.

The officer replied,

"There's one. It's your wife."

Thus, a Japanese named Masayoshi Son came to be.

While an interesting tale, I have a few questions about the narrative. The text explains that in Korea, husband and wives keep their family names (by law, actually, which is the opposite case for Japanese nationals). To clarify though, the reason they had and could have separate family names in Japan is not because he is Korean, but rather because non-Japanese do not have 戸籍 {koseki} (Japanese family unit registers), and used a separate registration system called the Alien Registration System. His born-Japanese and ethnically-Japanese wife, Masami ŌNO, daughter of a prominent doctor, had both a Japanese given and family name.

Family registers in Japan during that time were not digitalized, and were kept dispersed throughout the country at one's Registered Domicile (本籍 {honseki}). There's no realistic way for a naturalization case officer to search through all the names (currently alive and historical) to look for a name precedent, as this would require examining decentralized paperwork spanning the country. Perhaps the author misunderstood and the case officer was actually presented the name proof by the applicant.

Furthermore, the account's logic that a "Japanese [appearing/sounding] name" was defined as one that a Japanese national has or had used in the past does not square with the explanation given by other sources, which say that applicants were encouraged to choose Japanese names. Ethnic Koreans do not have many family names (only a few hundred), and 『孫／손』 {"SON"} is one of the top 25 names. Japanese, on the other hand, have over a hundred thousand family names due to historical reasons. Thus, there are many references to the name in literature and records throughout Japanese history. Confirming if these people were Japanese or not is next to impossible. There are examples throughout Japanese history of Japanese nationals having wild and exotic names that few Japanese would think are "Japanese." Additionally, there are examples of many naturalized people during the eighties and even before that who chose unique names— usually 当て字 {ateji} (sinograms used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words/names with little or no regard to the underlying meaning of the characters) — which most likely have never existed before in Japan.

Another explanation for what happened was that he got the name by becoming a 婿入り {mukoiri}, which is a process by which a man joins a woman's existing family register, thereby taking her family's name. While this is not rare, there is no documentation to suggest that he actually did this.

A Newsweek article ("Japan's Rising Son", by George WEHRFRITZ, 1999-Dec-26) says that he decided to revert back to his legal Korean ethnic name when he was studying in California as an adult:

In the free environment of California, Masayoshi Yasumoto decided he no longer had to pretend to be Japanese. "After he left, he wrote me a letter and another to the entire school, saying he was Son, not Yasumoto," [Itsuo] Abe told NEWSWEEK. "His explanation was that he needed to use his real name to simplify paperwork, but my impression was that he was freeing himself from an old burden."

A regular job is good / best, but not always necessary

As this site is in English, I often get questions from people whose native language is English and they have worked and lived in Japan for quite some time. Of that subset of people, three types of employment come up most often:

Japan and the U.S. have no exact equivalent

Part of the steps involving collecting all the paperwork for one's naturalization application to Japan involves getting "proof" of your current nationalities.

You would think that this would be as simple as presenting your current, valid, passports. The problem is mainly this: a passport does indeed indicate what country (one of them, at least) you were a national of, that information was true only at the time of the application for the passport.

Passports often last at least five years (such as the Japanese "blue" passport), and more often, ten (10) years (such as the Japanese "red" passport). It's very possible that one could have lost that citizenship from the time the passport was issued. And while if you lose one's nationality/citizenship countries almost always cancel the passport — sometimes this is only done digitally in databases if the country cannot get access to the actual passport(s) and punch holes through them or stamp them as cancelled. A person who is losing their nationality can always report their passport as lost or stolen, after all.

The naturalization process likes all paperwork with data that can change, within reason, to be "current"— or certified as current — to within three (3) months of the time of application.

"Proof of Citizenship" for the United States

Issued only to naturalized; not native-born

A difficulty that some applicants have is that many countries, including their embassies, do not actually have something called a "proof" of citizenship. America is one those countries — even though they do issue a certificate indicating the loss of United States nationality (called a "CLN").

They are aware, though, they many of their citizens — or soon to be former-citizens — do require something other than their passport for this process so they know what to do.

In the past, they used to provide the American with a letter, on U.S. Embassy letterhead stationary, confirming the main items on Page One of one's U.S. passport — including one's U.S. nationality — as being correct, and signing it and dating it.

The new process, however, is for them to use the notary services that are part of the ACS section of the Embassy or Consulate and notarize the first page of your passport as being correct at that notarization date.

In case you were wondering if this wasn't some sort of scheme to get more money, you could be partially correct: the old process, where they provided you with letterhead confirming your passport is correct, costed $30. Notarization services done by an American embassy or consulate, as of 2015, costs $50 per seal.

"Proof of Citizenship" for the United Kingdom

Certificate only issued to naturalized

Until 2012, one was able to get a Proof of Citizenship from United Kingdom embassies and consulates. However, under the direction of the Foreign Office, they have now stopped issuing such certificates to most British; now, only those who have naturalized to become a United Kingdom citizen get get these certificates.

Because of this, your case officer may or may not ask you for alternate means to prove your United Kingdom nationality. Or the case officer might say you don't need to provide anything at all; because the United Kingdom just recently changed their process, Japan's 法務省 {hōmushō} (MoJ) needs to formally change their written procedures regarding the UK, so I'm not clear if there is a revised process.

"Proof of Citizenship" for Japan

For the case of those who must relinquish or renounce their other nationalities after† acquiring Japanese nationality, one may have to provide proof that they currently possess Japanese nationality.

Many countries, as part of the UNHCR protocol to reduce or prevent statelessness, will not allow their citizens/nationals to become stateless, so they will want formal proof that one already possesses a nationality before they will let someone give up a nationality. Either that or they will have a system were your nationality will automatically "return" if you do not acquire another nationality within a certain time.

For relinquishing your U.S. Nationality

The United States is a rare exception of a country that will let you become stateless. Nevertheless, as part of their paperwork for losing American citizenship, they will want "proof" of your current nationalities, if you have one.
For this document, they will want one thing: a copy of your 戸籍 {koseki} (Japanese family unit name register). The embassies and consulates in Japan are used to seeing this document, so they will not need or ask for an official certified or unofficial translation. If you relinquish your US citizenship in a country other than Japan, they may ask for an official translation of your Japanese family register.

For creating a new 戸籍 {koseki} (Japanese family register)

When your naturalization application is approved, you will receive a special multi-page A4 paper size document entitled 帰化者身分証明書 {kikasha mibun shōmeisho} (proof of identity of a [Japanese] naturalized citizen). This is proof that you are a new non-native-born Japanese national, but it is only used in one place: your local Ward or City Hall/Office (区役所／市役所 {kuyakusho / shiyakusho}) etc. to create your family register. It contains all the vital information (such as your family: spouse and/or parents) necessary for creating a complete family register from scratch.

Although it is only really used for one purpose, they allow you to keep the document. Because it has no photo on it and isn't really portable (full-size papers vs a card or a booklet like a passport), it is of limited usefulness.

Japanese national proof for domestic use inside Japan

Inside Japan, you may need to prove your Japanese nationality to law enforcement or to a government official. Obviously, a 戸籍謄本 {koseki tōhon} (official certified copy of one's family register) can prove a naturalized person's Japanese nationality for office procedures or official applications, but this is not a portable document that can be used on the street.

One's Japanese driver's license (運転免許証 {unten menkyoshō}) has one's 本籍 {honseki} (registered domicile) inside of it encrypted (with an eight (8) digit PIN that only you and the driver's license department can de-crypt) on a contact-less IC chip inside the card‡. If that field contains the name of a foreign country, then that means the bearer of the card is a non-Japanese. If it contains a Japanese address, that means the person is a Japanese national.

In an emergency situation (for example, a lost or stolen passport) at airport immigration in Japan or at an overseas Japanese embassy, a Japanese driver's license can be read to determine if one is a Japanese national.

Once upon a time, a 住民票 {jūminhyō} (local resident registration) as well as the corresponding portable 住基カード {jūki kādo} (portable durable local resident registration card), which is the same size as a driver's license or credit card and depending on the locale, may or may not have a contact/contact-less IC chip in it with the same information, could serve as proof of Japanese nationality. However, now that they have changed the foreigner registration law, non-Japanese can have 住民票 {jūminhyō} (local resident registration) now as well, so this can no longer serve as proof of Japanese nationality.

While Japan is currently developing a national identification card — perhaps it will be called a 国民身分証明書 {kokumin mibun shōmeisho} (Japanese National Identity Card), that is national — unlike the local 住基カードjūki kādo (portable durable local resident registration card), and not dependent on another qualification — like passing a driving examination for a Japanese driver's license (運転免許証unten menkyoshō), this is not available yet.

"Proof of Citizenship" for other countries

You should not assume that the above proof will be the same or similar to you and your country, even if your country is mentioned above. The case officer may ask you for a notarized copy of your passport, a certificate, or something else. Whether or not your country provides a form of identification or not may not make a difference.

However, case workers also understand when some form of paperwork, due to individual circumstances, is absolutely impossible to obtain, and they do and are known to work around these obstacles.

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• † The most common scenario is actually to lose your nationality prior to, or automatically and simultaneously (due to the other country not recognizing multiple nationalities, with the acquisition of Japanese citizenship.
• ‡ If someone attempts to guess an incorrect password more than three times in a row, the IC chip locks and is disabled; the only way you can re-enable it is by taking it to a driver's license center.

After your naturalization is approved what happens to your ethnic or racial affiliations? As the Ministry of Justice accurately points out, Japan does not account for its citizens ethnic or racial background. If you have ever completed a census form here you would have noticed that the only distinction made is between Japanese and non-Japanese nationality. This means that if you naturalize there will be no official listing of your ethnic background. This is also the case on other official documents such as the family register. People from places such as the United States might find it odd that an item such as race does not even appear on your driver's license.

This is not to say that if you do not look typically Japanese you will not have any problems with forms of prejudice. If you fall into this category you will more than likely encounter some issue or another. Despite this, the fact is that legally Japan does not make these distinctions. Therefore, in the most important sense, being Japanese is a status that supersedes ethnicity or race.

Highest rank on Japan Charts: #2

Chris Hart (クリス・ハート {Kurisu · HĀTO}), currently 30 years old and an American citizen, has been an hit J-Pop solo artist and musician in Japan since 2013, though his connections to Japan run far deeper than just that.

Last month, on his official blog, he announced that he had begun the process for naturalization, which the entertainment media in Japan broadly reported on enthusiastically. Once one's application has been accepted, his chances of being accepted are greater than 99%, there's a very good chance this American will be an official Japanese national probably by the end of 2015. He has not mentioned what he will choose as his official name on his Japanese national family register (戸籍 {koseki}) or where he will choose his Registered Domicile (本籍 {honseki}), however most (but not all) celebrities that became famous on their original names tend to keep the form of their name that they became known as. If he does change his name, he will probably continue to use his "stage name" or "professional name" in public.
Regarding his thoughts on "becoming Japanese", he had this to say:

まずは、伝えたいのは、国籍を変えても「日本人になる」事ができないと思います。育ちと見た目もこんなに違うので、そこまで日本人になるということを外国人として考えられないですけど、日本国籍に変えたら、皆様と同じような責任感を持ちたいです。この国のために、日本の将来のために、毎日の行動で力になれればなと思います。

Roughly translated:

The first thing I want to say is that even if one changes their nationality, I don't think this is the same as "becoming Japanese". I look very different and was raised very differently, so from a foreigner's point of view it's hard to think of someone like that turning Japanese. However, by changing to Japanese nationality, I'd like to have the same feeling of responsibility that everyone else has. For this country, for Japan's future, I must put all my strength into my everyday efforts.

The Japanese commenters on his blog have offered nothing but praise and enthusiastic support for his decision, thanking him and saying they're honored and touched to have somebody do this. Many of them have proclaimed that he truly is Japanese, saying that his sense of honor, love and soul connecting Japan is equal to, or greater than, many native-born Japanese.

Brief Biography

Born in San Francisco in 1984, he was raised by his mother who aspired to be a singer (now currently works in the IT industry). His father was formerly a police officer, and now currently works as a private detective.

At the age of thirteen in 1997, he spent two weeks on a home-stay in Tsuchiura City, (土浦市 {Tsuchiura-shi}), located in the southern area of Ibaraki Prefecture (茨城県 {Ibaraki-ken}).

He says that his eyes were first opened to J-Pop music by the 1998 hit single, 『未来へ』 {"Mirai e"}, by the duo group Kiroro.

Prior to moving to Japan, Chris worked as a maintenance crew worker at an airport, a security guard, and in a call center for a Japanese cosmetics manufacturer.

Arriving in Japan as an adult at the age of 24, he worked as a salesperson for vending machines — not a typical job for an American that comes to Japan as an adult.

He was first discovered when he performed on the NTV show, 『のどじまん ザ!ワールド』 {"Nodo Jiman Za! Wārudo"} (roughly, "Vocal Chord Boasting The! World") which is of the "… Has Got Talent!" genre of television programming.

HART's duet partner for the 2013 紅白 Pkōhaku}

He became known to most everyone in Japan when he sang a duet song medley with J-Pop legend 松田聖子 {MATSUDA Seiko} on New Year's Eve on the last day of 2013 during the 第６４回ＮＨＫ紅白歌合戦 {dai-64-kai NHK kōhaku uta gassen} (64th Annual NHK Red-White Song Battles), a 4½ hour television tradition/event in Japan watched by most of the nation of 127 million. It was veteran singer/talent/actress Seiko Matsuda's 17th time on the show (who has also had minor success overseas in Hollywood and is labeled by the press as the "Eternal Idol" (『永遠のアイドル』 {"eien no aidoru"}). It was Chris' first time performing in front of practically the entire nation on live television. They sang the second to last song pair.  Chris HART & Seiko MATSUDA, representing Red, were paired against the mega-hit band 嵐 {Arashi}, representing White.

Chris Hart was invited back for 2014's New Year's Eve, performing his single 『糸』 {ito} ("thread") from his second album, at the 65th 紅白 {kōhaku} (Red-White) musical extravaganza.

From there, he has released two hit albums. Chris Hart's first original album released in the spring of 2014, "Song for You", reached #7 on Japanese Oricon Weekly Rankings.

Chris Hart's second album, released in summer of 2014, "Heart Song Ⅱ", reached #2 on the charts.

He has since released a Christmas album of hit covers, "Christmas Hearts", and is expected to release his next album, "Heart Song Ⅲ", in June of this year.

Chris' hit singles can be heard all over television, often used by commercials for popular products.

His Future In Japan

Chris revealed his marriage to Japanese singer-songwriter 福永瞳 {FUKUNAGA Hitomi} in April, 2013. Her twitter profile says she has returned from Ireland, is an Osakan Girl, has taught 剣道 {kendō} (Japanese swordsmanship) in Canada, and enjoys The Seven Samurai. Her blog is dedicated to travel, music, interior design, gardening, and family.

Regarding family, Chris has written:

最近も、子供が欲しくなってきて、いつか子供できたら、もちろん黒人の文化や、アメリカのルーツの事も教えるつもりですが、その子供がまず日本の文化を大事にしてほしいなと思います。

In English:

Lately, I've come to desire children. If I do have kids, of course I plan to teach them about Black culture and their roots in America, but firstly I'd want them to respect Japanese culture.

Chris Hart's Voice

Seeing Chris in Concert

Chris is currently touring Japan, in his second nation-wide tour (the first non-Japanese to do that) — called "Crystal Symphonic", and tickets can be reserved and purchased at most popular ticket venues and convenience stores (such as Lawson or FamilyMart) ticket services in Japan.

Chris Hart will be in Tokyo International Forum Hall A November 29, 2015

Your domicile can be anywhere in Japan

Part of the application form (帰化許可申請書 {kika kyoka shinseisho}) for applying for Japanese naturalization requires you to choose your "Registered Domicile" (what it's translated as on Japanese Passports).

It's very similar to choosing one's new name as a Japanese. Unlike most natural born Japanese, who have their name and domicile chosen for them by their parents, naturalized Japanese get to choose it themselves. Like names, there are guidelines as to what is a good choice and what isn't, and naturalized Japanese follow the same rules that natural born Japanese follow. Like family names in Japan, your spouse and dependents must all have the same one.

Your choice affects your driver's license (inside the IC chip), your family register (戸籍 {koseki}), and your Japanese passport (パスポート {pasupōto}／旅券 {ryoken}).

Legally, the choice you make affects your day to day life much less than your choice of name: no forms ask for it, and although it may come up, one's choice of domicile never comes up in business conversation, and only rarely comes up in personal conversation. While not trivial to change, you can change it through the courts in the future if you don't like it.

Does it have any connection to where you live?

Ｍ★Ａ★Ｓ★Ｈ {マッシュ}

Historically, it did: either to where you currently lived or where your parents or ancestors lived. In modern times, it has absolutely zero connection to where you actually live. It can be almost anywhere you like inside what Japan considers to be its current legal territory (with some important exceptions and surprises: see below).

Also note that the Registered Domicile may not unambiguously specify where you and your family alone lives: the detail level goes down to a particular dwelling / plot of land. You and your family on your family register may be the only people on a plot of land (if the address ends in 番地 {banchi}— meaning 住所表記 {jūsho hyōki}). On the other hand, the domicile address may point to a general area with a building or set of building in which hundreds, or even thousands, of people reside (if the domicile address ends in just 番 {ban}— meaning 住居表記 {jūkyo hyōki}). And there is also the case of nobody, including yourself, actually living at that address! (more details below)

Unlike the PRC (but similar to ROC), one's residency or domicile can be easily changed with the local authorities and the domicile and/or register does not serve as a tool to limit a resident's movements within Japan.

Expressing your "Roots" or "Origin" in Japan

Your new roots in Japan will grow & strengthen over time

While most older Koreans with 特別永住者 {tokubetsu eijūsha} (SPRs) SoR (在留資格 {zairyū shikaku}) status that naturalize were born and raised in Japan, other non-Japanese who naturalize can't really say they were born or grew up in a certain place. So if you were to put some thought into it and not pick a place simply because it's convenient to where you live now, or its novelty factor, or its randomness, how would go about picking someplace?

For those who are married, the choice is a little more complicated like family names. Japan, being a society that legally stresses family unity over individuality, requires that spouses and the children who are all on the same family register have the same 本籍 {honseki} (Registered Domicile) in addition to having the same family name.

Where and How I Decided my "Japanese Roots" Are

My first home: public housing, 11th floor

I first came to Japan in 1993, and the first place I lived and worked was Osaka City. I held various jobs there and moved twice, living in two different wards (区 {ku}) — Osaka City has 24 wards compared to Tokyo's 23, (which it calls "special cities" in English).

It was in this city that I learned Japanese, settled into Japanese life, met the person which would become my spouse for decades, and started my career.

To this day, time spent with "the family" (my in-laws) on holiday (ex. New Year's) is spent in Osaka.

If it wasn't for my experiences there, the impression it made on me, and the opportunities I found there regarding career and family, I'm pretty sure I would have never taken Japanese nationality.

Thus, I decided the my Japanese passport should say "OSAKA" for the Registered Domicile.

I chose the same location as my wife within Osaka for convenience, so there was absolutely no change on her part.

Interesting Places Where Your Registered Domicile Can Be

As a general rule of thumb: if the place has an official Japanese postal address with a postal code (郵便番号 {yūbin bangō}) — a three (old) or three+four (new) digit number usually prefixed with the JP symbol: 『〒』 — then a Japanese national can choose it as a Registered Domicile (本籍 {honseki}).

Note that the reverse is not true: Most Japanese postal addresses are not valid Registered Domiciles (本籍 {honseki}), because the domiciles do not specify individual buildings or homes; the "resolution" only extends to the plot or land or block that one or more homes or buildings may be on.

You do not have to choose a place that has no other people. Likewise, you can choose a place that already has people in it. You can even choose a place where it's not possible to live there as a resident due to its location or what is already there. Some examples include:

• uninhabited and/or uninhabitable islands
• land areas that civilians are not normally permitted to visit or enter:

  Hashima Island (端島 {Hashima}) aka Battleship Island (軍艦島 {Gunkan-jima})

  Battleship Island was a sea-based coal mining artificial city constructed by Mitsubishi in the early twentieth century and completely abandoned in the early seventies. Thanks to concrete apartment buildings, the tiny island had an incredible amount of people living on it, at one time earning the notorious distinction of being the most densely populated area on Earth (over 5,200 people packed into just 0.06km² of space, which included a graveyard, school, shrine, park, and a medical facility). It is not populated now, and is now known as a tourist site for its ruins (廃墟 {haikyo}) of its concrete buildings and sea walls. The area was mapped by Google Street View and was the lair for a James Bond villain in the movie "Skyfall".

  Part of Japan's EEZ

  Marcus Island (南鳥島 {Minamitori-shima})

  Literally translating the Japanese, "South Bird Island" is a Japanese coral atoll. It is only 1km² and has no permanent population, but it does have a runway and a coast guard station, which both Japan and the U.S. use. Geographically, it is the east most island of all of Japan, and it's the only part of Japan of the Pacific tectonic plate.

  Iwojima (硫黄島 {Iōtō})

  Iwojima is the site of the famous, brutal, and bloody Pacific War battle between the United States and the Imperial Army. The subject of numerous movies (and famous photographs and memorials), you can't freely visit the island without permission (usually granted to veterans during memorial events), but you can set your domicile to the "island of sulfur", which is what the island is named after.

• land areas currently occupied by foreign countries or are in dispute
• public facilities or places that are not residential:
• airports

  KIX (関西国際空港 {Kansai Kokusai Kūkō})

  Kansai's airport would be a neat place to have a registered domicile if only because the airport is constructed entirely on reclaimed land in the Osaka Bay (大阪湾 {Ōsaka-wan}); the area is entirely on artificial land. It was constructed there to allow for 24 hour operation without disturbing residences. In other words, your domicile can be on 100% artificial land in a bay.

• train stations

  Shinjuku Station (新宿駅 {Shinjuku-eki})

  Shinjuku Station is the busiest station in the world, with over three million (3,000,000) people using it per day. In other words, more people travel through Shinjuku in a week than the entire populations of Canada, Australia, or the United Kingdom.

  Whity Umeda (ホワイティうめだ {Howaiti Umeda})

  Whity Umeda is an entirely underground shopping complex in the city of Osaka. The stores inside it have their own addresses: over 200 shops in over 30,000m² of space. So if you want to say your domicle is underground, this is possible.
  

• parks

  西郷隆盛 {SAIGŌ Takamori}

  Ueno Park (上野公園 {Ueno kōen})

  Ueno Park, especially during the nineties, is a beautiful park. It's also infamously known for its unofficial dwellers and squatters and homeless camps. So while it's illegal to actually attempt to erect a domicile there (the police occasionally tear down makeshift structures), you can register it.

• Disneyland (in 千葉 {Chiba})

  tourist spots or amusement parks

  TDR: Disneyland & DisneySea

  Some Disney fanatics in the United States go so far as to move and live near the parks in Florida. In America (and in Japan), you can't live in the parks. But you can set your domicile to it.

Places Where Your Registered Domicile Can't Be

The "must have a postal address" rule mentioned above means that you cannot set/register the following places as your domicile:

• Places not within a prefecture's border (県境 {kengikai}).

  No domiciles here.

  The summit (山頂 {sanchō}) of Mt. Fuji (富士山 {Fuji-san})

  As cool as this would be, there are actually parts of Japan, even on the main largest island of 本州 {Honshū}, that literally "fall between the lines" of the 47 prefectures (都道府県 {todōfuken}) of Japan.

• Areas not registered/owned by any city/town/village (市町村shichōson):
  • While it may be ironic to choose a place that is literally smaller than most apartments in the capital metropolis, these crags, atolls & rocks — administered by the government — can't be registered:

    No domiciles here either.

    Smith Island / Rock (須美寿島 {SUMISU-tō})

    This is how you would write the English name "Smith" in 漢字 {kanji} (sinograms) in 当て字 {ateji} (sinograms corresponding to foreign sounds) when it was discovered in 1870. Formed by volcanoes, it is only 30m² in area, and erosion has caused it to significantly change shape, according to ships that surveyed it in the early 1990s.

    southernmost Izu Island

    Lot's Wife (孀婦岩 {Sōfugan})

    Just 3.7m² in area, but 100m tall, this volcanic island whose name is derived from an English reference to Genesis 19:26, was used by U.S. warships (submarines) as a reference point during World War Ⅱ.
    

    But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

    There are several tall rocks around the world, including one on a mountain in Israel, named after the wife that according to the Old Testament legend was turned into salt when she looked back at Sodom.

    Ambuscade & Baïonnaise (1798)

    Bayonnaise Rocks (ベヨネース列岩 {Beyonēsu Retsugan})

    Discovered in 1846 by the French naval corvette vessel "Baïonnaise", this group of rocks was formed by volcanic activity in the mid 20th century is only 10m² in area.

  • Kagoshima Prefecture's (鹿児島県 {Kagoshima-ken}) 鷹島 {Takashima}

    Not to be confused with Nagasaki Prefecture's (長崎県 {Nagasaki-ken}) relatively much larger — pop. ~2,500 and 16.36km² — tourist oriented island of the same name ("Falcon Island") which you can register, it is an uninhabited set of about five rocks, total area 40m², in the East China Sea.

• Former territories controlled by the dissolved former government of the Great Japanese Empire (大日本帝国 {Dai-Nippon Teikoku}), relinquished as per the Treaty of San Francisco (サンフランシスコ講和条約 {Sanfuranshisuko kōwa jōyaku}):

  the Kuril Islands (千島列島 {Chishima Rettō} / Кури́льские острова́)

  As part of the Peace Treaty with Japan, which officially restored Japan's sovereignty in the international community, Japan had to relinquish claims to the Kuril Islands:
  

  Artile 2(c). Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile [sic] Islands, and to that portion of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired sovereignty as a consequence of the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.

  Tourists sightseeing on Russian territory.

  The large island of Сахалин {Sakhalin}, which the Soviet Union took over after it declared war on the Empire of Japan at the end of the Pacific War, contained a large ethnic Ainu population in the southern half of the island — called Karafuto Prefecture (樺太庁 {Karafuto-chō}) at the time. Most of these Ainu fled to 北海道 {Hokkaidō} after the Soviet Union invaded in 1945 and displaced the local Japanese population in 1949. There is very little left of living Ainu culture, written or spoken, today; there are only ten native speakers of the Ainu language (アイヌ語 {Ainu-go}) in the world today in 2015.

7 Famous Places Japanese Register As Their Domicile Yet Can't Live There

All of these places have historical or political significance, thus they are popular choices for people that don't wish to indicate their "ancestral" home or where they were born (either for privacy reasons, because they are making a political statement, because they want to "be different", or because they have a sense of humor) yet they want to choose a place where it's obvious they can't possibly reside at.

1. Imperial Palace (皇居 {Kōkyo})

   Address

   東京都千代田区千代田１番 {Tōkyō-to Chiyoda-ku Chiyoda 1-ban}

   (Chiyoda block #1, Chiyoda Special City, Tōkyō Metropolis)

   How Many Japanese Have Registered It As Their Domicile

   approximately two thousand

   (in 2010)

   Significance

   Total area including gardens: 3.41km²

   During the bubble years speculation made this real estate the most valuable property in the world: more than the entire state of California. The Imperial Family lives here, and prior to that, it was the location of the Edo Castle and the Shogunate lived there.
   
   Because the family actually lives there and needs twenty four hour protection, most of the palace is off-limits for the general public and tourism. The East Gardens and the adjacent Imperial Household Agency can be visited by appointment. Twice a year, on the Emperor's birthday and the day after New Year's Day, the inner gate is opened and the public gathers in front of the main hall where the Emperor and the Imperial Family wish the public well.
   
   Additionally, the area circumscribing the moat and palace is a popular jogging course and park.
   
   Similar to how many educated people know the address of the U.S. White House (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) and the address of the U.K. Prime Minister's Office (10 Downing Street), most educated Japanese know the address of the Imperial Palace: Chiyoda 1-1.
   
   This is probably why it is the most popular Registered Domicile that no non-royal Japanese can live in. For fun, I've set the "posting location" of this blog post to the address of the Imperial Palace. ☺

2. Osaka Castle (大阪城 {Ōsaka-jō})

   Address

   大阪府大阪市中央区大阪城１番 {Ōsaka-fu Ōsaka-shi Chūō-ku Ōsaka-jō 1-ban}

   (Osaka Castle block #1, Chuo Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture)

   How Many Japanese Have Registered It As Their Domicile

   approximately eight hundred

   (in 2010)

   Significance

   The traditional surrounded by the modern

   "Osakans" are very proud of their city, their food, and their culture. There are many possible reasons for this, but similar to how some people from Chicago — which is actually a sister city of Osaka— feel they are in the shadow of attention compared to those from New York City, people from Osaka are aware that from a population and economic point of view, they are in third (second if you dismiss Yokohama as the ex-burbs of Tokyo) place to "Tokyoites" the capital. Osaka people also know that historically speaking, Tokyo was not always the center of Japan and that western Japan, especially Osaka, was the heart of the action. Osaka Castle is perhaps a symbol of that rich history as well as a reminder that Osaka's influence has existed for literally over a thousand years.
   
   Osaka Castle, originally a wooden structure, has been struck by lightning, burned down, exploded (gunpowder armory), and bombed multiple times, so the modern structure is an authentic replica from the outside, but constructed with modern concrete and a museum on the inside (that is even accessible to the disabled due to elevators).
   
   However, the entire castle grounds, which are a public park, is 60km² and has over a dozen original structures which have been designated as important cultural assets. The 17th century walls, made of interlocked granite from the Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海 {Seto Naikai}), without mortar, by various samurai clans, still exist today — you can see the crests of these samurai engraved in some of the rocks.

3. Hanshin Kōshien Baseball Stadium (阪神甲子園球場 {Hanshin Kōshien kyūjō})

   Address

   兵庫県西宮市甲子園町１番 {Hyōgo-ken Nishinomiya-shi kōshien-chō 1-ban}

   (Kōshien Town block #1, Nishinomiya City, Hyōgo Prefecture)

   How Many Japanese Have Registered It As Their Domicile

   approximately seven hundred

   (in 2011)

   Significance

   The annual National High School Baseball Championship (全国高等学校野球選手権大会 {zenkoku kōtō gakkō yakyū senshuken taikai}) — aka 夏の甲子園natsu no kōshien (Summer of Koshien), in which amateur high school athletes compete from around the nation — similar in popularity and familiarity to the United States'"March Madness" and its NCAA Men's Division Ⅰ Basketball Championship — is held in this western Japan stadium.
   
   One of the largest stadiums in Asia for its time, it seats 55,000.
   
   Additionally, Osaka's NPB professional baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers, home field is here (if the Tigers were the Boston Red Sox, then the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants would be the New York Yankees).
   
   Babe Ruth played an exhibition game here in 1934.

4. 沖ノ鳥島 {Okinotorishima} ("remote bird islands" aka Okinotori coral reefs/ islands aka "Parece Vela")

   Address

   東京都小笠原村沖ノ鳥島Tōkyō-to Ogasawara-mura Okinotorishima

   (Okinotori Island, Ogasawara village, Tokyo Metropolis)

   How Many Japanese Have Registered It As Their Domicile

   approximately two hundred

   (in 2010)

   Significance

   The southernmost territory of Japan, it is the only part of Japan that is, from a meteorological classification, located in the tropics, in the Philippine Sea. 7.8km² in total area, it is surrounded by concrete to prevent the erosion of more of its rocks. The Japanese coast guard maintains a light beacon on it and a small research station.
   
   From an administration point of view, it is actually considered to be part of Tokyo's collection of small islands.

5. The Northern Territories (北方領土 {Hoppō ryōdo})

   Address

   北海道色丹郡色丹村Hokkaidō Shikotan-gun Shikotan-mura…

   (…,Shikotan County, Shikotan Village, Hokkaido)

   How Many Japanese Have Registered It As Their Domicile

   approximately a hundred

   (in 2010)

   Significance

   Although the unconditional surrender of the Empire of Japan and the Treaty of San Francisco mention Japan giving up the Kuril Islands, the treaty doesn't specify exactly "what", "which", or "where" the Kuril Islands are. In particular, four islands off the coast of northern Hokkaido, which are close to the Kuril Islands, are not considered to be part of the Kuril Islands mentioned in the Treaty of San Francisco or the Potsdam Declaration because Japan was there prior to Russia ever discovering them and settled them peacefully without Russia's objection. The United States supports Japan's interpretation of the treaty and its position on Japan's sovereignty over the four islands.
   
   The Soviet Union occupied the four islands in 1945 and Joseph Stalin expelled 17,000 Japanese nationals, replacing them with Soviets. The lack of resolution has prevented Japan from entering into a formal peace treaty with the Soviet Union / Russian Federation.
   
   Japan has been negotiating with the Russians for decades to a peaceful, fair, and humanitarian (in other words, not affect the lives of the current Russians living on the island in any way) resolution to the dispute. While diplomacy has resulted in a few formal joint diplomatic statements, plans, and declarations, a complete resolution is still not near.

6. 竹島 {Takeshima}

   Address

   島根県隠岐郡隠岐の島町竹島Shimane-ken Oki-gun Okinoshima-chō Takeshima

   (Takeshima, Okinoshima Town, Oki County, Shimane Prefecture)

   How Many Japanese Have Registered It As Their Domicile

   approximately ninety

   (in 2012)

   Significance

   only 0.2km² with no drinking water

   Sometimes also called the Liancourt Rocks by parties not wishing to recognize either side, the Republic of Korea asked that the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco include Takeshima in the list of territory that Japan must renounce sovereignty over, but this request was explicitly rejected in writing. Nevertheless, the President of the Republic of Korea designated Takeshima as part of South Korea's territory. That territorial designation resulted in the deaths of Japanese fisherman and one Japanese coast guard vessel being shot at which crossed South Korea's line in 1953. Since then, South Korean fishermen and their families have settled there, requiring the South Korean authorities to build infrastructure and maintain staff on the island to provide for them. As the volcanic rock land is not capable of sustaining human life naturally, the amount of artificial resources used to sustain the outpost and occupation has unfortunately caused a large pollution problem in the surrounding waters.
   
   Japan has tried to settle the dispute legally and peacefully using the mechanisms of international law by asking that the judgement be done by the International Court of Justice. So far, South Korea has rejected all three attempts to let the ICJ mediate and judge on the matter.

7. Senkaku Islands (尖閣諸島 {Senkaku shotō})

   Address

   沖縄県石垣市登野城 {Okinawa-ken Ishigaki-shi Tonoshiro}

   (Tonoshiro, Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture)

   How Many Japanese Have Registered It As Their Domicile

   approximately twenty

   (in 2010)

   Significance

   Once had a bonito factory on it (1910~1940)

   Sometimes also called the Pinnacle Islands by parties not wishing to recognize either side, Senkaku is a set of five islets and three rocks on 7km². China began claiming it belongs to them after the discovery of potential oil reserves in 1968. In Japan, this domicile is part of Ishigaki City in Okinawa Prefecture, 150km north of the main island whose primary produce is pineapples and sugar cane and has a population of almost 50,000.
   
   In 2012, the then governor of Tokyo, 石原慎太郎 {ISHIHARA Shintarō}, attempted to have the local (not national) government purchase the Senkaku Islands from a private Saitama businessman who inherited the land deeds from the previous generations that did business on the land. Fearing that a local government purchase could lead to a change in the status quo (for example, a local government attempting to develop it by adding a park and jetty), the national government purchased it instead to lessen the chance of an international incident.
   
   However, the action caused the people of China to violently riot, destroy (including arson), vandalize, and loot property/businesses, in addition to incidents of assaulting people — anything perceived to be Japanese — for many days. Additionally, private Chinese fisherman and the PRC military have tried to threaten the Japanese Coast Guard repeatedly (by ramming the vessels or aiming advanced weapons at them via fire control radar) for years, who has been trying to keep anybody — Japanese or non-Japanese — from landing on the territory.
   
   While Taiwan has also taken the position that Senkaku is its territory, Japan has peacefully made an agreement with Taiwan to allow Taiwanese fishermen to use the Senkaku waters for fishing where the two countries EEZ overlap.

Choosing a Registered Domicile (本籍 {honseki}) That's Not Where You Live and the Actual Location of Your Paper Family Register (戸籍 {koseki})

You don't need to select a registered domicile that's where you actually live or near where you actually live. You don't even need to choose a place that you've ever been to or plan to go to.

However, be aware that if you choose a location that is not near where you live, anytime you do an update or request an official certified copy of your family register (戸籍謄本 {koseki tōhon}), either you or your local city/ward/town/village (市区町村 {shikuchōson}) administrative office (役所 {yakusho}) will need to relay the request via postal mail. This means that getting a copy will take a few days rather than be a same day operation. This is an improvement from earlier days, when doing this via the post office was not possible!

I live in Tokyo, but my domicile is registered as Osaka.

Sometimes, if I need my family register, I call up my mother-in-law, who lives near where my family register is kept, and ask her to retrieve it and mail it to me as this is more convenient than going to the local Ward Office and asking them to retrieve it.

Why this is the case in the 21st century: Much like how other countries keep hard copies of master vital records (ex. birth certificates & death certificates), Japan keeps a hard paper copy of family registers in locations across the country, and the digital versions are "backups".

Japan doesn't keep these records forever; as of 2010, records that are expunged or deleted due to administrative actions (death, loss of nationality, moving to another family register) are only physically maintained for eighty (80) years.

This is often a source of frustration for Japanese-Americans that are attempting to investigate their genealogical roots or prove they are 2nd/3rd generation ethnic Japanese (二世／三世 {nisei/sansei}日系 {nikkei}) for the purposes of receiving a Long-Term Resident SoR (定住者在留資格 {teijūsha zairyū shikaku}) and don't know where their families' Registered Domiciles (本籍 {honseki}), in other words the location of the Family Registers (戸籍 {koseki}) which is their "proof of legal nationality lineage / connection", are located.

You can never actually get the actual family register even if you go to the physical location where it's located, which is always kept in safe keeping by the government. You can only get "certified copies" of it and make changes through an official government worker at a city/town/ward office. Most of these copies are considered to be void after a period of time — usually three (3) months.

『謄本』 {tōhon}≈ "long form certified copy"

This was the vexing thing about the U.S. President Obama "birther" controversy for many years. People claimed that President Obama never presented the "genuine" original birth certificate. However, the State of Hawaii, like most U.S. States, does not release the actual document to anybody, and only releases certified authentic copies.

What's interesting is that because your Registered Domicile can be in an inaccessible place (such as an unmanned island), the record may be stored as close as possible to your designated location, but it is not actually at the specified address!

Japan has been slowly converting from the B4 vertically printed (縦書き {tategaki}) quasi-analog versions of the 戸籍 {koseki} (family unit / name registers) to digital one printed LTR (横書き {yokogaki}) top-to-bottom on the international A4 paper since 1993; total digital transformation is expected to be completed in 2015 for the sake of national identification — which has already happened for non-Japanese with the 在留カード {zairyū kādo} ([non-Japanese] Residence Card), which will completely replace the non-national locally managed ARC— Alien Registration Card (外国人登録証明書 {gaikokujin tōroku shōmeisho}) — system in 2015 as all the legacy deprecated cards expire. However, they are not completely transitioned yet, and the systems across the country are not yet seamlessly sharing records across the network. In the future, access to one's family register in Japan may not be delayed by geography.

Fortunately, one does not need a copy of their family register, nor do they need to make changes to it, very often; the only time you'd need to do this is due to a life changing event (birth, death, marriage, divorce).

Discrimination and Privacy

Although anyone can change their Registered Domicile (本籍 {honseki}) to anything they like, can change it anytime and as often as they like, and don't need to have them or any member of their immediate or extended family, past or present, have a connection to the place they choose, many people choose a place that does have a connection to their past.

Because of this, there have been concerns that if third parties were able to easily discover one's Registered Domicile (本籍 {honseki}), one may be able to determine if one has associated themselves with an area known for historically discriminated classes of people, such as:

A romanticized video game version of Ainu

• 在日韓国人・朝鮮人 {zainichi Kankokujin · Chōsenjin} (ethnic Koreans in Japan)
• アイヌ {Ainu} (Ainu people; see above)
• 部落民 {burakumin} ("hamlet people"; ostracized outcasts of feudal Japan)
• 琉球民族 {Ryūkyū minzoku} (natives from the former Ryukyu Kingdom now Okinawa)

Because of this, obtaining one's family register (戸籍 {koseki}) is restricted; not anybody can ask for it; only family members who are listed on it, presenting personal identification, can view copies.

International IDs: Registered Domicile on the Japanese Passport

No birthplace, but there is a domicile.

Your Registered Domicile will appear on your Japanese passport if you have one, but for privacy and simplicity reasons it is only listed to the 都道府県todōfuken) (prefectural) level. Thus, there can only be 47 different names in this field.
This assists authorities in differentiating people with the same names without needing to remember the Passport No.
This also means that if you chose someplace really cool as your Registered Domicile (for example, Osaka Castle), you can't really prove it from your passport alone; there's not enough detail.
Interestingly, there's no place of birth on Japanese passports; while the Registered Domicile is likely to be the place of birth for many natural born Japanese, this is not guaranteed.
Many passports list the place of birth even if they are not primarily jus soli (nationality by birth location) based nationality laws. Some countries, like St. Kitts & Nevis, which make it extremely easy (money) to obtain citizenship, have had to re-issue passports with birthplaces on them so that countries can distinguish between those who obtained their nationality at birth (natural born) and those who obtained it simply using money/investment (naturalization); this is to keep their native-born citizens from being treated like those who bought their passport.
Fortunately, although naturalizing to Japan is not difficult for those who have legitimately lived and worked in Japan for many years, there are no shortcuts to acquire it via money, so the lack of birthplace on a Japanese passport is not a problem for other countries.
This means that with the Registered Domicile, naturalized Japanese are treated exactly the same as natural-born "native" Japanese on the passport; you can't prove somebody was naturalized by the information on the passport alone.

Domestic IDs: Japanese Driver's License

Japanese driver's licenses have one's complete 本籍 {honseki} information on them (and on file), but this information is not visible to the naked eye anymore as driver's licenses are one of the most commonly used forms of domestic "photo" identification in Japan, partly because it existed long before the photo 住基カード {jūki kādo} (Resident Basic Info Card) was introduced to the public. It was used so often as a form of identity and address verification rather than being used to verify one's license to operate a motor vehicle, there is a large portion of the public known as "paper drivers"— those who have a license but never actually drive.

The 本籍 {honseki} used to be below the name and above the address.

They stopped printing the 本籍 {honseki} on the front of the 運転免許証 {unten menkyoshō} (Japanese driver's license) because of the amount of people wanting a form of photo identification that proves name and address yet doesn't reveal one's 本籍 {honseki}, which could subject them to discrimination.

There was a transitional period where the field existed but was left blank on the outside; they did this to:

1. get people used to the idea that the information wasn't going to be easily visible to third parties anymore
2. exhaust the existing stock of pre-made license card templates

The information is still available on the IC chip (which is accessed by a NFC contact-less reader less than 9cm away) if you know the eight digit (four+four) PIN which encrypts the information. The chip locks and disables itself if one makes three (3) incorrect guesses in a row.

Non-Japanese and 本籍 {honseki}

My old license when I was legally American: 1. non-alias "foreign" name in Latin letters 2. 本籍honseki not printed, but 『アメリカ合衆国』Amerika Gasshūkoku in NFCIC

As foreign residents can also have driver's licenses, the 本籍honseki field will have one's 国籍kokuseki (legal nationality), in Japanese, instead. For example, a citizen or national of the United States will display アメリカ合衆国Amerika Gasshūkoku (United States of America) on a terminal after tapping one's license against a NFC terminal and inputting their secret PIN.

In certain cases, immigration may try to use one's Japanese driver's license to ascertain Japanese nationality in exceptional cases when one's Japanese passport can't be presented at CIQ.

Stateless people's 本籍honseki will read 『無国籍』"mukokuseki" ("no nationality").

However, the Japanese driver's license is the only case I know where the 本籍 {honseki} data field is used like a 国籍 {kokuseki} (nationality) field for non-Japanese. Even for the Chinese of Taiwan, which have had the concept of a 本籍 {běnjí} ("Ancestral Home").

台湾 {Taiwan} (ROC/中華民國 {Chūka Minkoku}): 本籍 {běnjí} ("Ancestral Home") ⊃ mainland China

Note the 本籍 on reverse, bottom left, second from left (next to birthplace)

Every national of the Republic of China (aka Taiwan / Chinese Taipei) that has the right of abode and the right to vote has a 國民身分證 {guómín shēnfènzhèng} ([Taiwanese] National Identity Card).

Prior to the current 5th generation card (used from 1993 to present), the card had a field similar to the Japanese 本籍 {honseki} (registered domicile) — same 漢字 {hanzi} (sinograms), with a similar meaning to "registered domicile": "ancestral home" or "home citizenship".

The place written in this area would usually be a place that most of the world thought Taiwan did not have sovereignty over: areas in the People's Republic of China. Older political thought and even older versions of Taiwan's Constitution claimed that the government of the Republic of China was the legitimate (but exiled to Taiwan) government of China (as opposed to the "Communist" government).

The current versions of the cards (1993 onward), in compliance with the Taiwan local identity movements, do not contain this information anymore, and the information is no longer recorded in Taiwan's 戶口簿 {hùkǒu bù} (Chinese family register).

Changing your Registered Domicile

A Japanese passport's 2nd page (usually blank)

You can change your registered domicile relatively easily compared to changing your name, in case you change your mind after you naturalize. Of course, native born Japanese can also change it.

To do so, you need to fill out a 転籍届 {tenseki todoke} (moving registration form) at your local administration office (役所 {yakusho}).

You will need the following:

• One copy of your family register (戸籍謄本 {koseki tōhon}) if the new 本籍 {honseki} (registered domicile) is under the jurisdiction of the same local government/municipality (自治体 {jichitai}), otherwise you will need two officially issued copies.
• Your or your spouse's (depending on who is submitting it) inkan/hanko/chop/seal (印鑑／判子 {inkan/hanko}) that is associated with the identity.
• The actual 転籍届 {tenseki todoke} (moving registration form). Again, you will need two copies if the change is to a different local government/municipality (自治体 {jichitai})

South Korea is so high it needs a separate scale: see yellow / right side

I met a gentleman who was referred to me a few days ago by a friend. While I get this a lot from those who are interested in naturalization, his situation was a first for me: he was a native Japanese who had naturalized to United States citizenship. In doing so, he renounced his Japanese citizenship. However, life circumstances (returning back to Japan and he doesn't wish to be hooked into two tax systems) meant he now wishes to re-acquire Japanese nationality and relinquish his U.S. nationality along with his Japanese national wife's U.S. LPR status. This means he will have relinquished/renounced two nationalities in his lifetime. That's very unusual, but it made me wonder: but how often do people give up their other nationalities?

The general answer is: with the exception of South Korea, not very often. Even the highest number of renunciations (excluding the ROK, this would be the USA) matched with the countries with the lowest population (the city-state of Singapore), the percentage of people that give up their nationality per 100,000 people is measured in tiny fractions of a percent.

Explaining These Numbers

It should be noted that the above graph is obviously not a pure apples-to-apples comparison. I considered doing a graph which was proportional to the population of overseas expats per country (as opposed to the general population overall, as most countries only allow you to give up your nationality if you are already living overseas via an embassy), but decided against it as many countries (such as the United States) can't publish accurate numbers regarding how many of its citizens live overseas.


In some cases (such as Singapore), government statistical data was not easily available. In these cases, data is reported third-hand from print or digital media.

The United States

Part of the profile settings for 楽天銀行／イーバンク {Rakuten Ginkō / Ī-banku} (Rakuten Bank / e-Bank)

The spike in overseas Americans giving up their U.S. citizenship due to the FBAR requirements and FATCA enforcement is real. Even in Japan, when you open a new bank account, many banks ask you (or find out on their own) if you are a U.S. national in order to be compliant.

As you can see from the chart above, compiled from 877A Individual Expatriation published in the U.S. Federal Register (The Daily Journal of the U.S. Government)'s Quarterly Publication of Individuals, Who Have Chosen to Expatriate, the number starts spiking around the time the enforcement (by asking non-American banks to "out" their expat account holders) began being implemented.

While their are few ex-Americans that will tell you they miss filing IRS 1040 tax forms annually, the primary motivator for most people for losing their American nationality is permanent family ties and roots in another country (often a country that does not permit multiple citizenship).

Japan

1. The change in the nationality law in 1985 meant that naturally born dual national Japanese adults (20 years old) have two years (until they are 22) to decide which nationality they want. 1985 + 22 = 2007. Prior to 2007, there was no need for anybody to do the 国籍選択届 {kokuseki sentaku todoke} (Choice of Nationality Form) procedure.
2. Japan has been slowly converting its 戸籍 {koseki} (family register) system from analog, non-integrated B4 paper to being digital and interconnected, enabling the easier detection and correction of irregularities; this is primarily to cut down on pension and welfare fraud.
3. According to MoFA (外務省 {gaimushō}), more and more Japanese live overseas, and the numbers who are classified as "permanent" foreign residents are rising. As permanent residency is often a requirement for naturalization in many countries such as America (but not Japan), these people are more likely to naturalize. And Japanese that follow the law and procedures and report the acquisition of foreign nationality are more likely to lose such their Japanese nationality — especially if the country they naturalize to, like Japan, requires them to give up their previous nationalities.

Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Japanese Nationals Overseas

South Korea

The Republic of Korea's nationality renunciation numbers are so high that I had to create a separate scale for them on the right side of the graph above; if I didn't, the other countries would all be squashed at the bottom and comparing would be difficult. They are the only advanced developed country in the world with numbers this high; their loss of nationality numbers exceed their naturalization numbers.

relinquishment = 국적 상실 {gugjeog sangsil}, renunciation = 국적 이탈 {gugjeog ital}

There are two big reasons for these numbers:

1. Conscription. With some exceptions (such as those who naturalize), South Korea conscripts its 18 to 35 years old males for military service that can last up to two (2) years for active duty and three (3) years for non-active duty.
2. Japanese naturalization. Ethnic Koreans who were born and raised in Japan (colloquially called 『在日』 {Zainichi}— which actually literally means "in Japan"), have been naturalizing in numbers approaching five digits (almost 10,000 people) per year. As South Korea did not permit dual nationality for those who voluntarily chose another nationality, a gain of a citizen for Japan meant a loss of a Korean national.

Hong Kong

There was a huge peak of renunciations of citizenship during the final years of Hong Kong being a British colony just prior to democratic Hong Kong becoming part of the Communist People's Republic of China. Although the PRC promised that it would follow a "one country, two system" policy and would relax the assimilation, from the government's perspective, of Hong Kong (indicated by its special designation: SAR), there were still enough people worried by the communist government's intentions — catalyzed by the Tiananmen Square Massacre (六四天安門事件64 Ten'ammon jiken) — that declarations of nationality loss were high for a few years prior to the transfer of sovereignty.

The trend is that emigration was high before The Handover

With or without obtaining foreign citizenship, almost 1% of Hong Kong's entire population emigrated in 1990. After "the handover", many returned back to the city-state, some of them with a different (or additional) nationality.

June 5, 1989: Beijing

United Kingdom

Similar to New Zealand, the United Kingdom has no restrictions on obtaining additional nationalities, so people are not giving up UK nationality for the sake of acquiring an additional nationality unless they are giving it up for the purpose of acquiring another nationality which requires applicants to give up their other nationalities.

The United Kingdom renunciation process has an interesting safety procedure that prevents someone from becoming stateless: if you renounce while in the process of applying for another country's nationality, but you are unsuccessful or abort the process before acquiring, your British nationality automatically restores itself in six (6) months.

Like most countries that follow United Nations principles, the United Kingdom will not let its people become stateless.

Simultaneously holding HKSAR+UKBN(O) passports

Unlike Japan, and similar to the United States (citizen vs. national) and Taiwan, the United Kingdom has different types of nationality:

• British citizenship
• British overseas territories citizenship
• British overseas citizenship
• British subject status
• British national (overseas) status

After 1983, due to changes in the law, British citizenship is now the most common. The statistics we have for British renunciations do not specify what type of nationality the British person had when renouncing, which probably makes a big difference regarding one's connection to the homeland. Like Taiwan, not all of the above nationalities give one the right to adobe or work in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.

Renouncing British nationality costs £144 in 2015, unless you are renouncing British national (overseas) status, in which case it is free.

New Zealand

Proposed new flag to distance from AU & UK's

New Zealand was included as a comparison because it allows multiple nationalities and it does not have military conscription nor tax obligations for overseas citizens. It is also an advanced, developed country that is a member of the OECD and a democracy that recognizes most human rights. Additionally, politically New Zealand is a peaceful country, and its international behavior is not such that its citizens are motivated to give up their nationality as a protest against foreign policy.

The peak of NZ renunciations happened in 1998, with two dozen (24) renunciations that year. It's never been that high since.

The best explanation that one can come up with for even the handful of renunciations of citizenship is that these couple dozen or so are renouncing because it is a requirement for naturalization to another country, and the naturalization is motivated by something other than dissatisfaction with the Realm of New Zealand.

Rita Taketsuru

Once upon a time in the early 20th century, you couldn't get whisky in Japan. They were all poor Scotch imitations, with artificial flavors and colors, designed for profit more than quality.

Japan was known as the country for 日本酒 {Nihon-shu} (saké; literally "Japanese alcohol") and if they drank something besides that, it was beer or wine.

Today, however, the Japanese make some of the finest whisky† in the world. The Japanese were excellent and earnest students of the Scotch methods, and these days even the most patriotic Scot begrudgingly admits that they are now masters at crafting the drink.

Japan's finest specimens are winning international awards and accolades from the most discerning critics and fans. Japan's whisky is unique because while the peat and environment in northern Hokkaido is similar to that of Scotland, they also sometimes use wood native to Japan for its barrels: モンゴリナラ {Mongorinara} (Japanese oak aka Mizunara oak Quercus mongolica) from which the whisky pulls some of its flavor from. This is why Japanese whisky is often comparatively aged longer than whisky from other countries; it takes more time to draw the flavor from their oak.

Today, we can enjoy everything from cheap and affordable, yet quality single malts and blends to some of the finest and most original whisky in the world.

The world can thank this woman for her part in the development and birth of Japanese whisky.

Brief Biography of her Beginning

Jessie Roberta Cowan (ジェシー・ロベルタ・カウン {Jeshī · Roberuta · KAUN}) was born the eldest daughter of a physician in 1896 in the suburbs of East Dunbartonshire (southwest Scotland) in a town called Kirkintilloch. She was followed by her siblings Lillian "Ella" and Lucy (with whom she was closest to), and the youngest child Cambell.

Suffering from health problems starting at an early age, she dropped out of ordinary schooling and was privately tutored starting at the age of fifteen (1911). She entered the University of Glasgow at the age of eighteen (1914) to study music and English literature. After graduation she would obtain a driver's license and assist her father with patient house calls.

Rita first met Masataka, who was studying organic and applied chemistry as an overseas student, through an introduction from her sister. Masataka was looking to save money on lodging, and the Cowan family needed money to help with the upkeep of their large nine room house after the loss of their bread-winning father due to heart attack, so her family let one of the rooms to him. Additionally, he educated their youngest brother in the sport of judo (柔道 {jūdō}).

She married Masataka at the age of 24 without a ceremony and moved to Japan, first settling in Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka City (大阪府大阪市住吉区 {Ōsaka-fu Ōsaka-shi Sumiyoshi-ku}) with him that same year (1920).

Her husband began his career at TaKaRa Beverages (宝酒造株式会社 {Takara shuzō kabushikigaisha}) while she taught English, English conversation (英会話 {eikaiwa}), and piano at the learning institute at the nearby Tezukayama Gakuin (手塚山学院 {Tezukayama Gakuin}). He would work at TaKaRa for three years until 1923 when he would be recruited/poached by the president of 株式会社寿屋 {Kabushikigaisha Kotobuki-ya} (which would become Suntory Beverages, Nikka's future main rival) for the purpose of producing real Scotch in Japan.

After changing jobs, they moved to Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県鎌倉市 {Kanagawa-ken Kamakura-shi}). During this time, Masataka was charged with managing the new whisky distillery in Yamazaki (which today, like Nikka, produces world-class, award-winning whisky). However, differences in opinion regarding consumer tastes and the business direction of whisky in Japan at the time eventually led Masataka to quit after ten years to start his own company with the help of investors he found through Rita's connections and introductions.

They would base their new company and home in the cold far north of Japan due to its proximity to coal, peat, barley, oak wood, and pure natural water — essential ingredients for good Scotch whisky. It was also close to many apple orchards, which the company would use to sell apple juice products until its first batch of whisky was ready (a minimum of three years). The company would officially change its name to ニッカウヰスキー {Nikka Uisukī}(they still use the old-fashioned Japanese syllabet, 『ウヰ』 {"U[w]i"}, instead of modern Japanese's 『ウィ』 {"Wi"}, in their official name).

Amazing Devotion and Support of Each Other

Rita & Massan, Scottish newlyweds

Rita's dedication, devotion, and loyalty to her husband, as well as her husband's love for her, in the face of incredible adversity (racism, war, family disapproval, global recession, harsh weather, poor health, and an alien rural environment) is the type of hyperbole you normally only see in fiction.

Masataka was willing to abandon his home country for her hand in marriage, telling her he would stay with her in Scotland if she so desired. In response, Rita instead insisted they to go to Japan — a country she had never been to and knew nothing of the language — during a time of deep economic uncertainty, to help him realize his dream of whisky in Japan. It was a risky business venture, as the Japanese did not have a proven taste for whisky at the time.

Both of them resisted pressure from their families and society to end their international / interracial marriage, which was considered taboo and forbidden, to many in the world of the time.

When Massan wanted to take risks to achieve his/their dream of whisky in Japan, which included quitting his regular, well-paying, stable job and moving into literally the middle of nowhere in northern snow country during a global depression, Rita not only supported him, but encouraged him.

When Rita's health deteriorated and she could no longer bear the harsh snow country of Yoichi, Masataka voluntarily moved with her to the middle of the far away main island during the summers, doing his business remotely even though he was the president of the distillery and the master blender and his on site presence was more beneficial to the company.

When Rita passed away, Masataka was so distraught he secluded himself in his room with no contact from the outside for two days straight. After her passing, he created a whisky in her honor as well as established a couple's plot (with a tombstone in her native language of English) for the both of them on a hill overlooking their home (which was inside the distillery), so they could spend an eternity together once he passed on.

Total Assimilation

「日本人以上に日本人らしい」 {Nihonjin ijō ni Nihonjin rashi} ["Appears more Japanese than Japanese."]

Rita immersed herself into the self-chosen role of being a Japanese national wife living in Japan in a way you don't often see today.

Today, there are many non-Japanese that live in Japan without actually needing to assimilate whatsoever thanks to the internet providing their economic, social, family, and entertainment in English, 24/7, inside their home or smartphone.

This is probably partially due to the fact that during the time, there was no such thing as a foreign expat lifer community in Japan (the amount of people that had done what she had done could be counted on one hand), nor was there much commercial or trade connection with the English speaking world, despite the Meiji Restoration which gave Japan a policy of adopting and adapting as many ideas and innovation from Europe‡ and America as possible.

Moving to another country was a huge undertaking that cost a small fortune and took a long time, so once you moved, it was often assumed to probably be permanent, as the investment one made to journey to the Far East was substantial. These days, college kids with just a little disposable income can whimsically plop down a credit card and hitchhike through Asia in a matter of a day or two, without needing to try to know much about the language or geography thanks to modern technology.

Rita went to Japan with the idea that her life was now Japanese and there was no turning back. She did not feel any pressure from an expat community to express or try to keep her foreign cultural identity.

She immediately changed her clothing to Japanese (kimono), her diet to Japanese (becoming an excellent cook of both Scottish cuisine and traditional Japanese cuisine), and her daily language to Japanese — even when speaking with her husband, whom she met in English-speaking Scotland. Her western Japanese (関西弁 {Kansai-ben}) she picked up in Osaka was so strong that when she moved to Yoichi her local housekeepers and staff were said to have had difficulty understanding her dialect.

Her transformation led many to remark that she was "more Japanese than Japanese"— back in an era when saying that was not cliché.

She followed Japanese social order, and raised her children to respect it, chastising them when they failed to use proper forms of language to elders/superiors. A perfectionist, she demanded to know when everybody would be ready for dinner time so that she'd have time to prepare proper full meals.

It is said that this form of total immersion into the culture was also another way Rita expressed her love and devotion to her husband.

Overcoming Hardships: War, Distrust, and Health

Rita had always had problems with her health. She suffered from severe migraines as a child, and dropped out of ordinary schooling to be privately tutored at the age of fifteen. She would continue to have problems with her lungs and liver throughout her life. Starting in 1955, she would spend three of the four Japanese seasons (四季 {shiki}) in 鎌倉 {Kamakura} (Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture) where the weather was warmer, returning home only during the summers. Her faithful husband stayed with her during her migrations, doing business remotely while in Kamakura.

Prior to her meeting "Massan", she was engaged to a British gentlemen and came from a wealthy family. Her fiancé, however, was killed during the first World War. Soon afterwards, her father, a medical doctor, died of a heart attack in 1918. Because of that, they were unable to collect on the £514 owed to them by his patients.  This was a huge sum in the early 20th century. Family resources dwindled to the point where they had to supplement their income by renting a room of their huge home (nine rooms). As fate would have it, that boarder would be Masataka, who was studying chemistry at the University of Glasgow and working as an apprentice at the local Scotch distilleries.

Signed, Masataka Taketsuru, Chemical Student (Bachelor)

Their marriage in Glasgow was done in secret with just a few close witnesses present with them at a registrar office. Although miscegenation (marriage and/or intimate relations between the races) was not illegal in Scotland or Japan as it was in many States in America, both families disapproved of the marriage, even though Masataka came from a wealthy family of saké brewers in 広島 {Hiroshima}. Rita's mother wanted the marriage annulled.

As there was no direct air travel to Japan from Britain, they had to get to Japan by going first to New York and then to Seattle. The journey took ten (10) months.

Masataka's financial stability and employment was shaky for many years due to the global depression that Japan was caught up in at the time, and Rita helped financially support both of them by teaching English and piano at 帝塚山学院 {Tezukayama Gakuin} in Osaka for over five years. Again, as fate would have it, her teaching of English led to an connection to an investor that would lead to the creation of the company that would later become Nikka Whisky.

Rita and her husband were never able to conceive a child from their own blood. She got pregnant, but would miscarry. Instead, they adopted two Japanese children: first a daughter, and then a son (Masataka's nephew), 竹鶴威 {TAKETSURU Takeshi}, who would learn to be a master blender like his father and take over the family business when he passed away.

The last time Rita visited Scotland, with Rima.

Rita's first adopted Japanese daughter, リマ {Rima} née 房子 {Fusako}, would end up estranged from both her step-mother Rita and her step-father, not communicating with either (unless she was asking for money) during for most of her life because international marriage (国際結婚 {kokusai kekkon}) was rare in that day, and it was even rarer to have someone who was a foreign be your mother. In Rita's final years, however, リマ {Rima} reconciled with her mother.

Her adopted son would later marry and produce two boys of his own in 1951, putting the joy of grandchildren into the Taketsuru home during Rita's final decade.

During the war, the 特別刑事部tokubetsu keiji bu (Imperial Special Detective Division) searched their home because they saw an aerial antenna on their roof (a very unusual luxury in early 20th century Japan) and suspected she may be a spy communicating with the British or Russians. The detectives would tail her movements during her daily routine. She was even denied passage on the Seikan Ferry (青函フェリー {Seikan Ferī}), used to go from the island of 北海道Hokkaidō to the main island of 本州Honshū (函館駅Hakodate-eki⇔青森駅Aomori-eki), while en route to Tokyo with her husband.

One wire on the roof for short-wave radio

During the war, children would sometimes call her derogatory names:

「毛唐！毛唐！」 {"ketō! ketō!"}
["hairy foreigner! hair foreigner!"]

and once threw a rock at her. She would keep a stiff upper lip and chide the children:

「私はあなた達と同じ日本人です」 {"Watashi wa anata-tachi to onaji Nihonjin desu."}
["I'm Japanese, just like you children."]

Despite the employees of the distillery and most of her family defending her character, many in the town came to distrust her as she was too similar to the enemy with respect to her skin color and where she was born and raised. It is even said that some children threw rocks at her and adults stayed away from her in public.

It was said Rita once lamented,

「この鼻がもう少し低ければ、目も髪も日本人のように黒くなれば」 {"Kono hana ga mō sukoshi hikukereba, me mo kami mo Nihonjin no yō ni kuroku nareba"}
["If my nose was just a little less prominent, if my eyes and hair were black like Japanese"]

Despite all of this humiliation, never once did she ever say "I want to return to my birthplace of Scotland."

This sort of abuse during wartime was not reserved for people like Rita; native born Japanese were also called names and told that they were not Japanese if they did anything that was perceived as negative regarding the war effort, and there were many incidents of rocks being thrown at native Japanese people or their property (ex. breaking windows) who weren't trusted or considered to be acting alien.

As fate would again have it, this distrust of all things foreign during the war also worked to her family's advantage: the Imperial Navy, men of the sea, had developed a taste for good Scotch, and wartime bans on foreign-origin goods led to Massan & Rita's company becoming the exclusive provider of whisky for the military.

Rita only visited Scotland twice (once to introduce her adopted daughter, Rima) and would never see her family again after her second visit in 1931, although she was a great and prolific letter writer and kept in touch via the post. Her sister Lucy visited her once in 1959 — thirty (30) years after Rita left Scotland for Japan. When her visiting sister asked her if she wanted to return, she dismissed the question by saying that she was now afraid of flying.

Some of the last words that "Massan" said to his grandson during a vigil was,

「国際結婚はやめておけ」 {"Kokusai kekkon ha yamete oke"}
["Don't do an international marriage."]

He said this not because he regretted his own marriage, but rather because he believed that the stress of living in Japan, especially during the Pacific War, shortened Rita's life. He wished she had lived longer.

Origin of Rita's Japanese Name

Rita's given Japanese name, リタ {Rita} comes from the first and last sounds of her middle given name: Roberta. Just as Jessie had trouble pronouncing her lover's name and gave him the nickname "Massan", I'm sure her beau appreciated having a shortened clipped (the same way too: initial & final sounds) nickname for the love of his life as well.

The fictional version of Rita followed the same name pattern: kanji Japanese family name + katakana-ized foreign given name

While Japanese family registers (戸籍koseki) have no length limit on names, the structure only allows for exactly one given name paired with one family name, so Jessie lost her first name when she became Japanese.

She chose to have her given name be of foreign origin, and she chose to render it in カタカナ {katakana} (Japanese syllabet that is sometimes, but not always, used for foreign-origin words) instead of 当て字 {ateji} (sinograms that are mapped to foreign sounds); depending on the era, all 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet) or partially 仮名 {kana} (syllabet) names were popular for Japanese women — not just foreigners.

Japanese Family Name

Japan, even today, does not allow families to have separate family names for people that are all together on one family register (戸籍 {koseki}). This was also true for the 戸籍法 {kosekihō} (family register law) under the Meiji Constitution (大日本帝国憲法 {Dai-Nihon Teikoku Kempō}).

Note that this law did not discriminate, in theory, against the sexes; a man can take a woman's name (often if the woman comes from a more powerful or prestigious lineage) just as easily as a woman can take a man's last name; even a century ago.

WWA Champion bears Rita & Massan's Surname

In Japan, while it is most common for the woman to take the man's family name, the reverse is not as uncommon as it is in the United States, where even though it's legal it's statistically rare (taking hyphenated combined names is the next most common choice after a woman taking the man's name).

For example, the current CEO of Suzuki Motor Corporation (スズキ株式会社 {Suzuki Kabushiki-gaisha}), 鈴木修 {SUZUKI Osamu}, took his wife's name — because she was a Suzuki (鈴木 {SUZUKI}), and her lineage is obviously connected to the company's name, history and legacy.

小泉八雲 {KOIZUMI Yakumo} ne Lafcadio Hearn technically didn't take his spouse's last name when he naturalized; he took his samurai father-in-law's name by being adopted into the family.

Presently, when non-Japanese marry Japanese, they are noted on their Japanese spouse's register, but not in the area that would signify them to be a Japanese national where J-nationality lineage is tracked. This allows international couples to have separate last names if they wish.

Many international couples do this because foreign last names can be hard to transliterate and difficult to pronounce and remember due to the relative lack of consonants & vowels as well as the lack of sound combinations in the Japanese language. Japanese passports, which have Latin letter names for overseas use, allow both Japanese and non-Japanese to have multiple alternate names and Westernized spellings to accommodate overseas name use.

Once a non-Japanese person naturalizes, though, they must follow Japanese law and unify their names that they kept separate, either in one direction (man→woman) or the other (man←woman).

Many foreign-origin men (including myself) that originally kept separate names so their wives could keep a practical Japanese name in Japan opt to take their Japanese wife's family name when they naturalize as this is more pragmatic for the both of them. Because a new family register is created for the naturalized male and the naturally born Japanese national spouse is moving into it, this is known as 名乗り {na nori} (assuming a new name) and not婿入り {mukoiri} (technical adoption of an adult; usually a man into his wife's family register / 戸籍 {koseki}).

At first, Japanese people sometimes do a double-take and ask questions out of natural curiosity when they meet somebody that does not look Asian who has a Japanese name. However, they quickly appreciate it as it makes it easier and more natural for them to remember and pronounce, as the sound combinations are more natural and familiar to them, being their mother language.

How did "Rita" become legally Japanese?

Most modern day nationality laws in democratic countries usually define four primary ways to obtain nationality:

1. jus soli (being born on territory)
2. jus sanguinis (inheriting nationality from your parents, regardless of their race)
3. naturalization (applying/qualifying for nationality after one is born)
4. bestowing nationality on extraordinary individuals on a case-by-case basis

Most countries use a combination of the first three methods, with emphasis on one method over the other two. Most new world countries in North America and South America are jus soli based. The majority of the countries in the world, especially Asian countries (including Japan) and the Old World countries of Europe, emphasize jus sanguinis more.

Marriage& nationality were strongly connected in the past.

In the early 20th century, there was a method of naturalization that was practically automatic: jus matrimonii (acquiring the citizenship of your spouse).

In those days, laws discriminated against the sexes: if a non-Japanese women married a Japanese man, she could acquire Japanese citizenship. This is how "Rita" became legally Japanese. On the other hand, if a Japanese woman married a non-Japanese man, that woman would lose Japanese nationality! Additionally, even if a woman became Japanese through marriage, she still couldn't vote. Back then, most countries did not allow women to vote or hold office. And Imperial Japan was not a democracy anyway.

If you were a foreign man during the time of Meiji-era constitution Empire of Japan and you wanted to both marry a Japanese woman and have her keep her nationality, her parents could legally "adopt" you and put you under their 戸籍 {koseki} (family unit register), taking her name, which would give the non-Japanese man Japanese nationality. This is the path that Lafcadio Hearn (小泉八雲 {KOIZUMI Yakumo}) took.

It should be noted that the Meiji-era nationality law also allowed for foreigners to becoming legally Japanese even without marrying a Japanese national: American automobile industrialist William Gorham (合波武克人 {GŌHAMU Katsundo}) became an Imperial subject, and his American wife Hazel then also became legally Japanese due to jus matrimonii — being married to a (naturalized) Japanese national.

You didn't even need to be married or be male to naturalize: Russian Елена Павлова {Yelena Pavlova} (霧島エリ子 {KIRISHIMA Eriko}) became legally Japanese without marrying either a foreign or Japanese man.

Furthermore, if you were a woman and you married a Japanese man of the time, it was possible to retain your original nationality; you did not automatically get Japanese nationality, and you did not automatically lose your nationality. Gwen Terasaki (グエン・寺崎 {Guen · TERASAKI}) née Gwendolyn Harold, who married a Japanese man in the early 20th century and was deported to the Empire of Japan after being put in the American internment camps with other Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor, demonstrated that it was possible.

Nowadays, marrying a Japanese person does not automatically give you nationality. However, if you stay married to that person for a long enough time, it does qualify you for "simplified naturalization" (簡易帰化 {kan'i kika}), which lessens the continuous residency requirement from five (5) years to either three (3) years or even just one (1) year.

Rita's Legacy

An English tombstone is unusual.

In her final years, her health had begun failing, so the couple would seasonally travel to 鎌倉 {Kamakura} (Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture), where the weather was slightly less harsh during the winter. Rita Taketsuru died peacefully there at a relatively young age (1961, at the age of 64), before her husband, due to cirrhosis of the liver. It is unknown if alcohol or diet was a contributing factor, her health had always been poor even before she went to Japan.

On the day of her funeral, the home in Yamada-chō, Yoichi Town (余市町山田町 {Yoichi-chō, Yamadachō}) was lined with over one hundred meters (100m) of garlands by the townspeople who loved her.

Her husband was so upset by her passing that he secluded himself into his room alone for two straight days straight to mourning, not leaving to eat or talk to anybody, and did not go to her cremation. He begged that her ashes & urn be brought to him so he could sleep with them.

The master of Japanese whisky would live almost an additional nineteen (19) years alone before he passed away. They were reunited, with an English tombstone, in a cemetery on a hill in 美園町Misonochō (Misonochō, Yoichi County) that overlooks the distillery.

井川遥 {IGAWA Haruka} recruits a new generation of whisky drinkers with introductory easy-to-drink highballs.

Whisky consumption started to fall in the early eighties due to a new tax introduced in 1984 as well as competition from other beverages such as wine (foreign and domestic) as well as Japanese 焼酎 {shōchū} (Japanese distilled liquor). It would continue to decline until 2008. The falling demand led to the closure of one Japanese whisky production facility: Merican/Kirin's 軽井沢 {Karuizawa} distillery.

With whisky enjoying a revival in Japan thanks to the hit TV series "Massan", as well as the recent popularity of highball cocktail drinks starting in 2009, which were heavily promoted by Nikka/Asahi's rival, Suntory.

History buffs (sometimes jokingly referring to themselves as "fan clubs"), whisky aficionados, and regular tourists visit the sites where Rita left her legacy and gave birth to whisky even today.

Thanks to the tale of Massan and aggressive advertising of easy-to-drink simple whisky cocktails. "Japanese Scotch" is introducing whisky to a newer, younger, and more female generation of whisk[e]y fans, who will probably learn about not just the father of Japanese whisky, but its mother as well.

Rita House

Originally the distillery's 研究室 {kenkyūshitsu} (research lab)

Most organic chemists and brewers, distillers, and other companies that mass produce food and beverage have a laboratory and research area for the testing of new concoctions. "Massan"'s company was no different.

The land and building was was originally a home for 但馬八十次 {TAJIMA Yasoji}, in 1931. It was purchased from him and became both the first administration building and the main research lab for the distillery when purchased in 1934 by Masataka and his investors.

In the 21st century, the 195m² one story building is no longer capable of supporting the needs of Asahi-owned Nikka which nows has nationwide and international distribution, so it was renamed to "Rita House."

The Japanese government registered the building as one (of nine buildings on the premises) of the nation's important Cultural Heritage Site on February 9th, 2005. Today, the site is a permanent museum-like exhibit, part of the open or guided tours of the distillery for tourists.

Cafés and foodies inspired by Rita

A recreation of Rita's home cooking

Much has been made of Rita's cooking skills. In addition to being able to prepare many of Scotland's traditional dishes such as haggis, Rita became skilled at preparing traditional Japanese dishes as well.

It was said that her specialties were preparing traditional Japanese pickled vegetables (漬物 {tsukemono}) and イカ塩辛 {ika shiokara} (cuttlefish pickled in salt) as well as many other cured Japanese foods.

Rita was known to be a perfectionist, and would insist on punctuality when it came to dinner time so that she could properly calculate the time she would need to prepare and serve meals for the house.

"The cooking recipes of Rita, the love of Massan's life."

Many books and newspaper articles and television bits have been done about her by third parties. Her grandson, 竹鶴孝太郎TAKETSURU Kōtarō, ended up writing several books about his family and her in particular (from which many of the third party sources based their information on), including starting a dedicated web site about Rita where one can look up exhibits and purchase memorabilia connected to her:

「マッサンの妻」竹鶴リタが大切にしたもの

"Massan's wife" / The thing Rita Taketsuru treasured the most"

ウイスキーとダンディズム 祖父・竹鶴政孝の美意識と暮らし方

Whisky and Dandy-ism: my grandfather Masataka Taketsuru's Aesthetics and Way of Life

父・マッサンの遺言

My father Massan's parting words

マッサンが愛したリタの料理レシピ

The cooking recipes of Rita, the love of Massan's life.

The book about his mother's cooking, where he transcribed all of her recipes and cooking notes and published them, was a good seller. There are about a dozen or so hotels, restaurants and cafes that make and prepare Rita's recipes, bragging about their authenticity. There is even a tourism company that offers a gourmet tour of nothing but Rita's cuisine.

All of her food goes well with whisky, of course.

Books and 漫画 {Manga} about Rita

Rita's life is the classic inspirational romantic story: against all odds, conflict in the environment (war), rags to riches, heartbreaks, passion and love for one's spouse while withholding doubt no matter how grim it appears and despite all odds.

As Japanese graphic novels are as popular or even more popular than regular books, it's no surprise that several books have been written about her and Massan, based on her story.

Translated title: "From Wind County to Snow Country"

It's all about the melodrama & romance

Rita's Kindergarten

The old pre-1962 building

The kindergarten was originally known as 余市幼稚園 {Yoichi yōchien} (Yoichi Kindergarten), and was part of the Christian church in the town.

Right before Rita passed away in January of 1961, a new pastor, Reverend Yoshioka (吉岡牧師 {YOSHIOKA bokushi}) had assumed the head of both the Christian church and the kindergarten in Yoichi City.

Rita's surviving husband and son approached the new pastor, asking him to perform the Christian funeral rites for Rita, as she had wanted to meet the pastor before her death, and because she was baptized and a devout Christian. The reverend accepted, and planned and arranged all the details so that she would receive a proper Christian funeral.

The outpouring of grief and attendance at Rita's funeral led the new pastor to believe that Rita's example would be a good opportunity to teach the people of the town Christianity. Christianity is a very minor religion in Japan, with <1 as="" believers="" faith.="" identifying="" of="" p="" population="" the="" themselves="">
For that reason, the pastor denied and waived all fees that the Taketsuru family attempted to pay for the funeral services.

Instead of a direct payment, the pastor's greatest need was for a rebuilt church/kindergarten combo, as the previous wooden building had sustained much damage from wear and tear due to typhoons, age, and The War.

The new school/church was erected in 黒川町 {Kurokawa-chō} (Kurokawacho, Yoichi City) at a total cost of at that time of ¥7.2 million. Of that, ¥1.2 million was donated to the church from Rita's trust.

Given that, the school/church committee decided to rename the kindergarten to リタ幼稚園 {Rita yōchien} after their benefactor and the town's most famous and loved Christian.
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Sister City Relationship between Yoichi and Kirkintilloch, Scotland

Made in Scotland Nikka-owned Scotch Whisky

The mayor of Yoichi, along with many members of the Taketsuru family, visited the town Rita grew up in, Kirkintilloch (in Gaelic: "Cair Cheann Tulaich"; affectionately called "Kirky" in English), in 1988 to sign a town twinning agreement based on the famous person the two had in common: Rita.

The next year in 1989, Nikka Whisky would purchase the Ben Nevis distillery (named after the highest mountains in Scotland, and the source of the whiskey's water) in northern Scotland. Financial difficulties along with the loss of its founders forced the distillery to close in 1986. With Nikka's investment and purchase, not only was the distillery saved, but the quality of its Scotch was said to improve significantly. The distillery, under new management, began doing so well they opened a visitor center in 1991.

Rita's kimono in "Kirky"

Kirkintilloch's museum, the Auld Kirk Museum, contains many artifacts from Japan thanks to the connection, including an old Japanese whisky bottle and one of Rita's very colorful kimonos; The B&W photos of her in kimono really don't capture how beautiful they are.

Because of this relationship, Kirky gets a relatively large amount of Japanese visitors to its town; fans of Rita and her relationship and connection with Nikka Whisky and her Japanese husband.

Rita Road

The section of National Highway #229 running from 余市駅 {Yoichi-eki} (JR Yoichi Station), which is right in front of the Nikka Whisky distillery, to 余市町役場 {Yoichi machiyakuba} (Yoichi town hall), was named after Rita as one of the first actions of the international sister city / town twinning program with Rita's birthplace in 1988.

Rita Road is a 1.5km walk, and is lined with trees and various commemorative signs and plaques explaining its namesake. It is pedestrian and bicycle friendly (weather permitting) with nice sidewalks and sights.

150 Episode NHK Public Television morning Drama Series

Scene from the NHK drama 『マッサン』 {"Massan"}

The story of Massan and Rita got a huge catapult into the minds of contemporary 21st century Japanese with public television's choice to make the story the basis for the 91st episodic morning television series running from autumn of 2014 to spring of 2015: 150 fifteen minute episodes in all.

The show, which airs in the morning and in the afternoon, is scheduled to run at 8:00am in the morning, with the same episode running again at 12:45pm. These two time slots, of course, are designed to get one key demographic: homemakers whose children and spouse have just left for work and school, and those just returning from lunch, with fifteen minutes to spare before they have to get back to their routine.

The public television 朝ドラ {Asa dora} (Morning drama) has some of the highest ratings in Japanese television, with over half of the television viewing public from the population of 127 million viewing the episodes on average. In particular, "Massan" had the third highest rating for a morning drama series in the last decade.

In addition to making the Japanese populace aware of the historical cultural contributions (Japanese whisky) of a person from overseas, the series also broke new ground by casting a foreign actress — for a primarily Japanese speaking role — as the lead heroine (the Japanese morning drama protagonist is usually a woman). Well over half of the shows viewers said that Charlotte Fox's performance as エリー {"Erī"}) (Ellie, the character based on 竹鶴リタ {TAKETSURU Rita} née Jessie COWAN) was the reason they watched the series.

Vegetarian versions do exist.

Not only did the 29 year old professional American actress not be able to speak or understand Japanese when she landed the role, but she was also a vegetarian and a teetotaler. Quite the opposite of the character she played! Despite being a (non-strict, apparently) vegetarian, she confessed to falling in love with 餃子 {gyōza} (Japanese style fried dumplings) and 鱶鰭 {fukahire} (shark fin soup) — so much so that she had to control herself to keep from gaining weight through the series.

She beat 232 actresses who auditioned for the role inside Japan, and beat 289 other candidates who auditioned from outside of the country.

The recognition that actors and actresses — not to mention the historical sites and products references — get from the morning drama is so large that it often is the springboard for a long career and increased popularity.

The actress Charlotte Kate Fox (シャーロット・ケイト・フォックス {Shārotto · Keito · FOKKUSU})'s face is seen in modeling advertisements in Japan, and she regularly appears as a guest on television talk and variety shows in Japan.

In order for Ms. Fox to act her part of a Japanese speaking naturalized Japanese woman, her script had four versions of every line: the original Japanese in 漢字／仮名 {kanji/kana} (Japanese sinograms and syllabet), the original Japanese in ローマ字 {rōmaji (Japanese transliterated into Latin letters), the line translated into natural English, and finally, the Japanese translated word-for-word in order without rearranging to make a grammatically correct English sentence. The last line was provided so that Charlotte Fox could time her acting and know how and when to react to key words spoken by other characters. Thus, a two line exchange of dialogue might look like this:

• Masaharu Kameyama:

  Japanese:

  スコットランドに残っても構わない。

  Romanized:

  Sukottorando ni nokottemo kamawanai.

  Translated:

  I won't mind if you want us to stay in Scotland.

  Word-for-Word:

  Scotland in / even if stay / do not mind

• Ellie:

  Japanese:

  私はあなたの夢を共に生き、お手伝いしたいのです。

  Romanized:

  Watashi wa anata no yume o tomo ni iki, otetsudai shitai no desu.

  Translated:

  But I want see your dreams come alive, and I want to help you do it.

  Word-for-Word:

  As for me / your dream / sharing with / humbly help / want to / you see

Her Osakan nickname? シャロやん {Sharo-yan}

Although great pains were taken to not give any commercial endorsements to existing living companies or entities, the connection between the drama was capitalized on or benefited by everybody, intentionally or unintentionally:

• Many out-of-print books about the story of Massan & Rita were re-issued. Many of these re-issues made overt indirect references to the hit show.
• Nikka's Yoichi distillery received a 36% increase in visitors during the time of the drama's run, and its Sendai-based distillery's visitors increased two fold.
• Asahi/Nikka re-tooled the marketing of many of its alcoholic beverages, with new retro classic designs modeling the styles of the show and era.
• Not only did Nikka's flagship whisky product 竹鶴 {TAKETSURU} see increased sales (+39%), rival Suntory also saw boosts in the consumption of its whisky products: 響 {Hibiki}, 白州 {Hakushū}, and 山崎 {Yamazaki}.
• Both Nikka and Suntory were having trouble keeping up with the new demand coming after predictable sales for the last ten years. In particular, Nikka's 竹鶴 {Taketsuru}, 余市 {Yoichi} and 宮城峡 {Miyagi-kyō} have become scarce or have completely sold out.

• 乾杯！ {kampai!} (Cheers!)

  When the Taketsuru Pure Malt 17 Year won the 2015 WWA Grand Prix in the United Kingdom for best blended malt for the second year in a row, news site sources summarized the news as "Massan's whiskey is the best in the world."
• The popularity of the drama caused Kirky, Scotland to revive activities related to its sister-city relationship with Yoichi for the first time in thirteen (13) years. Local papers in Scotland covered the popularity of the show and its effect it would have on Scotland's image in Japan as well as its foreign tourist potential.
• The actor who played the president of the fictitious company 鴨居商店 {Kamoi shōten}, 堤真一 {TSUTSUMI Shin'ichi}, which was loosely based on the early founding days of Suntory, would be hired and contracted to be the actual "whisky ambassador" spokesperson for Suntory Spirits.
• The actor who played Massan, 玉山鉄二 {TAMAYAMA Tetsuji}, would become the lead spokesperson for Nikka's commercials for its product, "BLACK [Nikka] Deep Blend".

Nikka Bar Rita

Beautiful Art Nouveau interior of the bar

A privately run bar in downtown 小樽市 {Otaru-shi} (Otaru City), which is the city next to the distillery by train and a popular tourist spot for Japanese and foreigners alike due to its good skiing and Japanese-style hot springs (温泉 {onsen}／♨), collaborates with the distillery and offers a single cask 原酒 {genshu} (unblended whisky) which can be found nowhere else in the world, not to mention bar dishes that come from locally sourced 北海道 {Hokkaidō} agriculture and seafood.

As the bar is popular with tourists, it offers multi-lingual (English, Chinese & Korean) guidance, and the master bartender can guide and educate its customers regarding the finer points of appreciating whisky.

While the distillery itself it also a working museum and bar/restaurant, this bar is open past midnight and offers a more personalized and intimate experience with Nikka's offerings.

Super Nikka

In the TV Drama, it was called "Super Ellie"

In honor of Rita, who passed away in 1961, her husband 政孝 {Masataka} and her son, 竹鶴威 {TAKETSURU Takeshi}, worked together on the grounds of the distillery, using the storehouse and the laboratory, to create this whisky in her honor.

At that time when it was first released in 1962, only 1,000 bottles were produced per year, leading to its nickname of "the phantom Super Nikka."

Initially priced at ¥3,000, it was enormously expensive considering the era and inflation: in 1962, the average monthly Japanese salary for a new graduate was around ¥15,000. Even the bottle was unusually extravagant for the time: made of semi-crystal and designed by a crystal designers.

It has been re-issued over the years, including a rare 1964 Olympic edition with the five rings. It has been released again in 2015 with the original 1961 formula to tie in with the television drama.

The Super Nikka is one of Nikka's few blended whiskies, with lots of malt and a scent of sherry oak and peat.

Nikka's 80th Anniversary Apple Brandy (30 years old) Rita

starting at ¥30,000 (MSRP)

To celebrate ニッカウヰスキー {Nikka Uisukī} (Nikka Whisky)'s 80th year of existence, the company released a limited edition bottled apple brandy named after their founder's wife in 2014.

As it took many years for Nikka's whisky to develop and for the industry to be accepted by Japanese, the company initially made its revenues from selling juice based products. In particular, they owned land containing apple orchards, and the apples and other fruit from the 北海道 {Hokkaidō} area are known as Japan's best.

In fact, Nikka's original name was 大日本果樹 ㈱ {ダイ ニッポン カジュ ㏍}, or "Dai-Nippon Kaju (K.K.)", which means "Great Japan [a common term for Imperial Japan] Juice (Inc.)", which shows its roots as an apple juice company before it began selling alcohol. If you take the first two 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet) of ニッポン {Nippon} (Japan) and the last syllabet of カジュ {kaju} (juice), you get the amalgam 『ニッカ』 {"Nikka"}.

Nikka began distilling the local apples into brandy and selling it in the 1940s. Today, they focus on whisky spirits, but they decided to release this limited edition brandy in honor of one of their founders.

Nikka Rita Highball

Do you prefer the ♂ hero or the ♀ heroine?

Capitalizing on the success of the NHK drama, Nikka/Asahi launched a limited edition run of beverages capitalizing on the "Massan boom", which revived interest in the culture of whisky among many people who did not ordinarily drink spirits.

Convenience stores in Japan usually sell alcohol, and in addition to beer, wine, and liquor, they often sell cheap sweetened and mixed drinks in cans — often with reduced alcohol percentages (including completely non-alcohol and no calorie versions for dieters, teetotalers, and designated drivers so they can "be part of the party").

These drinks are so sweet and sometimes their packaging is so not obvious that the cans need to be labeled お酒 {さけ} (o-sake: literally "alcohol drink") in big letters on the front.

Near the end of the drama's run, Nikka/Asahi released two commemorative drinks, distributed by the thousands of convenience stores and supermarkets around Japan and drunk by millions:

• 竹鶴ハイボール {TAKETSURU haibōru} for fans of him (whisky based 7% alcohol)
• リタハイボール {Rita haibōru} for fans of her (apple flavored liqueur 7% alcohol)

Highballs are simply drinks cut with soda water and a spritz of an extra flavor. The cutting of whisky / whiskey / 焼酎 {shōchū} (a Japanese barley/sweet potato/buckwheat/rice fermented spirit) with soda, water, or ice is so popular among Japanese that whisky producers in Japan often craft their blended whiskey accordingly.

As NHK is a national public broadcaster, they can't give what may appear to be free advertising or endorsements to commercial entities — they will even go so far as to translate the trademarked "Coke®" (コーク {Kōku}) to the generic "cola" (コーラ {kōra}) when subtitling foreign movies and shows — so they changed the name of リタ {Rita} to Ellie (エリー {Erī}) in the drama and the fictional name of protagonist 竹鶴政孝 {TAKETSURU Masataka} to 亀山政春 {KAMEYAMA Masaharu}.

However, Rita's name of affection for Masataka, "Massan" (said to be shortened from Masataka-san (政孝さん {Masataka-san} when she was still learning Japanese), stayed in the based-on-a-true-story drama even though it was an amalgam of a different Japanese male given name.

Nikka capitalized on the popularity of the nationally television long-running popular drama by clearly identifying its cans with the logo 『マッサンとリタの物語』 {"Massan to Rita no monogatari"} ("The story of Massan and Rita"), without directly referencing the copyrighted fictional (based on a true) "story" whose rights are not owned by it.

---

• † like Scotch, no "e" in Japanese "Whisky"— the Japanese are still working on developing their skills at bourbon whiskey with acquired American Tennessee brands like Jim Beam.
• ‡ Rita's remaining European and British habits, such as the interior and exteriors of their home, her golf clubs, and her habit of afternoon tea, were not out place for time in Japan.

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 association in his home country.

The reason that most athletes change citizenship is because of one of these reasons:

• their home country either doesn't have or support their sport
• their home country has so much depth and talent that they wouldn't get qualify for the team
• the odds of standing out and getting more attention or better training, exposure, opportunities, compensation, or facilities in another country are better.
• a country that is not strong in a sport but wants to be is "seeding" their sports program to try to get victories early and jump-start the level of play in their own country

Some countries, such as Russia, loosen requirements for world class athletes that wish to compete under the country's flag and anthem. Other countries, such as Japan and the United States, require exceptional athletes to perform the same procedures and same rules that other naturalization applicants go through. According to the New York Times, ice short-track team coach Jang Kwon-ok

… did say that the process for [AHN Hyun-Soo / Viktor AHN] receiving Russian citizenship was “very, very easy,” compared with the layers of paperwork and the residency requirements that would be expected of someone trying to gain American citizenship.

When athletes naturalize to Japanese nationality, they must still meet the residency requirements for either regular naturalization or simplified naturalization (if they have living Japanese national immediate family connections). There is actually a third option for naturalization, dubbed "extraordinary naturalization" in English (大帰化 {taikika}), which in theory could be used to "fast track" an athlete's acquisition of Japanese nationality and bypass all the requirements, but not a single person, no matter how special, has ever naturalized using extraordinary naturalization.

When athletes decide to take Japanese nationality, they do so for reasons often connected with continuing to be related to the sport even after their athletically prime years.

大相撲 {Ō-zumō} (Professional Sumo wrestling)

At 203cm & 227kg in his prime, AKEBONO wasn't the largest, but he was one of the (literally) biggest and most successful.

You do not need to be a Japanese national to participate in professional sumo — or even reach its top rank, 横綱 {yokozuna}— a title granted by deliberation not just by one's win-lose record (there can be more than one at the same time). Once one becomes a 横綱 {yokozuna}, they cannot lose the rank or be demoted; it is expected that one gracefully retire if they can no longer sustain a caliber of performance befitting the title. There have been more than a couple foreigners who have achieved the top rank. 曙太郎 {AKEBONO Tarō} (né Chad Haaheo ROWAN of Waimānalo, Hawai'i), was the first. He would eventually naturalize to Japanese.

ハワイ {Hawai} (Hawaii)

ブルガリア {Burugaria} (Bulgaria)

The first wrestler to naturalize, however, was 髙見山大五郎 {TAKAMIYAMA Daigorō}, formerly Jesse James Wailani KUHAULUA, who would trail blaze the path for many Hawaiians and Pacific islanders into the Japanese sport for years to come in the seventies and eighties. The first European origin wrestler to naturalize was 琴欧洲勝紀 {KOTO-ŌSHŪ Katsunori} né Калоян Стефанов Махлянов {Kalojan Stefanov MAHLJANOV} from the Republic of Bulgaria in 2014.

The reason most foreign wrestlers naturalize is so they can obtain 年寄名跡 {toshiyori myōseki}, aka 親方株 {oyakata kabu}. There are only 105 family names allowed for professional sumo coaches / stable masters, and you need a license to have one. In order to obtain a license, you need Japanese nationality as sumo is considered to be a national sport of Japan. When 髙見山大五郎 {TAKAMIYAMA Daigorō} naturalized, in addition to his legal Japanese name, the next professional sumo name he chose (from the allowed 105) after his wrestler name was 『東関』 {"Azumazeki"}.

The other reason professional wrestlers naturalize is that nowadays, a professional sumo stable is limited to one wrestler of foreign nationality.

プロ野球 {puro yakyū} (Nippon Professional Baseball)

Played for 7 years as ROC national

In the past, the NPB league used to have a "two guest — as in non-Japanese national — player per team" rule. Some players of the past, such as Taiwanese 佳久源治 {KAKU Genji} (né 郭源治 {GUŌ Yuánzhì}), became naturalized Japanese.

However, these days, foreign players are, by the rules, treated more like Japanese nationals: the limit on the number of foreign players per team has been abolished, and foreign nationals are eligible for free agency in Japan just like Japanese nationals.

Additionally, for the World Baseball Classic, an international competition consisting of the best baseball players from around the world (pro & amateur), being a national or citizen is not a requirement for representing one's country; having permanent residency or being in the process of getting a passport or nationality is enough to represent a country. Thus, cases where one naturalizes for the sake of this event are not common.

サッカー {sakkā} (Soccer / Association Football)

Because many soccer competitions are international and based on national teams, cases of players changing their nationality are quite common. Professional soccer was introduced to Japan in the form of the J-League in the nineties, Japan's competitive level started rising as Japan imported more and more talent from powerhouses such as Brazil.

RAMOS Ruy

SANTOS Alessandro

Some of the most famous footballers from Brazil who became Japanese include ラモス瑠偉 {RAMOSU Rui} né Ruy Gonçalves Ramos SOBRINHO — who represented Japan in the 1993 World Cup held in the United States and was one of the first early stars of the new J-League (you could see him in ads endorsing products all the time in Japan) — and 三都主アレサンドロ {SANTOSU Aresandoro} né Alessandro dos SANTOS — who represented Japan in the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea. Some of these "first generation" (一世 {issei}) naturalized Japanese have sired children who are natural-born Japanese pro soccer players: The Havenaar (ハーフナー {HĀFUNĀ}) and Coimbra (コインブラ {KOIMBURA}) families are multi-generation Japanese national soccer families who immigrated to Japan and naturalized.

While some, such as 安倍晋三総理大臣 {ABE Shinzō Sōridaijin}　(Japan Prime Minister Shinzō ABE) approve of foreign soccer players naturalizing to Japan and are proud of and recognize them as Japanese, other people who regulate the sport internationally have expressed concern over the imbalances in world talent caused by the practice of changing one's nationality in order to compete in the FIFA World Cup (Ｗ杯 {daburu hai}). FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter has said that when one country's league (such as the Premier League) can take all the best foreign players via money and incentives, then other country's will have difficulty fielding competitive squads. Blatter said:

"I want to try to, if not persuade [the chief executive of the Premier League and] at least influence him in his thoughts that to have a minimum of local players will enhance the quality of his league."

FIFA President Blatter has also said this regarding the limitation of international "journeymen"— athletes who change nationality via simplified procedures for the sake of international soccer competition:

"We need to find a solution to putting the brake on player naturalization. If we don't be careful, not just Europe, but Asia and Africa will be overrun with Brazilian players."

Other sports

The reason people naturalize for competing in international and domestic sport for Japan tend to fall into two main categories:

1. Those who need the Japanese nationality because the requirements for joining teams are nationality based.
2. Those who need Japanese nationality because their is a limit on the number of non-Japanese that can be on a team. By naturalizing they bypass this requirement.

softball (womens)

• 宇津木麗華 {UTSUGI Reika} née 任彦麗 {RÈN Yànlí} from China

table tennis (womens)

• 小山ちれ {KOYAMA Chire} née 何智丽 {HÉ Zhìlí} from China

basketball (mens)

• マッカーサー・エリック {MAKKĀSĀ · Erikku} (Eric McARTHUR) from the United States
• 桜木ジェイアール {SAKURAGI Jeiāru} (J.R. SAKURAI) né Milton HENDERSON Jr. from the United States

basketball (womens)

• 河恩珠 {HA Unju}, from the South Korea, chose to keep using her 漢字 {hanja} (Korean sinograms) for her new post-naturalization Japanese name and use a 仮名 {kana} (Japanese syllabet) non-standard "reading" (よみがな {yomigana}) that sounds similar to her birth name: 하은주 {HA Eun-ju}.

volleyball (mens)

• 杉山マルコス {SUGIYAMA Marukosu} né Marcos Sugiyama ESTEVES from Brazil

volleyball (womens)

• 高木貴子 {TAKAGI Takako} née 白井貴子 {SHIRAI Takako} from Korea — had 朝鮮籍 {chōsen-seki} aka "Korean domicile"

ice hockey (mens)

• ブライト・クリス {BURAITO · Kurisu} (Chris Bright) from Canada
• 大城ジョエル・ディック {ŌSHIRO Joeru · Dikku} né Joel DYCK from Canada

archery (womens)

• the 早川 {HAYAKAWA} née 嚴惠 {EOMHYER} sisters from South Korea

Rugby

Rugby normally classifies people by the country of their residence rather than their nationality, so naturalization isn't common for this sport. However, some foreigners — who were champions at their Japanese universities and were not restricted by not being Japanese — became legally Japanese after graduation so they wouldn't be treated as foreign athletes per the rules of the Japan Rugby Top League.

• ナタニエラ・オト {Nataniera · OTO} né Nataniela OTO from Kingdom of Tonga
• ルアタンギ・侍バツベイ {Ruatangi · SAMURAI BATSUBEI} né Luatangi VATUVEI from Kingdom of Tonga

The Other Direction: natural-born Japanese naturalizing to other countries

There are also a few Japanese nationals who have changed their nationality to compete for other countries' teams:

gymnastics (mens)

• 塚原直也 {TSUKAHARA Naoya} changed to Australian nationality

figure skating (womens)

• Юко Кавагути {Juko KAVAGUTI} née 川口悠子 {KAWAGUCHI Yūko} changed to Russian nationality

marathon (mens)

• 瀧崎邦明 {TAKIZAKI Kuniaki} aka 『猫ひろし』 {"Neko Hiroshi"} (the professional comedian's stage name) changed to Cambodian nationality

Not all attempted nationality changes are successful and pay off, however. For example, in 瀧崎邦明 {TAKIZAKI Kuniaki}'s case, the IOC ruled that he was ineligible to compete in the 2012 London summer games because a year had not passed since changing his nationality, despite Cambodia declaring him as eligible to represent the country.

Choosing (to keep) Japanese nationality via 国籍選択 {kokuseki sentaku} ([Adult] Choice of [One] Nationality)

There are a few instances of athletes, who were naturally born dual nationals of Japan and another country, choosing Japanese nationality during the two year window after becoming legally Japanese adult (20 years old). These athletes are not legally "naturalized" and they do not go through the naturalization process; they have had a Japanese 戸籍 {koseki} (family register) since birth. Those who chose Japanese nationality by 22 are legally still natural-born, not naturalized.

ice dancing (men/women)

• リードキャサリンマーガレット {RĪDO Kyasarinmāgaretto} (Cathy Reed), a Japanese-American who chose Japanese nationality

Cathy competes with her brother/partner, Chris Reed (リードロバートクリストファー {RĪDO Robātokurisutofā}) for team Japan. Chris decided to choose U.S. nationality before his 22nd birthday. He can still continue to represent Japan with his Japanese national sister in the Olympics and other international competitions because ice dancing allows for couples of mixed nationality.

Japanese-American Allison Reed's new nationality: Georgia

Allison Reed, of the same Reed family, is also an Japanese-American ice dancer who obtained Georgian nationality and has competed first Georgia and then for Israel (the mixed nationality rule allows this because her partner had Israel nationality). While brother-sister teams in pair skating and ice dancing is not uncommon (there were four brother-sister ice dance teams in the 2010 games), having siblings compete against each other at the international level is unusual.

Enjoying and competing in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics