Many jobs with executive powers require nationality.

Once you have received Japanese citizenship you are qualified to hold public positions.This includes becoming a volunteer firefighter.This position includes a small stipend to go along with the equipment and uniform that you receive.

So you've decided to run for public office

Good for you. Here is what you'll need.

There are three minimum requirements which will concern you:

1. You must be a Japanese citizen.
2. You must be 25 yrs. old.
3. You will need access to ¥300,000 in cash. 

There are other minor requirements, but my guess is if you were cleared to become a citizen, you need not worry about them. I'm talking about no ties to the yakuza, criminal record and other negative influences on your life.

The following are requirements more of a personal nature and my opinion only. These requirements are more based on observation and my own experience. You will need:


Communication skills: I'm guessing your conversation skills will be considerable. Of concern is your reading and writing. Being able to read a substantial number of kanji is highly recommended. Junior high level will probably be a minimum. Illiteracy will not stop you from getting elected, as long as someone in your circle of supporters is willing to do the requisite translation and paperwork. Unfortunately, if you can’t read, you will likely get elected at least once but will easily be manipulated by your peers. Although the majority of the documents will be delivered to you a week to 10 days before the beginning of each session, there will be also be plenty of on-the-day docs, not to mention amendments put in your hands 5 minutes before you're expected to vote on them. If you have an understanding with the councillor sitting beside you, perhaps that won't be an issue. But better to be somewhat literate. Personally, if you've made the effort to become a citizen, you need to be literate anyway. So I hope you studied harder than the average bear.

People skills: You should be a relatively well known in your community. You should have a wide circle of friends of varying ages and social levels. Ideally you will be known in both the Japanese and foreign communities. Since you are likely to be the first foreigner in your town or city to run for office, many citizens will ask the only foreigners they know about you, so it is important that your reputation amongst the foreign community be passable. Given our era of social networking, a negative reputation might translate into a deal breaker due to the demographics of your likely voter. You don't need to be outgoing, but it will help. In your new job, you will meet a lot of people. If you can make small talk at the drop of a hat, it will save you some awkward moments.


Looks: It will help if you look foreign. I'm not saying a foreign-born Japanese, Korean or Chinese can't win, but there is a distinct advantage to looking different than your competition. The only interaction you will likely experience with the voter is your photo. If, like me, you are clearly foreign-born, then a decent picture is going to be all you need. The Japanese have a reputation for being insular. To an extent the term is accurate, but the Japanese also have a history of searching out and embracing new ideas and customs. I'm sure the voting public will be intrigued by you. And in the political arena, any conversation about you is free advertising. The more people are talking about you, the better. You can help the conversation by seeking out people who are commonly known for small talk and gossip. Hairdressers and taxi drivers are good examples. Bar owners are another.

Issues: You will need to have an issue, something you can own. You don't need to be THE expert, but voters will need a soundbite, something they can identify you by. In my case it is generally the environment, in particular the bicycle paths which crisscross my city. When people think of me, they think of a guy campaigning on his bicycle. Your manifesto will have a few issues listed, but decide which issue you want your voter to remember.

One Year to Starting Gun

I know you’re nervous that you're really going to do it, you’re really going to run. You’ve gotten your citizenship and you’ve managed to convince your spouse and a few friends you are very serious. I’ve named this section “One Year to Starting Gun.” But really, you want to start as soon as you can. If you haven’t got your citizenship yet, I would hold off on mentioning political aspirations until you do (just sayin’). This section is for those who already meet the candidate requirements or anyone who wants an idea of what they have to look forward to.

By the one year mark you should be trying to get involved in political events, often fund raisers. It’s time to start shaking hands and rubbing elbows. Look for political events you can attend. While at these events, start mentioning that you are thinking of entering the race. Most people you tell will be incredulous, initially, but as the months progress and the rumour mill begins to grind, the more progressive elements in your politically-minded community will start approaching you to confirm your intentions. You are a unicorn for them. They will not be able to stay away.

I’m guessing there will also be councillors in your city/town gov’t who hold views similar to your own. Go and meet them. Councillors will always have time for a constituent. Be aware, sitting councillors will be your competition so not all of them will be happy to see another candidate join their next race. They may even steer you wrong, so don’t necessarily believe everything you hear. Trust, but verify. That said, I still recommend you meet them. In initial meetings, you don’t need to be a policy wonk, don’t need to impress them with your knowledge of local issues. You are only there to meet and greet. To be blunt, every politician I’ve ever met has been very polite. Abrasive, arrogant, aloof people don’t get elected locally. You will also notice local politicians are often very passionate as well as compassionate.

In addition to looking for potential allies once you're elected, there is another goal you'll need to consider at these initial meetings - posters. If you’ve paid attention to past elections, you’ll have noticed those big billboards full of candidates’ posters all over town which appear a few weeks before an election. In my city there are 460 locations to cover. It is not an easy job to put up all those posters, especially for a new candidate. What you likely don’t know is that all those posters are put up in the first few hours of the official election period. But don’t despair, you won’t have to put up all those posters by yourself. My first election, I teamed up with a group of 6 like- minded councillors and split up the work. We each took 50 ~ 60 locations and, with the help of a few friends, put up each others’ posters. In this way the job was done well before lunch.

In one election I decided to do all 460 locations on my own. My poster team was around 30 people and took the better part of a day. Trust me, working with a larger group of politicians is much easier. Just make sure before you join a group that you are only signing up for poster sharing duty and not some other obligations once you're elected. I have yet to hear of follow-on obligations, but better to make things clear before you start.

Perhaps you already know someone who is politically aware. If you don’t already have someone in mind, you would do well to find a political advisor, someone who knows the movers and shakers in the political community. You may find such a person at political events, but I would hope you can find someone in your (family’s) circle of friends. This person will have his finger on the pulse of the town and help you with policy. Ideally s/he will continue to advise during your career. You will always need people helping you manoeuvre through the waters. Your advisor may not have so much influence themselves, but they will know people who do. If I had to guess, once your intentions become common knowledge, such people will gravitate towards you.

Six months before your election there will be some jostling amongst mayoral candidates. Choose a mayoral candidate and get your intermediary to introduce you. It won't matter if your candidate wins or loses but it will be better if s/he has considerable support. To be blunt, your candidate will be able to help you a lot more than you will be able to return that help. And they will want to help. For them, the more support they seem to have from councillor candidates, the better. It is win/win. Probably the biggest help will be an offer to distribute your flyers along with their own. Such an offer is worth a considerable sum. Generally, posting services charge around ¥3 per flyer. Multiply that by 100,000+ households and one gets an understanding how valuable such help could be.

Your mayoral candidate will also invite you to their political rallies, giving you a chance to be seen by the masses. Don't have any illusions that you will get any votes from the people at such rallies. People who attend such rallies are often quite plugged into the scene and will have offered their support to an already established candidate and have voted for the same candidate 2 or 3 times already. You should still attend such rallies for the word-of-mouth buzz you will create. Though the attendees may be plugged in and already committed, their kids, friends and relatives are likely closer to the periphery and still uncommitted. The older, rally-attending generation will probably want to talk about you to various people in their lives. From their perspective, seeing you at the rally was probably the most exciting thing to happen at an event in decades.

Choosing a Party

Don’t.

In a nutshell, if you choose a party you are locked in. You may benefit but may also suffer, depending on the fortunes of the party. Unless you are planning to reach the Diet in your career, the parties will always need you more then you need them. Don’t join and you will always be free to vote according to your conscience. The voting public will appreciate that. If you’re in a party you’ll always be a slave to your party leader and his agenda. On the other hand, being independent can sometimes make your life very dramatic since there is always a chance you will be the deciding vote.

In addition, I would point out that most parties want you to prove yourself in an election anyway. Unless you are dedicated to a party through a family member, you won't be let in even if you ask. Once you're elected, a party may or may not approach you. In my years in office, the topic only came up once, more of an offhand suggestion than a serious request. They won't provide you with funds or help you campaign. You'll have to do that all by yourself. At best you'll be allowed to use their logos. And if you’re lucky, they may also keep you in the loop in regards to regional or national policies coming down the pipe.

Two Months to Starting Gun

You will need a proper campaign/poster photo and line up a printer for your posters. Legally, you can use any photo of yourself you like but I would advise arranging a proper high definition photo shoot. Be sure to ask your photographer to leave plenty of frame around your face. You will need this space for your name and other details. If the framing is too tight, you'll end up having script across your face/body, making it harder to read. The photo must be taken at least within 6 months of the election.

Your printer should be able to recommend a pro photographer and make all the arrangements such that the cost of the photographer will be included in the bill for posters. If you’re in the 関東 {Kantō} area, I recommend Ben Parks. These posters must be a given size (A3) so be careful you don’t go with some fly-by-night who gives you a rock bottom price because they got a deal on off-size paper from their cousin who works in Thailand. The posters should also get a plastic laminate to protect it from rain, as well as having a sticky backing. Expect the process, from the time of submitting your data to the printer to receiving the posters, to take at least 10 days. The posters should be ready at least 2 weeks before the start of the election, so don’t dilly dally. Don’t worry about the cost - posters are covered by the Election Bureau so the printers will look after the billing. You just need to prepare your Illustrator file and make sure your poster follows the rules. Be sure to consult the rulebook. You don’t want to be printing twice.

I would advise you ask a presently sitting councillor to recommend a printing company. If your printer is also printing for other locals, you know they’ll get the dimensions and all the other little things right.

By now you should also have your flyers printed and have started handing out your political 名刺 {meishi} (versus your normal business cards). Be aware, you cannot mention your candidacy until the actual starting day. Your cards, flyers and other paraphernalia should not mention anything but your name and contact info. A slogan is OK. Not to worry, everyone will know what’s going on when they see your card (if you do it right). There’s a lot of wink-wink nudge-nudge happening in the political arena.


You will also need a sash (襷 {tasuki}) for campaigning. You can make one yourself if you like, but there are plenty of companies online that provide all kinds of election paraphernalia. You can get flags and jackets as well, but depending on your campaign, I don’t know if they are worth the investment. Flags and jackets will certainly make your campaign supporters look professional, if you don’t mind the cost. If you’re going to get professional paraphernalia, you’d best start buying two months in advance. When things start heating up, you don’t want to be trying to do everything at once.

Something to keep in mind, the election rules keep changing. There are plenty of unspoken rules and even rules which are written down but everyone ignores. After my last election I was told my flag attached to the back of my bike was actually illegal. Having groups of supporters in matching jackets could also be construed as threatening. You can talk to the local election board about what to expect, but actually all they will do is point to the rule book. Better to ask someone with experience.

One Month to Starting Gun

This form is only applicable to Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The very first official step to entering an election is to get a candidate's package, issued about one month before the election at the election explanatory meeting (説明会 {setsumei-kai}).

You don’t need to attend the meeting, but I recommend you show. It will give you a chance to meet some of the other candidates. Many of the more experienced candidates have staff to attend this meeting so don’t expect meet all the candidates. Your candidate's packet will contain a few booklets as well as some other materials. One booklet contains the application forms with explanations; the other explains election law. The forms cover both the application for candidacy as well as for registering volunteers, campaign offices, vehicles to be used, and campaign donations (if you receive any).

The electoral law is straightforward but somewhat silly in some respects. In my first campaign (2008) the Internet was still not something candidates were comfortable with. Though sitting councillors had an average age in the mid-50's, our oldest councillor was already 90. Some understood the web, but the older candidates did not. Candidates in my first campaign were allowed to have a web page but once the campaign officially started they were not allowed to update it. Social media was completely verboten. By 2012 the social media sites were taken off the forbidden list and web pages were allowed to update during the campaign.

Pre-campaign campaigning is considered off limits. That stopped no one, mind you. The law is worded such that people who are committed to running in an election are not allowed to say so in public. That doesn't stop them from saying things like, “I’m seriously considering running,” or, “I’ve put a lot of thought into running.” Before an election candidates are not allowed to actually ask the public to vote for them. In private meetings, behind closed doors with friends it’s fine. But not on a public street accosting strangers.

Mayoral candidate flyers started appearing in citizens' mail boxes about 2 to 3 months before the election. City council flyers started showing up a month before. Strangely, those flyers are all publications meant for "information only." The words “candidate” or “election” do not appear anywhere. No one is fooled, of course. The smiling candidates with all kinds of policies and previous achievements pretty much give the game away.

Though the intent of campaign law is broken on a regular basis by many candidates, unless someone complains about gross violations, the police almost never get involved. Complaints will initially go to the Election office. An official often just gives the offending campaign headquarters a call and lets them know to knock off whatever activity has gotten them into trouble. If the campaign continues in their erroneous ways, then the cops will get involved. Elections are under police purview, for what it’s worth, but barring a complaint, they pretty much sit on their thumbs. And even then, they are more likely to give a warning than actually take steps.

The Deposit: In your election packet there will be a deposit slip as well as instructions which bank(s) you will need to make a ¥300,000 deposit (this may vary by city or prefecture). You will first need to take the deposit slip to a local notarizing office (法務局 {hōmukyoku}) where they will register your intent and give you a document for the bank. With the document you make your deposit. You will need to bring proof of the deposit to the Election Committee at a later time.

The deposit is one method for keeping the riff-raff out of the political game. Don’t worry about that money. Almost everyone gets it back. The rule for getting your deposit refunded is ridiculously easy. You only need to receive the votes equivalent to at least 10% of the lowest winning candidate’s total. In my city, the lowest ranked councillor usually gets around 1,800 votes. Anyone getting 180 votes or more has the deposit refunded. In my experience, only one or two candidates ever lose their deposit. It won’t be you, so stop worrying.

The Print Ad: you will be required to provide a print ad with a B&W photo for a special newspaper run which will be distributed to every house in your city. The content of the broadsheet will contain the manifestos of the various candidates. This paper will also be available at the various polling locations, just in case someone didn’t have a chance to see it at home. The election committee office will likely have the previous election's copy somewhere. If you ask, they will let you take photos for reference.

In your election packet you will be given a few pages of special layout paper on which you can state your policy ideas, your manifesto as well as your photo. The dimensions of the photo and the print ad are important. Read your handbook to ensure no mistakes. Since this is your first election anyway, you won’t need a long list of policies. You can add a bit about yourself, school and work record and even a doodle, if you like. Many candidates often add a manga drawing of themselves. At my age, I need reading glasses (sigh). You can assume that most voters will be similarly afflicted. If you try to say too much, you’ll need to use small fonts so you’ll only be making it harder for the older folks to read up on your ideas. The special paper you get in the packet will be shrunk down from around A4 to A6 (postcard) or smaller. So if you use 10 point font, it will come out as 2 or 3 point in the newspaper. Less is more.

Since this is your first election, don’t be shy about consulting with the election committee regarding any of your ideas. They are not proactively looking to disqualify anyone. The rule book covers the basics but you may have something up your sleeve not specifically covered. If you want to run around in a monkey suit, find out if it’s okay. Although I am a firm believer in asking for forgiveness rather than asking for permission, you should at least be aware that some activities will not fly. In my own experience, I’ve found the Election Committee members to be very helpful. Just understand, they are not allowed to give advice.

Preliminary Check: About a week to 10 days before the starting gun, your campaign will be required to provide all the filing documents and a sample poster for inspection. Members of the Election Committee will examine every document with a rigorous checklist. Be sure to bring your inkan since you will most certainly be required to make some minor changes on the documents. Your poster will also be examined and measured. I can’t stress enough, if there is something wrong with your poster at this point, you are screwed. You may be able to get a super rush reprint, but it will cost and there’s no guarantee you’ll ever get them up before the vote occurs. You will lose the election and probably your ¥300,000 too.

Poster Duty: if you have found a group to share poster hanging with, by now you should know how many locations you will be responsible for. In your election packet will be a set of maps with all the locations marked for the whole city as well as a list of locations ordered by district (丁 {chō}). The poster locations are usually about 4 or 5 per km² in urban areas and 2 or 3 in the rural locations. Find the relevant maps for your assigned boards and either scan them into your computer or make at least two photocopies (the maps are A3 size so a simple home copier won’t work). Make copies of the relevant pages of the list as well. Do not mark up or give your original maps to your teams. Using the copies, divide the assignments and highlight each location. I mostly group by district.

I would recommend about 5 ~ 10 locations per team, depending on how far apart they are. You probably have a few local friends. Put a blast out on your social media page or messaging app for poster volunteers. I think you’ll be surprised how many people will answer the call. You don’t need to accept everybody so if you get flooded with volunteers, perhaps you can find another job for them to do.

You will need to prepare a few tools for your crews. You’ll need a wet and dry towel to wipe the board clean before you put the posters up. The boards will have been erected at least a week before hand so if you want the posters to lay flat, you’ll need to wipe off the grit and grime which has undoubtedly accumulated. If it’s raining, provide dry towels in a plastic bag.

You will need 4 thumbtacks for each poster. If your group is hanging 5 posters per location, you'll need 20 tacks. Go online and buy a big box, divide as necessary. Be sure to include an extra 10 pins or so in each kit for the ones which get dropped or bent.

Depending how handy you are, I suggest making tack pushers out of 10 cm doweling. A tack pusher is just a bit of wood to help push the tacks all the way into the boards. They save your crews’ thumbs. If you want to get fancy, glue some magnetic backing, the stuff that keeps those ads on the sides of cars, so the tack will attach and you can smash lickety split. The pushers don’t need to be complicated, but the volunteers will appreciate it.

Each crew will also need a garbage bag for the poster backing.

You need to provide the at least one extra poster for each candidate for each team. If a team has 5 locations, you need to provide 6 posters of each candidate and 20 pins per candidate plus 5 extra pins.

Finally, you’ll need copies of the relevant maps for each group, the location checklist and pen/pencil. You don’t need to provide a full copy of the maps to everyone. You, on the other hand, will need a full set of maps. Invariably some team will call and say they looked for 30 minutes for a location and couldn’t find it and they need to go to work now or feed the dog. Or it could also be that one of your volunteers wrecked two or three copies of a candidate’s poster before they figured out how best to peel and hang so they ran out of posters and could you please swing by location “6-14” and put up a poster? Whatever. Point is, you don’t know who it will be so you need to be able to find each and every location if necessary. That’s why you will need to have a full set of maps, extra posters and tacks.

At a location it’s best to set up a system. For example, on arrival, the leader will check off the location on the checklist. One person wipes the board while the other starts hanging posters. Once wiping duty is done the volunteer can grab the pusher and start ramming the tacks in flush, one in each corner. The tacks are there to prevent the posters from peeling off the board if it rains during the campaign week. I don’t need to mention again the posters needing laminated fronts, do I? Good. So the tacks and laminate will keep those puppies up even during the apocalypse. Clean up and on to the next location. From experience with 7 candidates’ posters, each location took about 5 minutes.

By now you will have likely seen campaign flyers showing up in your post and you’re thinking you should do the same. I won’t say you shouldn’t but I will say it’s probably unnecessary. The kind of voter you’re looking for are probably in their mid 20’s to early 40’s. They don’t pay attention to junk mail so I don’t see much point. Better to invest in a professional looking web site. Don’t waste money on a web programmer. Learn a few skills yourself and find a host with decent templates. You’ll only need it for a few months. You might want to print up some flyers so you have something to hand people during the campaign, but don’t expect to pass out tens of thousands. To be blunt, I can only speak of my own experience. I don’t know if people on the street in the major population centres will want your flyers. Just for reference, I only handed out a few hundred in my 2008 and almost none in my 2012 or 2016 campaigns.

If you have some factories, corporate headquarters or other rather large organizations in your constituency, you may want to spend a morning or two before the election at their front gate or parking entrance. You may stand on public property and wave to people coming and going. If you have your campaign sash already, I suggest wearing it inside out so your name is not visible. As I mentioned, as long as you don’t mention you are running, it’s not illegal. If you want you can also paste a few slogan-like kanji onto the front and back. If someone is wearing a sash in public they are either politicians or a reigning tourism queen. And unless you’re wearing some hospitality outfit, no one will mistake you for anything but a politician.

What may surprise you is that many of the people who see you at the gates won’t even realize an election is looming. They are likely to think you’re some kind of nut. And let’s face it. You are COMPLETELY nuts. But that’s why you’re doing all this. Normal people don’t put themselves out there like us. Point is, you can rest assured many people who see you that morning are going to mention it to co-workers. They will be curious who the heck that foreigner is and why is he wearing the sash? Perhaps some co-workers with their ears to the ground will know about the election and maybe even heard some crazy gaijin is running. If you greet the workers a few different days, you’ll find by Day 3 or so, you’ll get people honking their horns, waving and just wishing you luck/ganbatte. One or two may even engage you just to see how sane you really are. Don’t be surprised if they address you in English. There are always a few people who want to practice/show off their language abilities.


In my case, on the recommendation of my wife, I spent the 10 mornings before the start in front of the local public day cares and kindergartens. Women have a lot of clout in the household. Especially in homes where the husband is at work all day. The husband may not have the time or inclination to follow the candidates so it is not uncommon for their wives to fill them in on details. I also spent time at the gates to local research institutions. As our city has a very strong car culture, those mornings and evenings in front of the institutes’ exits were mostly waving at the passing cars and bowing. Speaking from experience, you will need to be physically fit going in. You’ll be doing a lot of walking, cycling, bowing and waving. If you’re generally a couch potato, I would recommend a gym membership from at least 3 months out. You'll need to work those abs and gain upper body strength. If your waves and bows are lacklustre because you're pooped, don’t blame me if your numbers are also lacklustre. Just sayin’.

Source: Joe Jones

You may notice I didn’t mention riding around in a car, speakers blaring with the voice of some screechy annoying campaign caller. Now you can hire such a car and the city will even pay for it and the caller too. But trust me, you won’t stand out by doing everything the same as everyone else. My wife forbade me hiring a campaign car. It was not a hard command to follow. I hate those cars. You hate those cars. Trust me, just about every voter hates those cars. Even the older folk hate the campaign cars of the competing candidates. So what is gained by getting under everyone’s skin? I have yet to hear anyone say to me, “I didn’t vote for you because you didn’t come wake me up at 8 AM on a Saturday morning with your campaign car.” Lots of folks have told me they appreciate that I rode around on my bike, making no unnecessary noise. Especially at 8 AM on a Saturday morning. Riding my bike got people talking. It was a bit whacky by Japanese standards, but whacky is publicity. And since many of my issues deal with cycling and the environment, it was also appropriate.

And They’re off and Running

It’s finally here. You’ve been planning for years so I’m sure you’re both nervous and relieved. First duty for the day is to head to the hall the Election Committee has designated for the purpose of examining your documents - likely at your city office. Yes, I know, all the documents were already examined a week or so ago. Not the point. It has to be done once again, this time for real. And be sure to bring your inkan because on the off chance the first examination missed something, you’ll need to be able to fix or redo it. First things first, sign in. Typically, most campaigns send representatives to the official examination. I personally like to make my appearance. Whichever you choose, in the long run, it won’t make a lick of difference. There is an official reception time by which candidates (or reps) should have signed in. Usually that would be 7:30. However, one can be examined at any time on Sunday. Just be aware your posters can’t go up before you’ve been certified.

At some point the various campaigns reps will be called up to choose a stick (lot) with a number at the bottom in the order they signed in. This number decides which space the campaign will have on the poster boards. Once all the numbers of your poster group have been decided, around 7:45, the poster group will share this info with each other. Text the names and numbers of your group to your poster HQ and the teams can start hanging. But not so fast. The posters are only allowed to go up at the earliest from 8 AM and technically, only after your candidacy has been approved by the Election Committee. Not that it matters. No one is going to call the police if the first poster is hung at 7:55 AM and your approval isn’t quite done yet.

The poster boards are divided into squares with a number in each. Most candidates would prefer to be in the 1 ~ 3 position. That will be the left edge of the board. The other prime location is on the far right edge. It’s just optics, really. For you, it’s is unlikely to make much difference. My guess is you’ll stick out like a sore thumb anyway. And just like when you know a friend is in a commercial, once you see them, even in the background, you can’t stop your eyes from gravitating to their face during the flash they are on the screen. Your brain says, “Look! It’s Terry!” and you can’t stop yourself from looking. It will be the same with your poster. Once the citizens know you're there, every passing car, or a person walking by, their eyes will gravitate to you. They won’t be able to stop themselves.

Of all the posters on the board, yours will be the most scrutinized. This one campaign week is why “good enough” is not good enough! Your poster will make or break you. DON’T SCREW IT UP!!!!!

At 8 AM the Election Committee will begin the examinations of the candidates documents. This is done in the order of the number assigned. Technically, a candidate cannot begin campaigning until the document examination is finished and ratified. But no one is especially nit-picky if a candidate starts shaking hands and making speeches in public right on the dot of 8 while his rep waits his/her turn for examination. Each inspection doesn't take very long. If there are not any glitches on the paperwork, expect about 10 minutes per candidate. With 4 or 5 teams of inspectors, everyone is done by 9 AM. Since I am a rather hands on guy, I like to hang my share of posters. As I see it, I shouldn’t ask anyone to do something I am unwilling to do myself. Therefore, my first duty as an official candidate is to head to my designated route and wipe, peel and punch. I’m usually done by noon after which I usually head to the centre of town and meet and greet shoppers for a couple of hours.

Only one week of doing the headless chicken dance and it’ll all be over. But it will not be an easy week. Unless you are a sociopath (for what it’s worth, politicians score very high on the tests) you will likely feel a lot of stress. Tens of thousands of people are going to see you with your sash. They will be used to seeing the typical Japanese politicians fighting the fight, but no doubt they will not recognize you as a candidate at first. They’ll drive by you in their cars, pass you on the street, but if I had to guess, their first thought will be, “Is this a stunt? Where’s the camera?” Until they see you on the campaign poster, of course. Next time many of those same passersby see you they’ll smile, wave, honk and shout encouragement. And you’ll feel relieved, encouraged and just plain happy. It’s a wonderful feeling to be taken seriously in a serious business.

Naturally you will not be perceived in the same way as all the other candidates, as qualified, as connected, as Japanese. But hey, that’s a good thing. At least at the time of writing, all I see is cynicism, distrust and distain for politicians in general. Strangely, your presence will encourage the common folk, the drivers of trucks and servers of cold beverages, the people struggling, and even the ones who send their kids to Todai. I know, you’re thinking, “Jon has totally lost it. He should seek help.” But think about your own experiences in Japan for a bit.

There are some common traits that most Japanese share. Above all else, they love being seen as unique in the world. Coming from Canada I remember meeting Americans and invariably as conversation flows about movies and music, art and sports, a Canadian will almost certainly mention that X player, or Y musician is Canadian. They can’t help themselves. Japanese act in a similar fashion. Whenever a Japanese is honoured in the international media for some great achievement, they will burst with pride, in a Japanese manner, of course. So here you are. You’ve gone to great lengths to get your citizenship. You have flyers, posters, all the accoutrements of a politician. You are proclaiming to anyone who bothers to look, “Here I am. I AM JAPANESE and I love this country so much I’m willing to risk total embarrassment to do my best to help this country.” In a twisted way, you are validating every Japanese’ personal love for their country. You have declared that Japan is so awesome you’ve give up your original citizenship, given up your pride and given up your sanity to help the country you love. And the lookie-loos will see that. They will feel both proud and honoured that you have understood them.

You have made sacrifices in order to do something positive. So what if you’re not as qualified in politics as the other candidates. And to be frank, given the level of distrust in the general public, not being connected is a positive. No envelops of money are likely to be passed your way. No voting to build needless infrastructure just because your nephew’s construction company is doing poorly. And as for being as Japanese, well, you bring other skills to the table. At the minimum, you bring international experience. In the 25 years (at time of writing) I’ve lived in Japan, all I’ve heard from politicians, teachers and other leaders is Internationalism, Globalism and similar slogans. And here you are, proof that Japan is as international, as global thinking as anywhere. And you will get elected. By a wide margin.

The voters will feel good about themselves, because no one wants to have voted for a loser. They will enjoy being seen as cosmopolitan, open-minded and global thinking. You will become a member of one of the most interesting clubs ever devised. You will be as close to the making of political sausage as anyone around. You will be lauded, praised and feted. Of course you will also be pilloried behind your back. Damn bloodsucker that you are. Taking people’s hard earned taxes and wasting them on parties and junkets. Who does that dude think he is? Too big for his britches and an arrogant know-it-all shit-for-brains. Don’t let it bother you. If you don’t have a thick skin, you are not the right person for the job.

/digression

You will never make everyone happy. And so it should be. Some clever bunny once explained that politics is the interface between two or more warring factions on any given issue. Easy problems are solved by the individuals involved. A very short story:

• We should dig a well.

• Where should we dig?

• Over there.

• Maybe the well should be up the hill a bit so the cow dung from Neighbour X doesn’t contaminate the water. 

• Good idea. 

The neighbours dig a new well. The End.

Conversely:

• If we dig the well up the hill, you will control the water because you own all the land around it. It should be closer to the village so people won’t have to walk as far.

• But then it will be contaminated by cow dung.

• We can’t agree so this problem should be brought to the village council.

The council voted for the well up the hill. One guy is happy, the other not so much. The happy guy will vote for the wise councilmen again. The unhappy dude will curse the obviously corrupt and greedy council who screwed him. Now multiply by 10 different projects, each of which divides the councillors in different ways and one soon understands why politicians are held in such low esteem.

/end digression

At this point I can’t much help you with campaigning as I just don’t know your constituency. The best I can do is advise you to find a location with a lot of people. Election rules forbid you to campaign on private property without permission. Sidewalks, parks and other public areas are OK. But not schools. Stay away from the kids. Say hi, but don’t ask to tell their parents to vote for you. Read the rules.

If your area has a mall, chances are you won’t be allowed in. Not because they don’t like you, but because they don’t want to inconvenience their customers. Nor do they want to irritate their clients by openly supporting a candidate. And if the mall gives you permission, they are pretty much obliged to offer the same courtesy to every candidate. That said, other candidates often hold rallies on the sidewalks right next to a mall’s parking lot. It gives their supporters a place to park, after all. That the supporters often stand on land belonging to the mall is irrelevant. They are there as “customers” and just happen to be interested in what Candidate X was saying so they stopped and listened. A nice little fiction, but much of the campaign is also charade-like.

If you can’t find a place with a lot of pedestrian traffic, then just find a busy intersection and stand on the corner and wave. That first Sunday will be rather gloomy because most people will only gawk a bit. Hopefully you won’t cause an accident by someone rubbernecking. You can stand and wave for a bit at a few corners for an hour or so. Come nightfall, try to find a place with good lighting. You want a streetlamp above you. If no one can see you, you may as well be at home.

Monday to Friday mornings are best spent revisiting those same company entrances or day cares I mentioned previously. During the day, look for pedestrian traffic or find a corner and start waving and bowing. Come evening, find another company parking lot to haunt and bow to the staff as they leave for home. As our city’s elections are in October, I’m often done by 7 PM. There just aren't many people, it’s already pitch black and I’m usually pretty much bushed. The Saturday, last day of campaigning before the election (campaigning is not allowed on election day except e-mailing and calling), I look for shoppers again or find busy intersections. The sun usually sets around 6 PM so I make a final tour around our drinking district. I used to own a bar in the area so I feel somewhat like their guy. If there are already revelers on the streets, I’ll try to engage. If not, I’ll stick my head into the shops of old friends from my bar days, give them a hello and gossip. Most of my friends are already well acquainted with some of the other male candidates. When local politicians need to unwind naturally they end up in many of the same haunts at some point.

So that’s the long and short of campaigning. It’s tiring, but has it’s rewards. You get to meet a lot of new people, hear many shouts of encouragement as well as honks from passing cars. You’ll be tired but in a good way. You will know your time was not wasted. Best of all, you will have silenced all those naysayers who laughed or even mocked your idea, not so many years back, when you first proposed running.

They will have been watching from the sidelines, laughing and joking at your “vivid imagination.” And then you got your citizenship - one step taken. Their laughs and jeers will downgrade to smirks but with a sudden realization you weren’t joking. They will watch as you take one step after the other, and understanding will dawn on them how serious you are. By the time the starting gun is 3 months away, they will have begun encouraging you and spreading the word, bragging to their friends, families and co-workers. When the call comes for volunteers to put up posters, they’ll be first in line. They will pass out your flyers to anyone they ever met, to strangers, anyone who even crosses their path.

When the polls close and everyone is waiting for the tally, they’ll be the ones shouting at the computer to hurry up, bashing the mouse to reload the results page. And when the numbers come in and it’s clear you’re going to win in a landslide, they’ll be shouting and dancing, jumping up and down in exuberance. Oh ya. It’ll be worth it. And when your head hits the pillow that night, you’ll finally have the chance to ask yourself, “Oh shit, what have I gotten myself into?”

credit: Ann Swinderman

The December 9th, 2017 article published in the Japan Times' national news section, written by Philip Brasor, is titled with the bold alarming proclamation that:

Without an official father, kids can be stateless [in Japan]

Is this really true? With the semantics word "can", this is pedantically true, although in reality, many other, much more rarer conditions must also (fail to) be met.

Although arguably not an ideal situation, there are countless children born in Japan who receive Japanese nationality at birth even without an official or known father. To be born without a nationality in Japan, many more conditions must not be met (such as, and arguably much more important, like the existence of a birth certificate). What IS true is that when neither jus sanguinis nor jus soli can be used to determine a child's origins, then it is possible that a child may not acquire Japanese nationality immediately at birth.

The author of the article seems to be aware, due to his translated quote near the end of the article, that the lack of a birth certificate is the most probable cause of statelessness in Japan — not lack of a known father — so it is likely that an editor at the Japan Times wrote the inaccurate and sensational headline; writers for newspapers do not often get to choose the headline for these pieces.

To put this in simpler English, the correct, less sensational (albeit longer) title of the article should have been:

"Without a birth certificate or any other documentation linking a child to the territory of a nation-state or any parent with a nationality, a child could be born stateless."

or alternatively, depending on the original author's primary message he wished to convey:

"Without at least one official Japanese national parent, kids can be non-Japanese"

In other words, a state is hesitant to make a child "one of their own", not just because they are conservative with assignment of their own nationality, but also because they might be mistakenly making claim to a citizen that does not in fact belong to them or may be against the wishes of the parents or legal guardians or another government.

To understand why its much harder to be born stateless than this article implies, we need to look back into Japan's legal history with the United Nations, which caused Japan and other countries to make important changes to their nationality law for the express purpose of preventing exactly what the alarming headline of the article claims.

The first change Japan made to its nationality law was done in 1985, at the behest of United Nations' directives (CEDAW) at the time to address its member countries' legislation that discriminated against sexes. Prior to 1985, Japan's jus sanguinis nationality laws stipulated that nationality was inherited only from the father. Starting in 1985, that changed so that a child could inherit at birth ("natural-born") Japanese nationality from either the father or the mother. This change was retroactive, meaning that people born in 1984 or earlier without Japanese nationality because only their mother had Japanese nationality could retroactively acquire Japanese nationality as a birthright. This process is different than naturalization (帰化 {kika}) and is called "Nationality Acquisition" (国籍取得 {kokuseki shutoku}) and is tracked and recorded differently in both statistics and on the family register (戸籍 {koseki}). A famous example of this post-birth Japanese nationality acquisition due to the law change, mentioned in the same article, is the former leader and president of the DPJ and DP (民主党 {minshutō}／民進党 {minshintō}): 村田蓮舫 {MURATA Renhō} aka her preferred public mononym"Renho".¹

The second change to the nationality law was also done on behest of the United Nation's coordinated efforts (via the UNHCR) to reduce and eventually eliminate the status of statelessness among people in the world. The UN learned and agreed, through the experiences of the World Wars and the millions of stateless people they created, that the condition of involuntary² statelessness is not a desirable condition as these people lacked the protection and rights and abode provided by a nation-state. Thus, Article 15 of the UDHR declares that:

15. 1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
    2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

The United Nations aims to end statelessness by 2024.

Japan modified its nationality law in the spirit of United Nations guidelines to add for the possibility of deciding Japanese nationality by jus soli (right of the soil [Japan territory]):

2. (Acquisition of nationality by birth)
   3. When both parents are unknown or have no nationality in a case where the child is born in Japan.

慈恵病院 {Jikei byōin} (Jikei Hospital) in 熊本県 {Kumamoto-ken} (Kumamoto Prefecture) allows people to anonymously give up their unwanted baby born secretly (内密出産 {naimitsu shussan}) via a "Cradle of the Stork" (こうのとりのゆりかご {kōnotori no yurikago)

The primary intent of this law is to make sure that refugees who lack papers and/or lack nationality, after settling in Japan, can have children who do not suffer the same fate that they do.

However, this law also benefits rare cases such as when a baby is abandoned and/or given up for adoption anonymously by person in Japan.

Former House of Representatives member and Hyōgo Prefectural Assembly Member

As [井戸正枝 {IDO Masae}] told the business magazine, [東洋経済 {Tōyō Keizai}], in March [4] 2016, “There are many reasons why a child does not have a koseki. In some cases, the parents’ financial situation or environment prevented them from submitting a birth report, but that’s not a justification for depriving a person of a koseki.³ These children are being neglected and abandoned by society and the state.”

This suggests that the society and state is motivated by stinginess regarding the awarding of nationality, but there is good reason for the State of Japan or any other country to err on the side of caution and being conservative with respect to the issuing of nationality and especially a "koseki". A nationality is not just rights and privileges, but also duties and responsibilities. Without knowing who the true legal parents / legal guardians of a child are and what their nationalities may be, one could easily deny the true parents custody of a child, or assign the "wrong" nationality to a child, depriving that child (and its parents) of rights and possibly its true family (not to mention child support). The birth certificate is a document that helps provide clarity to the situation. Assigning an incorrect or undesired nationality on a person could subject them to legal liabilities such as extraterritorial taxation or military conscription, and may make it harder to travel or be in certain countries.

There are some countries in the world (especially in Africa) that still do not keep accurate vital records such as birth certificates, but in a modern developed country like Japan, there is a method for obtaining a birth certificate even if you are not born in a hospital, and obtaining a birth certificate or the legal equivalent does not have any fees. It is time consuming and arduous, but unfortunately this is necessary due to the government needing to be absolutely sure who the true parents are, to prevent fraud, child kidnapping, and false custody / alimony / child support claims and denials.

in a Hospital: easiest and quickest way to receive a Japanese family register in an Ambulance: could be case 1 or 3, depending on the judgement of the hospital Other: No family register until proof of parental relationship is recognized by a Legal Affairs Bureau

---

1. Although this same article mentioned that Renho's … nationality was questioned …, the article fails to clarify that the reason she was questioned was not because people doubted if she had acquired Japanese nationality, but rather her truthfulness about what she knew and how she handled her possession of an additional nationality (ROC); the press had uncovered multiple conflicting claims and statements regarding what she knew and what she had done about it, both orally and on paper, she had made publicly on the record about it over the years. In other words, some Japanese voters believed the lawmaker lied about her legal ties to another government (which is what nationality is) — a government which has territorial disputes and other disagreements with Japan and other conflicts with its official foreign policy — and its set of laws and its citizens' duties & responsibilities.
   
   To compare, when other politicians were discovered to have accidentally retained a second citizenship, they were let off the hook when they were completely open with their paperwork, corrected the situation by relinquishing their other citizenship, and apologized to their constituents.
2. Voluntary statelessness is complicated. The United States of America is an outlier in that it is one of the view countries in the world that will allow its citizens to become voluntarily stateless. Most countries, to comply with the United Nation's guidelines on eliminating statelessness, will not allow it. Japan will allow all of its nationals, including those who are natural-born (acquired Japanese nationality by birth) citizens to renounce and rid themselves of their Japanese citizenship as this right is guaranteed in its Constitution, but only if they can prove that doing so will not make them stateless.
3. The logic behind this thinking is not sound and backwards. The birth certificate is a far more important and necessary document to possess, as this is considered to be a breeder document for natural-born citizens, that is, an official document that is used to generate other documents, including the family register (戸籍 {koseki}), which is used domestically to prove nationality and from that used to generate a Japanese passport, which is only used to prove nationality internationally informally. The breeder document to create a 戸籍 {koseki} (family register) for a naturalized citizen, in contrast, is the 帰化者の身分証明書 {kikasha no mibun shōmeisho}.

During the middle of last year, a representative for Charles Robert Jenkins contacted me via email. Mr. Jenkins, during his forty years in North Korea beginning with his drunken defection from the U.S. Army in 1965, didn't really get a chance to learn how to use email or the internet. Or even develop basic skills in computer literacy.

"I'd like to thank the ministry for giving me permanent residency so quickly. I'd also like Japanese citizenship if possible. I want to be here until I die."

KFC can't brag that Colonel Sanders, the omnipresent stature in front of every Japanese Kentucky Fried Chicken, has its spokesperson working inside.

For decades, most people outside of Japan ignored the pleas of the victims families, saying that the idea that North Korea would send people across the Sea of Japan to snatch Japanese of no particular political, economic, or military significance was obviously a conspiracy theory, motivated by anti-Korean hate and paranoia. When I first arrived in Japan in the nineties, I was told by other foreigners in Japan that a good way to determine who is a right wing racist nut job is if they ever bring up the "wacky tale" of North Koreans kidnapping Japanese children.

One of many government produced posters expressing solidarity with the victims and their families.

The western press buried the story or refused to write about it, because this was the "politically correct" thing to do. It was only when North Korea's leader, KIM Jong-Il (金正日 {KIMU Jon-iru}), publicly admitted to the kidnapping (at least) 13 Japanese in 2002, that they changed their tune. However, even today, after the truth is known, the English press is still far more likely to write an article about Japanese political protests by framing it as an example of Japanese ethnic and racial hatred and racism towards all Koreans, rather than framing it as a protest against people associating, aligning, and expressing their loyalty to the political terrorist North Korean regime.

Charles Jenkins, his abducted Japanese wife, and their children helped turn the Japanese tragedy into a living story that the western press could relate to.

For more information about the abduction of Japanese by the state of North Korea, please visit the Japan Government's official web site:

One important thing I learned from this recording is that when all you have is the sound of your voice, the quality of the microphone is extremely important.

Jeff Krueger, an American who has lived in Japan for a long time, asked to interview me over a year ago. After two takes and multiple delays, he has published it onto the internet.

The content of podcast deals a lot with the study of the Japanese language in the beginning, then transitions into what the blog is about and naturalization.

In the podcast, we chat about what it means to "go native" (his opinion, not mine).

Deep in Japan is a completely independent, commercial free work of love—piped to you straight out of Jeff Krueger's closet.

Eiji (Evan) Koehler, born American, and Olaf Jong, born Indonesian, describe their experiences about acquiring Japanese nationality for the YouTube channel "Where Next Japan?" In the video, they describe the process of becoming Japanese citizens and explain not just how they did it, but also how other people reacted, and their thoughts on the place they now call home.

• 00:06 Intro
• 02:17 Why did you change your citizenship?
• 04:16 How did your family react to your decision?
• 04:57 How do other people react to your decision?
• 05:29 When did you start the process?
• 09:26 Were you surprised by any part of it?
• 10:48 Did you encounter any misinformation or misconceptions?
• 11:57 What was it like choosing a Japanese name?
• 14:20 Has your sense of self changed at all?
• 18:28 Final comments

Can You Bring Your Spouse, Family Member, Boy or Girlfriend, S.O., Lawyer, Friend with you to all the personal interviews?

Understanding What "Ken Seeroi" and "Japanese Rule of 7" Is

David Ury, and, with the help of digital editing, his "Caucasian Japanese" alter-ego, Ken Tanaka

Ken Seeroi, much like "Ken Tanaka" (a YouTube "Caucasian Japanese" played by actor David Ury), is not technically a real person. "Ken Seeroi" is an internet persona / pen name, most likely written by foreign person who is living and working in Japan but chose a pen name either for anonymity and/or to give him the ability to take an "artistic license" with the stories in his blog entries.

Authors and artists sometimes choose this method of communication because frankly, if you aren't confined to the truth of your own life, you can make your stories far more interesting, humorous, and entertaining. The author of "The Japanese Rule of 7" creates tales surrounding the character Ken Seeroi and tells them in the first person mode. Without the limitations of needing to be truthful, the author can create a tale to encapsulate the opinion or morale regarding Japan that he wishes to convey.

There's nothing particularly wrong with creating a first-person pen name, but it's important to understand that not everybody will outright identify their character as being fiction or semi-fiction — because it's important for his audience to believe that Ken Seeroi could be a real person and those events could have happened. When a magician performs their act on stage, they do not usually tell people in advance that what they're seeing is a sleight of hand or describe how the trick works. To keep the audience entertained, it's important for the audience to suspend their disbelief.

Many have been duped by Sacha Baron Cohen's character "Borat", believing him to be real.

Some people, such as David Ury, take their "character brand" to such extremes that it is not uncommon for people to misunderstand the in-character performance art for reality. I have had to correct not one, but two, social justice advocates who mistook David Ury's character "Ken Tanaka" for a real person, for example. Even Japan Times article writers have quoted "Ken Seeroi" content without noting that it is a pseudonym and the contents and details and events described in the blog cannot be verified.

While the blog entries are humorous and well written, it is important to remember that, while they all have a kernel of truth and believably to them due to the author having lived in Japan for some time — and it is obvious he watched and read quite a few YouTube videos and web pages to prepare his "Applying for Japanese Citizenship" article, anybody who has ever done the Japanese naturalization process can easily identity embellishments, that were written so as to be entertaining, rather than factual.

Much like reading Dave Barry or listening to comedy material from Bill Burr or Jerry Seinfeld, I know that the story about the person's family or interactions with others is fabricated. For example, the whole mid-story about his encounter I noted the following:

• You do not take a number like 12 and wait for your name to be called like at the post office, a bank, or traditional immigration. You make a reservation (preferably by phone), linking a specific time and date slot to your name.
• There is no …table in the middle of the cavernous room, inches from Japanese women tapping intently on their keyboards… (the largest Nationality interview room in Japan, located in central Tokyo, could hardly be called cavernous— "cramped and tight" is a better phrase, and the interview rooms are not laid out as to have a table in the middle nor are they near a cadre of staff workers — clearly the author was inspired by the opening scene in Blade Runner when he imagined this.
• There is no …4-page form… with a final question asking Why do you want to be a Japanese citizen?
  1. That's what the "Motivation Essay" is for.
  2. There is no such form. The longest official form is the naturalization permission application form (帰化許可申請書 {kika kyoka shinseisho}).
  3. The case workers are too busy to wait for you to write anything of length in front of them — that is considered to be homework to be brought in for review during the next appointment

Yokohama DeNA Baystars coach "Alex Ramírez" (アレックス・ラミレス), born Alexander Ramón Ramírez Quiñónez — and transcribed into Japanese in the Japanese government naturalization notices as 官報 (Official Gazette) as ラミレス・カプリレス・アレキサンダー・ラモン — but known by his Japanese nickname of ラミちゃん to his fans, officially became a Japanese national on January 23rd, 2019 at the age of 44.

Donald L. Keene passed away due to heart failure in a Japanese hospital at the age of 96 on February 24th, 2019 at 6:21am in a hospital near where he lived in 東京都台東区 {Tōkyō-to Taitō-ku} (Taito City, Tokyo).

This site has followed Donald Keene's path to naturalization only, as covering his entire contributions to Japan would be too difficult and too long for a site like this.

On a personal note, I should add that I had the opportunity to communicate with Donald Keene for a bit related to this site. This site has had over fifteen direct contributors (who have written directly for it in some way or form), and over two dozen contributors who have contributed documents and resources behind the scenes. All of these contributors were naturalized Japanese. And Donald Keene was among them.

When the site first hit one million visitors about a half decade ago, I hosted a party for all the naturalized Japanese in Japan who had contributed to the site. We rented out the big party room at Nichola Zappetti's (the naturalized Japanese who was the subject of Robert Whiting's book, "Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan") pizza parlor.

Donald Keene was on the invitation list thanks to his name being on this site in multiple articles. I wrote to him (on paper via the postal mail, as I assumed he would prefer, although we would later communicate via his Columbia University email address which he still used) sending him a formal invitation, not thinking about the logistics of a nonagenarian at an all-you-can-drink banquet.

He was quite gracious in his decline, saying that at the age of 93 [2015], he regrettably didn't go out to banquets anymore, but that he highly "approved" of the work we did here. Although we corresponded, I regret that I never got to meet him face to face.

I hope to visit both the Donald Keene Center in New York City and its sister institution in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture.

Donald Keene is survived in Japan by his adopted Japanese son.

Rest in peace, キーン ドナルド先生 {KĪN Donarudo-sensei}.

A received a question a while back from a potential naturalization applicant who asked me if it was possible to use a Legal Affairs Bureau for his naturalization application that is not the bureau which would be closest to either his home or work. This person, whose first language was French, told me he had a bad experience with interviewing in Tokyo because the case worker felt that his Japanese language ability was not good enough to meet the requirements for naturalization.

For those that don't know, there is no actual clause about Japanese language ability in the requirements for naturalization. However, having "abilities" and skills that are deemed useful and relevant enough to support a modest, stable, lifestyle financially is a requirement. Thus, for that requirement, they are looking at a variety of factors:

• Your formal education level (college)
• Your career related certifications in addition to one's diplomas
• Your employment / income stability and pattern (regular employee vs contract, temp, or freelance; size of stability of your provider [be it a company or a spouse])
• ... and your Japanese level

Because 99% of Japan speaks, reads, and writes Japanese, and over 95% of the employers in Japan need its employees to use Japanese, a minimal level of Japanese is needed to prove that if you were in a pinch, you would be able to seek employment at a place that did not cater to English or other foreign language workers (for example, a foreign IT company or English school).

For Japanese ability, nobody is expecting an applicants ability to be even close to native. However, I have heard of more than one candidate who was rejected because they had difficulty completely relatively simple forms and talking about themselves in complete sentences.

I have heard that as the younger generation increasingly relies on computers to assist them in understanding and writing Japanese, they are having more and more difficulty communicating with real live Japanese in face-to-face, unplanned encounters  (speaking slurred Japanese while inebriated after-hours at a watering hole does not count). Such as the long and numerous interview with case workers, as is needed for naturalization.

This applicant reasoned that because Tokyo's legal affairs bureau is the busiest in the country, they are less patient with those may struggle with the language.

It's hard for me to answer this question because frankly, the phenomenon of candidates wanting to naturalize with borderline credentials is a relatively new one to me; when I first naturalized in 2010, all the applicants I knew of lived in Japan prior to the computer age had deep resumes and resources and impressive Japanese skills (many were interpreters or translators). Because they learned Japanese before the advent of the internet, their Japanese was well rounded: they could write it (by hand, with a pen or pencil) and they could speak it because they couldn't rely on non-personal e-commerce for communication or the web for English entertainment.

Thus the following is an opinion.

The patience and friendliness of a bureau I believe depends more on the individual case worker than the office in general. While a smaller office may give you more "personalized" service because they have a lighter load, that "personalized" service may mean that they have time to probe into your Japanese ability more than a very busy bureau like in Tokyo.

I have heard of cases where smaller bureaus have rejected candidates. For example, I know of a British candidate who attempted to apply in Sendai who was rejected because he needed his smartphone to write (recall the kanji)  of his home address and the names of family members.

On the other hand, I have met people who have passed in Tokyo whose Japanese ability would be (in their own evaluation) ranked as "borderline".

What is not an opinion:

Part of the naturalization process is documenting your entire life, including your home and work addresses. If you apply to naturalize at a bureau that is not the most convenient to your home, they will definitely notice and most likely ask you why.

When they evaluate candidates, they do ask and look into whether a candidate has applied (and either dropped out or not passed) before. Not passing does not disqualify one for life, but they most likely will review the points of concern from prior applications. Of course, if you drop out before providing a name or anything written down, then this is not a problem.

It's not uncommon for political posters of Japanese candidates to use nicknames or kana to help voters remember them.

Puranik Yogendra (Nickname in Japanese: よぎ {Yogi}) was born in western India in 1977. He is the eldest son of three brothers. His father works at a factory and his mother is a seamstress. After graduating in India, he continued his education and earned a master's degree in international economy and international management. At the same time, he holds degrees in IT (computer development) and the Japanese language.

He first visited Japan as a student in 1997 and 1999, funded by the government. After college, he was given a job offer from a US company, but he chose to work in IT in Japan in 2001. He got married that year, and had his first child the year after that. His wife teaches at an overseas university, so he raises his son alone in Japan. Because of this, he became acutely aware of the challenges and difficulties of raising a child while maintaining a career.

Noemi was born on December 5, 1961 in Nuestra Señora de La Paz, Bolivia with the surname of Meneses. One of four siblings (she has both a younger and older brother and a younger sister) One brother is a computer engineer and the other two siblings are both architects. Her mother lived with her briefly in Japan for a half year to help her raise her oldest daughter. She has a total of four nephews and two nieces.

You can have any name you want, and it can be as long as you want, providing four conditions:

1. None of these are allowed.

   It has to be written exclusively in or a combination of (modern, not archaic) hiragana, katakana, or kanji. Just like you can’t write a name on American official documents in Thai, Cyrillic, Hangul, or Arabic … or even use diacritic marks used in European languages (ex. the German sharp S [“ß”] or French cedilla [ç] or others [ÂÄÅÀÁ]) — people becoming American must adapt their name to the plain 26 character alphabet — you have to adapt your name to Japan’s writing system.
2. Like a newborn child, you will be strongly discouraged from choosing a new name which will cause problems in society (for example, intentionally choosing the name of a unique famous person for the purpose of fraud / identity theft, or choosing a provocative name like “demon” (悪魔 {Akuma}) or “dickhead” or “emperor”)

3. Most Icelanders do not have surnames.

   You get one family name, and one given name. No middle names, additional given names, or mononyms (single names, like “Madonna” or “Cher” or “Prince” or “Björk” †). If you want additional names, they are concatenated all together in the “given name”: no spaces, dashes, punctuation, or other forms of separators are allowed. (ex. the given names on a British birth certificate “Adrian Charles George” would become the one name 『エイドリアンチャールズジョージ』“Eidorianchāruzujōji” in kana.)
4. If you are legally married in Japan and/or with children and these people are Japanese nationals, you must all have the same family name. That means either the man takes the woman’s name, the woman takes the man’s name, or you choose a brand new family name for the family register and everybody takes that name.

Note the name in parentheses.

Note that this is for official domestic-use identification. For identification that is used for overseas outside-of-Japan purposes (ex. a passport), it is possible to have a Latin (26 letter alphabet) letter name, alternate names, and non-Japanese spellings. Example: your legal domestic Japanese name may read 『佐藤キンバリー』“Satō, Kinbarī” (in 仮名／漢字kana/kanji), but your Japanese passport could say “SATO(SMITH/PARKER), KIMBERLY(KIM)” if you can prove you use/need those foreign names on your for-foreign-use passport.

† Legally speaking, these celebrities actually do have more than one name on their official documentation, even though in public they are only known by one name.

It's been brought to my attention that the previous post (which was originally published first on Quora, then edited and posted here) is apparently popular enough that some kind translator, Jerome Cohen, took it upon himself to translate it into French for better availability to non-English readers. I thank him for making this popular post available to a wider audience.

Please do check out his French translations of other questions about Japan and Japanese from his Quora profile as well as the Quora in French page on Facebook.

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When people learn I'm a Japanese national, they naturally (and correctly) first assume, from my very non-Japanese appearance and because I speak Japanese with a slight non-native accent, that I was neither born nor grew up here.

South Park creators parodied the Native American / Japanese conspiracy theory in "Cannibal! The Musical"

So their follow-up question and assumption is often about how or "why" I am Japanese. Laughably, I have had many people ask if I was ハーフ {hāfu} (mixed race), even though there is absolutely no DNA affecting my phenotype that should give people that idea. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is probably more Native American than I am Asian. They ask this question because most Japanese and non-Japanese have met people who don't appear to be Japanese yet are, and the most common explanation is that their in Japanese ancestry in their lineage.

There actually are Japanese people who were born in Japan, grew up completely in Japan, and speak only Japanese with such flawless pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar that they could work in their field of broadcast communication or studio voice over work — yet from a physical "racial" aspect, are completely and obviously non-Asian (ex. visibly pass as White or Black).

So to posit the question: if you "look Asian" and you speak flawless Japanese and have the same knowledge and experience with Japanese culture as somebody that grew up exclusively in Japan, could somebody discover you have naturalized from examining your day-to-day use legal Japanese identification?


The long answer is: there is one document, the unabridged family register (戸籍謄本 {koseki tōhon}) that indicates you naturalized, but this is not a document that is used for identification or for day-to-day life (ex. applying for employment or a bank account). And in the unusual case that you do need an official copy of your family register, you can have an abridged version issued which does not have any information about other nationalities you may have had or relinquished or renounced.

One commenter on the internet assumed:

It is my understanding that unless you are a “native” (or say, indigenous) Japanese, any identification that you carry such as your passport, will have an indication that you’re a legal citizen of foreign born in order to differentiate from the “native”. I’m saying this because this was a big political issue in 90’s. Back then, even with the Japanese passport a person has to stand in different line when they go through the custom in the airport due to the fact that you’re a foreign born.

This understanding was false back in the nineties, and it is false now. In fact, Japanese passports, unlike the passports of other countries, do not indicate where you were born (they list your "registered domicile" which is always in Japan).

Japanese naturalized nationals, or anybody else with Japanese nationality, has never had to stand in a separate line at the airport. There ARE special queues in the CIQ for legally foreign (nationality … meaning not having a Japanese passport, not race/ethnicity) residents, which is different from the line for tourists.

There is also an additional special line for foreign residents of Japan

In an old post, I mentioned how unlike the United States, Japan has no civics test quizzing applicants about their knowledge of the constitution, the country's history, geography, or government. In fact, most people are not tested on their Japanese ability either, because if your Japanese ability is comfortable enough that the case worker does not think you are struggling to communicate, understand them, and read or write simple forms, they will skip testing to see whether or not you have rudimentary ability.

But what if there was a test? What would it be like? Of course, a real test administered by the Ministry of Justice would be entirely in Japanese. But for fun, I made a make-believe test a few years ago, and it was relatively popular. The post is now old though and some of the questions are dated. Additionally, Google Forms now has the capability to make a proper test that will provide graded results after you submit your answers.

I have been told that the test is not easy. Some people who have successfully naturalized scored lower than 20%.

There are 20 multiple choice questions so it should only take a about 5 minutes or less to complete.

The separate link for the quiz is here if you have a hard time displaying the below in your browser:


Good luck!

Photo credit [CC BY 2.0] to Hideto KOBAYASHI

There's a great article in The Armenian Mirror-Spectator about the origins of the "Melon-pan" (メロンパン {meron-pan}), sometimes called a "Sunrise" (サンライズ {sunraizu}) in some parts of the nation, that is:

• ubiquitous in Japan
• and found in every single convenience store and bread store and anything serving edibles for a train commute in Japan.

Ōkura

Sagoyan

Introduced to Japan during the Meiji era by a talented Armenian (some Japanese sources say "Turkish") baker, イワン・サゴヤン {Iwan SAGOYAN} (Hovhannes "Ivan" Ghevenian Sagoyan), who was discovered by Baron Kihachirō Ōkura (大倉喜八郎 {ŌKURA Kihachirō}) working at the New Hotel Harbin in Manchuria, China. Poached from China, the baker invented the original versions of the famous candy bread while working at the Imperial Hotel (帝国ホテル {Teikoku Hoteru}), basing it on the French galette (ガレット {garetto}) pastry bread using Russian techniques for fusion of Vienna/German & French breads.

While it is true that in this particular case, Sagoyan's children probably could not have acquired Japanese citizenship by birth under the Meiji Constitution's. But there are many examples of foreigner immigrants to Japan under the Meiji Constitution whose children became Japanese Subjects ("citizens" in non absolute monarchy terminology).

While the Meiji era allowed foreigners to become Japanese, like much of the world at the time, Japanese law was patriarchal. In the case of … children born to Japanese and foreigners could not be Japanese citizens, this is true only if the father/husband is non-Japanese.

If the male is Japanese and married to a foreigner, OR the originally non-Japanese male acquires Japanese nationality (either through naturalization or being adopted into a Japanese family register), then the children will be born with Japanese subject status. Additionally, foreign women could become Japanese by marrying a Japanese man ("jus matrimonii"), and a Japanese woman could lose Japanese nationality by marrying a non-Japanese man!

Japanese nationality law didn't become fully compliant with United Nations' (CEDAW) until 1985, upon which time the law was re-written so that allowed inheritance of Japanese nationality at birth could come from the father or the mother.

Much like Nicholas Zappetti and other trainblazers that made non-Japanese food popular in Japan, his name lives on in Japan in the form of a chain bakery that bears his name: Artisan Boulanger Monsieur Ivan (ムッシュイワン). And even today, it teaches the young how to make bread, just as how Ivan Sagoyan taught the next generation of Japanese bakers.

A few months ago an American interested in becoming Japanese mentioned to me that he looked forward to not needing to repay his crushing student debt he left back in America.

The United States has gone through an unfortunate bubble of costs for real estate in tech areas (ex. Silicon Valley), healthcare, and education, have seen its costs escalate wildly out of control over the past few decades.

Most people attempt to solve the education cost dilemma by taking on student loans, which is a special type of loan that you must eventually pay back — you cannot escape the debt by declaring personal bankruptcy.

This seemingly inescapable debt, compared with the changing nature of the workforce where people who choose non-STEM employment find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet compared to past generations, has led some to consider desperate measures.


Some have proposed intentionally forcing the government's hand by collectively not paying student debt en masse — such as "The Debt Collective" movement, which spun off from "Occupy Wall Street", which suggest actions such as mass debt strikes.

The United States (as well as most other countries in the world), as part of its nationality relinquishment procedure, warns that changing one's nationality does not forgive anyone of either debt or crime.

So, can you escape U.S. Student Debt by Staying in Japan forever as being Japanese?

There are social media groups discussing this:

• Facebook: Student Loan Justice
• How to Get Out of Paying Your Student Loans — by Leaving the Country
• Reddit /r/legaladvice: My brother fled the country to avoid student loans. 9 years ago. Is it all fine now? (New York/ USA)

Moving to another country to escape student debt is risky. If you want or need to return to America, you'll find loan balances have only grown while you were gone, due to compound interest, collection charges and late fees.

Yet, some Americans have postulated that:

1. Not paying debt is not a felony (not doing your taxes, regardless of where you live in the world as a U.S. citizen, is however)
2. Even though the U.S. is one of only two countries Japan has an extradition treaty with, and this extradition treaty makes it much easier to extradite Americans for financial crimes, Japan, like most countries, does not extradite its own citizens.
3. So, if you wanted to escape U.S. debt (either student or other types), you could just go to Japan, change your citizenship to Japanese, and stay there forever!

Williams had a friend who had moved to Japan, and the idea of leaving the United States grew on her. In 2015, she moved to Chiba, also to teach English to students. “I love my work,” she said. Her job sponsors her visa.

She has her own apartment now and doesn’t have to work seven days a week anymore. Yet Williams misses her relationships back home; she hasn’t been able to make many friends in Japan.

She thinks about returning to the U.S., but knows she will be welcomed back by wage garnishments and endless calls from collection agencies. Her student debt has ballooned to well over $100,000.

“I wish I could come back to America and not be scared,” she said.

The Condition that Prevents you from Naturalizing to Japanese to Escape Debt

In order to become legally Japanese, you must meet six (6) requirements, and arguably the most important one is the financial requirement:

自己又は生計を一にする配偶者その他の家族のjiko mata wa seikei o ichi ni suru haigūsha sono ta no kazoku no​資産又は技能によって生計を営むことができること。shisan mata wa ginō ni yotte seikei o itonamu koto ga dekiru koto.

(Being able to make a living through his/her own assets or abilities, or through those of a spouse or of another relative who is making a living)

When they determine this, they will examine both your assets as well as your debts — both domestic and foreign, and you will need to provide detailed financial statements and proof of your financial status.

Thus, if your debt load is too high, you may be judged as being at risk of becoming a welfare case and a burden to Japan rather than a contributor to society.

Of course, the more assets and income you have, the less of a problem it is to carry debt. But if your income and assets are high, then one could argue why are you carrying unnecessary debt and paying unnecessary interest.

There is only one type of non-Japanese which is exempt from the naturalization requirement of needing to prove they are able to earn a living on their own: the 特別永住者 {tokubetsu eijūsha} (SPR: usually Chinese or Korean who have generationally been living in Japan since the time of the Empire).

So sorry, student loan holders: turning Japanese is not a way out.

This old description implies that the paperwork and form inspection and reception always occurs before the interview (and request for additional paperwork)

A person who is currently undergoing the naturalization process asked me if the order of the steps is the same for everybody, and if it is different then does that mean a problem or rather a fast track to naturalization.

Over the years, I have had many people report to me that some of the steps they took for naturalization were done in a different order from how I did them or how others who have written for this site did them. For example:

• Signed one or more of the oaths at the very first  or second appointment
• Did the interviews after all the paperwork was completed, or before all the paperwork was completed
• Had additional paperwork to complete far after they thought all of the paperwork had been turned in