Japanese citizenship

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The Japanese nationality determines the membership of a person in the Japanese national association with the associated rights and obligations. Modern Japanese regulations on citizenship are closely related to the regulations on family registers ( Koseki ). 581,000 people were naturalized between 1868 and 2015.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages

The laws of the Ritsuryō administration system, since the 8th century, contained provisions on the residence and immigration of foreigners. Such “naturalizations” are not to be seen in the sense of the modern understanding of the nation state, but rather served to attract new taxable heads of families for whom there were registration obligations. As an incentive, new residents, mostly Korean craftsmen, were granted ten years of tax exemption in the early Heian period . The registers at that time were called kogō-nen jaku and are first documented for the year 670.

The influx of foreigners was and always remained strictly controlled and did not take place after 1603/30 in the 250 years of isolation , with a few exceptions for Chinese or mixed race children who married. Rights and, above all, duties of the inhabitants (in the sense of the Neo-Confucian worldview ) arose from their membership of one of the four estates or the outcasts ( 非人 hinin and 穢 多 eta ).

Early Meiji Era

When the Japanese nation-state came into being in 1868–73, primarily through the dissolution of the samurai domains ( 廃 藩 置 県 haihan chiken ), ius soli initially applied to the previously excluded and the Ainu as well as to the violent incorporation of Okinawa in 1879 .

The concept of seeing subjects as cocumin, ie “members of the country”, only slowly became necessary. A conclusion was only found in the enthusiasm for war that accompanied the campaign against China in 1894/5 and which was won by an army of conscripts.

Foreign passports were first issued to Japanese subjects in 1866.

As early as 1872/73, ordinances were issued regulating questions of citizenship in relation to the marriage and adoption of foreigners. When women married, they took on the nationality of their husbands. One of the key points was: a foreigner cannot be entered in the family register and therefore cannot head a household. Ie the property of Japanese kokumin to be ( nihonjin taru no descriptions ) resulted from the entry in the Koseki.
A real Japanese name was always required for naturalization.

A first civil code based strongly on the French model was promulgated in 1890, but its entry into force in 1892 was postponed indefinitely, until it was repealed in 1898. It did not take enough account of the Japanese understanding of the importance of belonging to a “family” (or household; 家 ie ). It was precisely this concept of membership that then became the basis for understanding citizenship.
In this code of law, the acquisition of nationality in the form of an option through a declaration of intent by the foreigner resident in Japan (for many years) was provided.

Nationality Act 1899

The first modern constitution of Japan, the so-called Meiji constitution of 1889, stipulated in Article 18 that citizenship was to be regulated by law. The Nationality Act (No. 66, 1899) met this requirement. Also of importance were the modernized provisions on family registers ( Koseki ) and the provisions on marrying a woman who is the head of the household, the so-called nyūfu-konin, regulated in Law No. 21 of 1898. As in most questions of civil law reform, this was followed At that time still young, Prussian-dominated, Reich German model. The German ethno-cultural understanding of “nation” came close to the Japanese idea of ​​the uniqueness of the Japanese race and the importance of the bloodline to be continued in the male branch ( ie ).
In addition to the usual civic rights and obligations, there were also regulations that z. For example, it stipulated that a household head had to be Japanese or that land ownership was only possible for them.

The Nationality Act of 1899 primarily implemented the principles of ius sanguinis in the form that was internationally common at the time, but also took into account the peculiarities of Japanese family law. The Ministry of the Interior was responsible. It came into effect at a time when most foreign powers were giving up their extraterritorial rights . With "foreigners" were meant mainly Europeans ( Gaijin ); The rapidly growing group of unskilled laborers from China was specifically discriminated against by Imperial Edict 352 of 1899.

The citizenship by birth acquired:

  • any child of a Japanese father if he was Japanese at the time of birth. (This also continued to apply to children and grandchildren during a permanent stay abroad.)
  • any child of a father who is no longer a Japanese subject, but who became Japanese through adoption or marriage to a nyūfu-konin , if he was Japanese at the time of conception.
  • any child (born in Japan) to a Japanese mother if the father is unknown or stateless.
  • foundlings born in Japan.
  • Born in Japan if both parents are stateless.

By acquiring Japanese subjects one became:

  • if a territory came under the control of Japan under constitutional law (e.g. Formosa 1895 , Korea 1910 , in my opinion former German colonial property in the Pacific 1920). Whereby there may have been additional rules in international treaties, e.g. B. the assignment of South Saxony in 1905.
  • Recognition of paternity, with the simultaneous consent of the mother, of a minor child who is not married to a foreigner.
  • according to the aforementioned family law provisions on nyūfu-konin and adult adoption for the preservation of ancestral ownership ( 婿 養子muko yōshi ). A permit had to be obtained from the Minister of the Interior, which was tied to integrity and at least one year of legal residence in the country.
  • by naturalization ( 帰 化 kika ) on application under the conditions that the applicant:
    • is at least 20 years old as well as of legal age and legal capacity according to the law of his country of origin,
    • has lived in Japan continuously for at least five years,
    • is of good character
    • financially self-sufficient,
    • is stateless or gives up his previous citizenship.

Women who were married to foreigners could only be naturalized with their husbands, unless the couple had different nationalities; what at that time only in a few states, z. B. Russia or Portugal, was possible. Otherwise almost everywhere a woman automatically assumed the nationality of her husband when she married.

It was possible to deviate from the length of stay requirement if the applicant:

  • had Japanese parents and was familiar with the culture.
  • was married to a Japanese woman.
  • was born in Japan and one of the parents was Japanese after three years.
  • after ten years and of legal age when applying, with a Japanese parent, without having to give up foreign citizenships.
  • had made special contributions to Japan. Approval was given by the Minister of the Interior with the consent of the "heavenly majesty" ( Tennō ).

A naturalization becomes valid, even today, on the day of publication in the State Gazette ( 官 報 Kanpō ). This has been published since 1883. With a few exceptions in special cases, it was valid for wives and underage, unmarried children.

Naturalized citizens and their children were excluded by law from appointments to the top two classes of the civil service, but exceptions were possible by the Interior Minister after ten years.

Reasons for loss were:

  • Marriage of a Japanese woman to a foreigner.
  • Divorce of a person naturalized through nyūfu-konin marriage or reversal of an adoption.
  • Acknowledgment of paternity by a foreigner, with the acquisition of a foreign citizenship as a result, provided that the descendant was not married in Japan in the meantime.
  • Voluntary acceptance of foreign citizenship.

Men aged 17 and over could only lose their citizenship if they were not (no longer) required to do military service, i.e. up to their 40th birthday. Civil servants also remained Japanese as long as they were in government service.

The expatriation of a male head of the family also extended to women and minor children if they did not continue to live in a Japanese household. The role of head of household had to be given up and any land ownership had to be sold, with a hardship provision granting a one-year grace period. Then the country fell to the state treasury.

The re-acquisition for those who had voluntarily adopted a foreign citizenship or for a former Japanese woman who lived in the country was bound by divorce problems and not to other preconditions.

The law amendment of 1916 (No. 27, March 15, 1916) brought an improvement for women that if they marry a stateless person they will retain their Japanese citizenship.
A release on application for Japanese born and resident abroad has also been introduced.

The amendment to the law in 1924 (No. 19, July 19, 1924, in conjunction with the ordinances of November 15 and 17) codified registration obligations for children born abroad. A list of countries with strong ius soli determined which foreign-born nationals were retrospectively revoked of their Japanese citizenship unless they made a statement to the contrary. This regulation, which caused problems in connection with conscripts, was somewhat defused in 1931.

Colonial subjects

Japanese foreign travel passport issued in Taiwan in 1917.

The Japanese Empire was not a uniform area of ​​law inside, but all subjects were "Japanese" ( taigaiteki nihonjin ). When traveling abroad, they were given appropriate passports.

The various family registers kept in the colonies were referred to as "outer" ( gaichi ), in contrast to those "inner" ( naichi ) of the core empire ( honkoku ). If a colonial subject ( 帝国 国民 teikoku kokumin ) lived there, an entry in the register there was possible.

Under international law, the principle implemented in the Paris suburb treaties also applies that, subject to any option rules, (only) the citizens of the formerly ruling country who live in areas that have been assigned or have become independent automatically receive the new citizenship.

Taiwan

The Shimonoseki Treaty provided for a two-year option period: the residents had to decide whether they wanted to stay on the island or move to mainland China. Whoever remained became a Japanese subject, but initially as an "inhabitant of Taiwan" ( Taiwan jūmin or Taiwan sekimin ) with limited civil rights, but until further notice also of Chinese nationality. For this group of people special passports for trips to China were issued from January 1897.

Koseki were created here as part of extensive reforms to the social order of Taiwan during the first decade of Japanese administration .

Korea

The Korean peninsula came under Japanese administration in 1905/10 . Initially a protectorate, the residents of Korea became subjects in 1910.

The Japanese Citizenship Act of 1899 was never promulgated in Korea. A family register law based on the Japanese model was created by the Chōsen koseki-rei from 1921. The regulations were designed in such a way that Koreans were barely able to get their "inner" status.

Karafuto

For southern Sakhalin , Japan, which has been in Japan since 1905 , the Nationality Act was adopted in 1924. The family registers of the Japanese there did not become domestic until 1943.

Manchukuo

In the nominally independent, ethnically diverse Manchukuo , there were three different registers. Because of the large number of migrant workers and stateless persons, the concepts of the mother country were difficult to implement. Japanese citizenship can be derived from the combined entry in the minseki and koseki . Differentiation became even easier after the introduction of the population register ( kiryū seido ) in 1943.

Okinawa

With certain initial special rules, the Koseki regulations of the mother country applied.

1945–1972

Okinawa was not nominally a colony, but a prefecture of the Japanese Empire. Thus it was not one of the areas to be ceded according to the Potsdam Declaration .

The approximately 333,000 civilians who survived the Battle of Okinawa were interned in large camps by the victorious Americans until April 1946. Until 1948 the archipelago was under pure military administration. Only then was the decision made in Washington to administer the archipelago permanently as a base.

In accordance with international law, this would have required the establishment of a mandate. This would have resulted in a trusteeship affiliation, as on the other Pacific islands that were previously German . But since the Soviet Union had a seat and vote in the UN Trust Council , the Americans were far from giving their opponents a say at the height of the Korean War . Article 3 of the peace treaty stipulated that Japan would not contradict the question of establishing a trust territory if this question were submitted to the UN. One then “forgot” to do this.

One consequence was that the Okinawers remained Japanese citizens, albeit under US military administration.

Said Art. 3 also applied to the Bonin Islands , which remained under American control until June 1968. The civilian population there was evacuated in 1944. The occupiers only left a few hundred white descendants of the original inhabitants. European shipwrecked people had built a community here before the Japanese occupation in 1872.

Citizenship law since 1947

Muko yōshi and nyūfu-konin were abolished in the 1948 reform of the Civil Code. The family register extract remains the effective proof of Japanese citizenship. The family registers have been kept since 1947 so that only two generations are listed in them.

The described separation into internal and external registrations allowed the Japanese government, which continued under the control of the SCAP, to declare the colonial subjects living on the four main islands to be non-Japanese through the regulations on foreign registration, who are subject to discriminatory reporting obligations. Most affected were Koreans , who enjoyed no protection before 1948 because of the lack of a Korean state. It was not until the amendment to the law of 1965 that those who committed themselves to the South Korean military dictatorship were granted permanent residence permits. Since 1989 it has been easier for the Zainichi to be naturalized .
Taiwanese in Japan were considered to be members of a victorious power ( national China ) and were privileged.
Immediately after regaining sovereignty in 1952, the former colonial subjects were finally revoked of their Japanese citizenship. An estimated 30,000 “North Koreans” still live in the country today as de facto stateless persons without rights.

The 1959 “Special Law on Non-Returning Persons” declared all Japanese (forcibly) left behind in mainland China to be dead. Their entries were struck from the registers, often with a fictitious cause of death, and the tens of thousands of people who survived in China were thus deprived of their Japanese citizenship.

Nationality Act 1950

A new Kokuseki-hō was announced on May 4, 1950 (No. 147 of 1950). The Ministry of Justice is responsible.

The nationality by birth acquires:

  • any child of a Japanese father if he was Japanese at the time of birth. (Since the decision of the Supreme Court on April 16, 2008, this also applies to illegitimate children who were recognized after birth.)
    • Child of a man who died before birth if he was Japanese at the time of death.
  • every child of a Japanese mother. The restriction to unknown or stateless fathers has been lifted.
  • Foundling children as long as their parents are unknown.
  • those born in Japan when both parents are stateless.
  • who is recognized by a Japanese father's / motherhood declaration, as soon as the fact is reported to the Ministry of Justice.

Dual nationals who have come of age and who have a second citizenship by birth must, according to the law, opt for one of the two by their 22nd birthday. This rule is not punishable. As of 2018, the Ministry of Justice has never revoked Japanese citizenship from a dual national who did not make a declaration.
Between 2013 and 2017, between 380 and 770 people renounced their Japanese citizenship each year. In contrast, more than 3,000 people opted for Japan in 2016 and 2017. According to estimates by the Justice Department based on registration data, approximately 890,000 people living in Japan could be of full age dual nationality, the actual number being assumed to be around 700,000.

The basic conditions for naturalization are hardly changed compared to the law of 1899:

  • 5 years residence requirement; you should never have been abroad for more than 100 days at a time or for more than 20% of a year.
    • Can be shortened to 3 years for children of former Japanese people or for children born in Japan if one parent was also born in Japan. This also applies to spouses who have been married to Japanese people for at least three years.
  • "Good character," which also includes regular tax payments and membership in the statutory pension scheme. A criminal record is not necessarily an obstacle, but it does influence discretionary decisions. The neighborhood is also checked.
  • Regular income, more than ¥ 250,000 a month in 2015, or financially self-sufficient or richly married.
  • Language skills at the level of the 2nd or 3rd grade of primary school.
  • Surrender of other citizenships (if this is impossible, e.g. for Iranians, the Minister of Justice can waive this).
  • Constitutional loyalty; A few years ago, advocacy of the overthrow of the Japanese government or membership in an organization that advocates such a thing was introduced as a reason for refusal.

Merit naturalizations require a parliamentary resolution.

The reasons for loss extend to the voluntary acceptance of a foreign nationality or a declaration of renunciation, which is possible if statelessness does not occur. Japanese living abroad must comply with the registration requirements under the Family Register Act.

Re-naturalizations for Japanese expatriates who have expatriated due to the above rule, or dual nationals who have given a waiver, will be naturalized again by reporting their wish to the Ministry of Justice.

See also

literature

  • Becker, JE de; International Private Law of Japan; Shanghai 1919 (Kelly & Walsh), Book I: Nationality
  • Bowles, Gilbert; Japanese Law of Nationality ; Tokyo 1915
  • Caprio, Mark E .; Forging of Alien Status of Koreans in American Occupied Japan; Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan, Vol. 6, No. 1
  • Chapman, David [ed.]; Japan's household registration system and citizenship: koseki, identification and documentation; London 2014 (Routledge); ISBN 9780415705448
  • Chung, Erin Aeran; Immigration and citizenship in Japan; Cambridge 2010 (Cambridge University Press); ISBN 9781107637627 , [DOI: 10.1017 / CBO9780511711855]
  • English translation of the law of 1899 in: Flournoy, Richard; A Collection of Nationality Laws of Various Countries, as Contained in Constitutions, Statutes and Treaties; New York 1929 (Oxford University Press), pp. 381-88 [Error in translation of 1924 ordinances.]
  • Hanawa Akira; Meiji Sanjū-ninen no Kokuseki-hō: Seiritsu ni itaru Katei; in: 日本 社会 史 研究 Nihon Shakaishi Kenkyu , 1980 (Kasama Shoin)
  • Ikegami Eiko; Citizenship and National Identity in Early Meiji Japan, 1868-1889; DOI
  • Kalicki, Konrad; Murakami Go; Difference that Security Makes: The Politics of Citizenship in Postwar Japan in a Comparative Perspective; Social Science Japan Journal, Vol. 16 (2013), No. 2, pp. 211-234
  • Kashiwazaki chikako; Jus sanguisnis in Japan: the origin of citizenship in a comparative perspective; International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol. 39, No. 3 (August, 1998), pp. 278-300
  • Kim Young-tal; Zainichi-Chōsenjin-shakai no Keisei to 1899-nen Chokurei Dai 352-go ni tuite; Zainichi-Chōsenjin-shi Kenkyū, Vol. 21 (1991), pp. 94-106
  • On citizenship in Manchukuo : Manshūkoku kokuseki narabi ni kaisha kokuseki oyobi shihon hōsaku, vol. 4 of the series 大 東 亜 法 秩序 ・ 日本 帝国 法制 関係 資料. 第 3 期. 第 21-35 卷, 満 洲 国 関係 ・ 蒙 彊 政府 関係 資料 ; Tokyo 2009 ( 龍溪 書 舎 Ryūkei Shosha ); ISBN 9784844754855
  • Park, Sara; "Who are you?" The Making of Korean “Illegal Entrants” in Occupied Japan 1945–1952; International Journal of Japanese Sociology, Vol. 25 (2016), No. 1, pp. 150-63
  • 坂 本 斐 郎 [Sakamoto Ayao]; 外地 邦 人 在 留 外人 戶籍 寄 留 届 書 式 並 記載 例 [ Gaichi hōjin zairyū gaijin koseki kiryūtodoke shoshikinarabini kisairei ]; Tokyo 1938 (明倫 館)
  • Schmidt, Monika; Reform of Japanese Private International Law; Cologne 1992 (Heymann); ISBN 3452224368
  • Tanaka Yasuhisa [ 田中康 久 ]; Nihon Kokuseki-hō Enkakushi; 戶籍 (Koseki) , 1982–84, 14-part series of articles
  • Tomson, Edgar; Citizenship law of the East Asian countries: China-Japan-Korea-Mongolia; Frankfurt 1971

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 戸 籍 法 Koseki-hō , in engl. Literature: "Family Registration Law."
  2. ↑ Ritsuryō State (published 2020-02-03)
  3. ↑ See Lewin, Bruno; Aya and Hata: People of ancient Japan of continental origin; Wiesbaden 1962 (Harrassowitz)
  4. ↑ See Kusumoto Ine , daughter of Philipp Franz von Siebolds .
  5. ↑ 国民 is not to be translated as "citizen", it corresponds most closely to the English term "national;" ditto 国籍 kokuseki = "nationality," less "State civil economy."
  6. ↑ Motoyama Yukihiko; Meiji Nijū-nendai no Seiron ni Arawareta Nashonarizumu; in: Sakata Yoshio; Meiji Zenhan-kino Nashonarizum; Tokyo 1958
  7. ↑ Further reading: 陳 天 璽 [Chin Tenji; Ed.]; 越境 と ア イ デ ン テ ィ フ ィ ケ ー シ ョ ン: 国籍 ・ パ ス ポ ー ト ・ ID カ ー ド [ Ekkyō to aidentifikēshon: kokuseki, pasupōto, ID kādo ]; Tokyo 2012; ISBN 9784788512757 .
  8. ↑ Edict 103 of 1872 ( naigai jinmin ko'in jōki ) on foreign marriage , which is based heavily on family law in the Code Napoléon and was implemented by Edict 170 in the following year.
  9. ↑ In the literature generally "the old civil code" ( 旧 民法 kyū minpō ).
  10. ↑ Law of April 4, 1871, in force April 1, 1872. Entries standardized in 1886. The concept of the head of household was introduced in 1898. Until 1968 it remained publicly available in justified cases. Since 1976 it has been strictly confidential for non-official purposes.
  11. ↑ Regarding various business activities, there were reservations in various laws, such as B. Ownership of Japanese ships and (shares in) shipping companies, operation of pawn shops, banks (ownership of shares in parastatal, including Yokohama Specie Bank , Chōsen Ginkō ), insurance companies (Law 69, 1900, in conjunction with Imperial Ordinance 380, 1900), Mining, commercial fishing and professional practice as a doctor, pharmacist, civil servant, lawyer etc. pp. Many of these restrictions still apply today, albeit on a changed legal basis.
  12. ↑ a b section after: Chapman, David [ed.]; Japan's Household Registration System and Citizenship; London 2014 (Routledge); especially pt. II: Nation, Empire and Occupation.
  13. ↑ “1) Personally appointed by the 'heavenly majesty' ( 親 任 官 shinnin-kan ), e.g. B. Minister, Lord Seal Keeper, Ambassador; 2) Appointed by the Tennō on the proposal of the respective vice minister ( 勅 任 chokunin-kan , 1945: 0.1% of all civil servants). Mostly the higher ranks of the ministerial bureaucracy, special ambassadors, university rectors, etc. The certificates of appointment - issued in the name of the prime minister - bore the imperial seal; " [1]
  14. ↑ The following were named: USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Peru.
  15. ↑ In force in 1922. The governor general as representative of the emperor had far-reaching powers. Japanese laws were adopted by ordinance as needed and promulgated as seirei .
  16. ↑ Imperial Edict No. 88, 1923.
  17. ↑ Imperial Edict No. 124, April 1, 1943,
  18. ↑ The Allied Council for Japan has been blocked since 1946 .
  19. ↑ engl. Contract in force April 28, 1952
  20. ↑ Detailed in: Anhalt, Gert; Okinawa between Washington and Tōkyō: reflections on political and social development 1945-1972; Marburg 1991; ISBN 3927607045
  21. ↑ See Chapman, David; 'Inventing Subjects and Sovereignty: Early History of the First Settlers of the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands; Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, Vol. 7 (2009) full text
  22. ↑ Law No. 224 of 1947.
  23. ↑ Mikikansha tokubetsu sochihō
  24. ↑ More important changes: No. 268 of 1952, No. 45 of 1984, No. 89 of 1993, No. 147 of 2004, No. 88 of 2008. The Cabinet Ordinance No. 319 of 1951: Shutsu'nyû- koku kanri oyobi nanmin nintei-hō [English: “Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act”].
  25. ↑ Japan Times (2018-09-19).
  26. ↑ No. 224 from 1947, especially §§ 40–42, 104–106, i. V. m. § 14-6 Koseki-hō. (The family register, which has been kept electronically since 1994, is not used for registration purposes , but serves to fulfill civil duties. First, the Kiryu-hō No. 27 of 1914, followed by Junin Toroku-hō (No. 218 of 1951). Since the end of 1967 (Law No. 81) resident and family registers are compared.)