Am I… Japanese?

In Japan, one of the arguably most important documents a family can have is the KOSEKI TOHON or in English, Family Register. This is where birth, marriage and death is recorded for all Japanese Citizens. Essentially it’s your proof you are in fact, Japanese.

As someone of Japanese decent the question was always sitting in the back of my mind, what if I, was in fact entitled somehow to be “Japanese”. I know that might sound stupid but it’s true. Legally I am what they call “American” therefore I am not Japanese.

This thought really started to flood my mind when we moved to Japan in 2021. I wanted to know if there was a better way for us to live here, one that would provide us ALL the opportunities we could dream of without the worry of being kicked out.

And being honest, the initial face value searches I had done then was very disheartening. Most if not all of the data I found stated that you either lose Japanese citizenship automatically or you needed to notify Japan of your intent to be Japanese. I did expand my earlier searches to include the words “unknown to me” etc. But all still seemed to lead towards, sorry you cant be Japanese…

And after that period of time passed I kind of gave up on the whole process and search or dream as one would say. And focused on experiencing life as it is now. It was more or less just me appreciating being able to be IN Japan.

But recently I had a moment of enlightenment after thinking about things a little more technically. You see our family emigrated from Japan in I think 1880 or sometime around that period. So it was a really long time ago. My great-grandfather on my moms dads side was born in 1890 in Hawaii while my great-grandfather on my mom mom’s side was born in 1880 in Japan. But with one thing leading to another they were all in Hawaii around that 1880’s - 1900’s.

My grandfather AND grandmother were both born in 1933, in Hawaii. Both having “Japanese Citizens” as parents.

So I searched, “What if a person was born in Hawaii in 1933 to Japanese Nationals while Hawaii was still a territory of the United States”. And to my surprise the answer seemed to be “The person would be Japanese”.

You see, with it’s territory status; residents or those born in Hawaii did not become full citizens of the USA, so most if not all of them carried the citizenship of their parents. So in my grandparents case, they were in fact Japanese Citizens.

Now the question became, when Hawaii became a State in 1959, what happened to their citizenship in Japan, did it cancel or had it been revoked? And surprisingly the answer was “if the said person did not formally renounce citizenship, then they would likely be Japanese Citizens in the eyes of Japan”. Bear in mind, my grandparents would have been Japanese Citizens for at least 26 years.

And perhaps it was a stoke of luck? But our mother was born in June of 1959. Making her the same product as our grandparents, a Japanese Citizen by birth, as her parents were in fact Japanese Citizens.

Of course, I started taking notes, cross referencing the Nationality Acts of Japan from 1899 to present and reached out to a few attorneys who I am meeting with tomorrow to discuss the details further.

But as it seems, based off of available information, as long as our mother did not go to the consulate likewise for my grandparents and put it in writing that they wanted to renounce Japanese Citizenship, they were in fact still citizens of Japan. Which would technically give us the right to register under our families Koseki Tohon as well, solving our long term situation in regards to being able to stay in Japan.

From what it seems like, as both our grandparents have passed away, we have to register their deaths with the town halls that are associated with where they were from. Once their deaths are registered I can register our mother and then us.

So, in closing, my question of “Am I…. Japanese?” well it might finally have an answer tomorrow OR at least a much better idea and understanding of what our options are.

I am praying and hoping that it’s as simple of a solution as I think it is, because if that is the case…. The doors have officially swung wide open.

BUT I will definitely keep everyone posted about what happens and until then…

See you in the next one.

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