Foreign-born Japanese

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A foreign-born Japanese (日本国籍取得者, nihon kokuseki shutokusha^?, literally "person who has acquired Japanese citizenship") is a Japanese person of foreign descent or heritage, who was born outside Japan and later acquired Japanese citizenship. This category encompasses persons of both Japanese and non-Japanese descent. The former subcategory is considered because of intricacies of national and international laws regarding the citizenship of newborn persons.

Legal issues

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

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

Many who naturalize as Japanese also adopt a Japanese name, although this is not required.

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

Probably because of the difficulty of gaining citizenship and because of cultural difference, foreign-born Japanese people account for a very small percentage of the demography in Japan. Many who are born and live in Japan permanently, particularly Korean and Chinese, tend to maintain their citizenship. There has been a constant discussion among the government and lawmakers whether to give them some status similar to that of a permanent resident in the United States.

This contrasts with countries, such as most of those in Western Europe, Poland, Canada, the US, Australia, Israel and most Arab states, where people born natively are allowed to hold dual nationality, even if they are not automatically given the citizenship of their country of birth. In some cases, people born in those countries automatically acquire the citizenship of their country of birth.

Japanese by naturalization

• Akebono Taro (b. Chad Rowan), sumo wrestler
• Debito Arudou (b. David Aldwinckle), English teacher, activist and author
• Chen Kenmin, TV chef
• Sergio Ariel Escudero, soccer player
• Akira Fujimoto (b. Wiesław Romanowski), president of a Japanese software company
• Benjamin Fulford, journalist. Former Asian station chief of Forbes.
• Dido Havenaar, soccer player
• Mike Havenaar, soccer player
• Hoshitango Imachi, sumo wrestler
• Koizumi Yakumo (b. Lafcadio Hearn), Meiji-era author
• Konishiki Yasokichi (b. Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e), sumo wrestler
• Wagner Lopes (b. Wagner Augusto Lopes), soccer player
• Miura Anjin (b. William Adams), Edo-era mariner
• Erikson Noguchipinto, soccer player
• Bobby Ologun, TV talent
• Ruy Ramos (b. Ruy Gonçalves Ramos Sobrinho), soccer player
• Rikidōzan (b. Kim Sin-Nak), wrestler
• J. R. Sakuragi (b. Milton "J.R." Henderson), basketball player
• Ademir Santos, soccer player
• Alessandro Santos (b. Alessandro dos Santos), soccer player
• Marcos Sugiyama, volleyball player
• Takamiyama Daigoro, (b. Jesse James Wailani Kuhaulua), sumo wrestler
• Marutei Tsurunen (b. Martti Turunen), politician

See also

• Ethnic issues in Japan
• Dekasegi

Japanese born abroad

• Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru
• Takeshi Kaneshiro, actor
• Hikaru Utada, singer
• Luiz Gushiken

• Children of the Japanese abducted to North Korea during the 1970-80's. Although the children had Korean names at birth, they were registered as Japanese and given Japanese names when they arrived in Japan along with their returning parents.

Footnotes