Nationality Act

The requirements for Japanese citizenship are governed by the provisions of this Act.

A child is a Japanese citizen in the following cases:

if the father or mother is a Japanese citizen at the time of birth;

if the father died before the child's birth and was a Japanese citizen at the time of death; or

if the child was born in Japan, either both of the parents are unknown or if known, both of them are without nationality.

If a child acknowledged by the father or mother is under twenty years of age (excluding a child who was once a Japanese citizen) and the acknowledging father or mother was a Japanese citizen at the time of the birth of the child, Japanese citizenship may be acquired by notification to the Minister of Justice if that father or mother is currently a Japanese citizen or was a Japanese at the time of death.

The person making notification pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph will acquire Japanese citizenship at the time of the notification.

A person who is not a Japanese citizen (referred to below as a "foreign national") may acquire Japanese citizenship through naturalization.

To undergo naturalization, permission of the Minister of Justice must be obtained.

The Minister of Justice may not permit naturalization for a foreign national who does not meet the following conditions:

having continuously had a domicile in Japan for five years or more;

being twenty years of age or older and having the capacity to act independently according to the person's national law;

being a person of good conduct;

being able to make a living through the person's own assets or skills, or through those of the spouse or other relatives who share living expenses among them;

not having a nationality or having to give up the person's nationality upon the acquisition of Japanese citizenship; and

on or after the date on which the Constitution of Japan comes into effect, not having planned or advocated the destruction of the Constitution of Japan or the government established under the Constitution with force, and not having formed or joined a political party or other organization planning or advocating the destruction with force.

If a foreign national is unable to give up their nationality despite their intention, the Minister of Justice may permit naturalization if special circumstances are found concerning a familial relationship or circumstances with a Japanese citizen even if that foreign national does not meet the conditions listed in the preceding paragraph, item (v).

The Minister of Justice may permit naturalization for a foreign national currently having a domicile in Japan who falls under one of the following items even if that person does not meet the conditions listed in the preceding Article, paragraph (1), item (i):

a child (excluding an adopted child) of a former Japanese citizen, who has continuously had a domicile or residence in Japan for three years or more;

a person born in Japan and continuously having had a domicile or residence in Japan for three years or more or whose father or mother (excluding an adoptive parent) was born in Japan; or

a person who has resided in Japan continuously for ten years or more.

The Minister of Justice may permit naturalization of a foreign national who is a spouse of a Japanese citizen and continuously has had a domicile or residence in Japan for three years or more, and currently has a domicile in Japan even if that person does not meet the conditions listed in Article 5, paragraph (1), item (i) and item (ii). The same applies to a foreign national whose spouse is a Japanese citizen, and three years have passed since the date of their marriage, and the foreign national has continuously maintained a domicile in Japan for one year or more.

The Minister of Justice may permit naturalization of a foreign national who falls under one of the following items even if that person does not meet the conditions listed in Article 5, paragraph (1), item (i), item (ii), and item (iv):

a person who is a child (excluding an adopted child) of a Japanese citizen and has a domicile in Japan;

a person who is an adopted child of a Japanese citizen, continuously has had a domicile in Japan for one year or more, and was a minor according to the person's national law at the time of adoption;

a person who has lost their Japanese citizenship (excluding a person who has lost their Japanese citizenship after naturalization to Japanese citizenship) and has a domicile in Japan; or

a person who was born in Japan, has been continuously without any nationality since their birth and has continuously domiciled in Japan for three years or more since that time.

The Minister of Justice may permit naturalization of a foreign national who has distinguished contributions to Japan, with the approval of the Diet, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 5, paragraph (1).

When permitting naturalization, the Minister of Justice must provide a public notice to that effect in the Official Gazette.

Naturalization becomes effective as of the date of the public notice stated in the preceding paragraph.

When a Japanese citizen acquires the nationality of a foreign country at their own choice, that Japanese citizen loses Japanese citizenship.

A Japanese citizen having the nationality of a foreign country loses Japanese citizenship when they select the nationality of that foreign country according to its laws and regulations.

A Japanese citizen who acquired the nationality of a foreign country by birth and who was born abroad loses Japanese citizenship retroactive to the time of birth unless they indicate an intention to reserve Japanese citizenship pursuant to the provisions of the Family Register Act (Act No. 224 of 1947).

A Japanese citizen having foreign nationality may renounce Japanese citizenship by notification to the Minister of Justice.

The person making the notification pursuant to the provisions stated in the preceding paragraph loses Japanese citizenship at the time of the notification.

A Japanese citizen having a foreign nationality must select either one of the two before reaching twenty-two years of age if they obtain the foreign nationality and Japanese citizenship prior to becoming twenty years of age, or within two years from that time if it is after.

Other than by renouncing the foreign nationality, the selection of Japanese citizenship is accomplished by making a declaration of the Japanese citizenship selection and the renunciation of the foreign nationality (referred to below as "selection declaration") pursuant to the provisions of the Family Register Act.

The Minister of Justice may make a written demand to any Japanese citizen having a foreign nationality, who has not selected Japanese citizenship within the prescribed time period as provided in the preceding Article, paragraph (1), that either selection must be made.

The demand prescribed in the preceding paragraph may be made by publishing the matters demanded in the Official Gazette, if the location of the intended recipient is unknown or otherwise it cannot be accomplished by sending documents due to unavoidable circumstances. In these cases, the demand is deemed to have arrived on the day after the publication in the Official Gazette.

The recipient of the demand made pursuant to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs loses Japanese citizenship if the selection is not made within one month of receiving the demand upon expiration of the time period; provided, however, that this does not apply if the recipient is unable to select Japanese citizenship within the time period due to a natural disaster or other circumstances beyond the recipient's control, and the selection is made within two weeks of the time when the ability to make the selection is regained.

A Japanese citizen who makes the selection declaration must try to renounce their foreign nationality.

If a Japanese citizen having made the selection declaration and not having lost foreign nationality assumes the post of a government employee of that foreign country (with the exception of a post that may be assumed by a person not having the nationality of that country) on their own will, the Minister of Justice may pronounce loss of Japanese citizenship against the person if it is found that the assumption of the post is directly contrary to the gist of the selection of Japanese citizenship.

The proceedings on the date of the hearing pertaining to the pronouncement stated in the preceding paragraph must be conducted open to the public.

The pronouncement stated in paragraph (2) must be made by placing a public notice in the Official Gazette.

The person subjected to the pronouncement stated in paragraph (2) loses Japanese citizenship as of the day of the public notice stated in the preceding paragraph.

A person who has lost Japanese citizenship pursuant to the provisions of Article 12 and is under twenty years of age may acquire Japanese citizenship by notification to the Minister of Justice while domiciled in Japan.

A person who receives the demand pursuant to the provisions of Article 15, paragraph (2) and loses Japanese citizenship pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (3) of that Article may acquire Japanese citizenship if they meet the conditions listed in Article 5, paragraph (1), item (v) by notification to the Minister of Justice within one year from the date of knowing the loss of Japanese citizenship; provided, however, that if notification cannot be made within that time period due to a natural disaster or other circumstances beyond the person's control, that time period is one month from the time when the ability to make the notification is regained.

The person making notification pursuant to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs acquires Japanese citizenship at the time of the notification.

The notification of acquisition of citizenship pursuant to the provisions in Article 3, paragraph (1) or paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, application for naturalization permission, selection declaration, or notification of citizenship renouncement is made by a legal representative if the person acquiring nationality, making selection, or renouncing is under fifteen years of age.

The provisions of Article 36-3 of the Administrative Procedure Act (Act No. 88 of 1993) do not apply to a demand pursuant to the provisions of Article 15, paragraph (1).

Procedures relating to acquisition and renouncement of citizenship as well as other required matters in effectuating this Act, not provided in this Act, are prescribed by Ministry of Justice Order.

Regarding notification provided pursuant to the provisions of Article 3, paragraph (1), a person making a false notification is punishable by not more than one year of imprisonment with work or a fine of not more than two hundred thousand yen.

The offense stated in the preceding paragraph is governed by the Penal Code (Act No. 45 of 1907), Article 2.