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A foreign-born Japanese is a person who was originally 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.
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), thus in theory they may 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. Unlike some countries where people born natively are automatically given a citizenship, 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.
Notable foreign-born Japanese
Japanese by birth
- Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru
- Takeshi Kaneshiro, actor
- Hikaru Utada, singer
- 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.
Japanese by naturalization
- Akebono Taro (b. Chad Rowan), sumo wrestler
- Chen Kenmin, TV chef
- Akira Fujimoto (b. Wiesław Romanowski), president of a Japanese software company
- Jinten Haku (b. Pak Inchon), baseball player
- Dido Havenaar, soccer player
- Koizumi Yakumo (b. Lafcadio Hearn), Meiji-era author
- Konishiki Yasokichi (b. Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e), sumo wrestler
- Chire Koyama (b. He Zhili), table tennis player
- Miura Anjin (b. William Adams), Edo-era mariner
- Ruy Ramos (b. Ruy Goncalves Ramos Sobrinho), soccer player
- Rikidozan (b. Kim Sin-Nak), wrestler
- Wagner Lopes (b. Wagner Augusto Lopes), soccer player
- Alessandro Santos (b. Alessandro dos Santos), soccer player
- Marutei Tsurunen (b. Martti Turunen), politician
See also
External links
- "Japanese Immigration Law" at Wikibooks
"Foreign-born Japanese"