Children born out of wedlock can now receive citizenship

Friday 05th December, 10:58 AM JST

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JPYuki at 03:15 PM JST - 5th December

The new law obviously has a lot of loopholes. Why not just do a DNA test for paternity? If the paternity test proves that the father is of Japanese nationality, the child should be qualified to receive Japanese citizenship.
sf2k at 03:34 PM JST - 5th December

If the aim was all about the child then fine, but rarely is the text all about the subtext. The aims here are confusing. What is being protected and why is it taking decades?
Nessie at 03:45 PM JST - 5th December

the jurisprudence of Japanese nationality laws are that metaphoricallly you have to trace your lineage back to a sun god

Do Apollo and Zoroaster count?
Stonefish at 03:47 PM JST - 5th December

Future custody disputes will involve judges "urging" fathers to recognise paternity; judges "urging" fathers to accept requests for DNA testing, judges "urging" "urging" "urging". In Japan people are always "urged" to do things that were never really so "urgent" to be included in legislation in the first place. "Urging" makes people feel better.
Stonefish at 03:49 PM JST - 5th December

Is there a Japanese gene? That would be the one with 4 bases wouldn't it?
likeitis at 04:10 PM JST - 5th December

Wow! Some of you folks have gone completely silly today!

If a Japanese woman has a baby, even the Japanese are not going to believe her if she suddenly yells, "IT'S NOT MINE!". The child is eligible for Japanese citizenship. Of course. Nothing sexist at all.

There is a separate law because when a baby is born it is not necessary to cut any umbilical to the father.

And yes, some women do steal sperm. I can understand giving a man some protection from demands of support. Until there is a way to prove the man was the irresponsible one (granted, that is 99 percent of the time, seriously), even the one percent of the time the woman stole the sperm is justification to have some sort of safeguard. Its certainly no reason to bash Japan, not until we gain the means to prove the stolen sperm. Granting citizenship is a whole other ball of wax. If you are not going to make the father financially responsible, then who? Give the mother citizenship too? Problematic. How many foreign single mamas can Japan tolerate? Citizenship at 18? Probably become just another sap on welfare. And they already grew up outside of the culture. What I would suggest is to add the ability of the extended family to take guardianship if the mother allows.

The same way the NBA tries to protect its basketball players by warning them to flush the condom down the toilet after sex and not just discard it in the bathroom waste basket.

I feel really stupid now. Why didn't I think of that myself! Its a good idea. Suddenly I am worried about receiving a phone call in the future where the caller says "Hi! You are my father!" EEEEK! The list is too long to begin guessing who the mother is....
TokyoGas at 05:09 PM JST - 5th December

>What if the Japanese man acknowledged paternity, and the woman had a child that was obviously not of a Japanese father (ex. black or Caucasian child)? Can the child still receive Japanese citizenship?

Ahhh... then the DNA test would be needed for actaul proof. lol
Azrael at 05:36 PM JST - 5th December

Why aren't DNA paternity tests taken into account as proof within this law? What if the Japanese guy just gets selective amnesia?

Strange provisions.
sensei258 at 06:25 PM JST - 5th December

I can see a lot of foreign women might ask Japanese men to have a child with them. That way the child gets citizenship and can sponsor the mother. Happens all the time in the states. Pregnant illegal aliens enter the states, and have their baby, and the baby is automatically a citizen.
bebert at 11:44 PM JST - 5th December

I can see a lot of foreign women might ask Japanese men to have a child with them. That way the child gets citizenship and can sponsor the mother.

Right, they're called anchor babies and in the West they don't just allow a path for the mother to gain citizenship, but usually the grandparents, siblings and other relatives. It is a big problem. One of my co-worker's sisters spent a month on vacation in Canada so she would give birth there and gain Canadian citizenship for here child as well as Chinese citizenship. It's a nice insurance policy, for the foreigner but a big loophole in immigration policy that reformers have been trying to close.

Do Apollo and Zoroaster count?

Interestingly, the Zoroastrians also have a sort of blood lineage ideology going, at least in some quarters, which is one reason there are so few of them, even in such a populous nation such as India.
boboh at 12:23 AM JST - 6th December

Wow, modern, liberal Japan, eh?
BurakuminDes at 01:00 AM JST - 6th December

Good to see that in "modern" Japan, men still rule the roost and have far superior power to the "weaker" sex. I mean, how disgraceful is it that the Japanese man has to recognise paternity for the child to be considered a citizen if born here. But, as an elederly student lectured me today: "This is Japan!" "This is Japanese culture!", so, its OK..
usaexpat at 01:13 AM JST - 6th December

Welcome to the 20th century it's about damn time. By the way all you pencil pushers up there at the Justice Ministry do know it's the 21st century right?
norinrad21 at 07:42 AM JST - 6th December

Japan inc strikes again
ANJHY at 10:56 AM JST - 21st June

own child + acknowledge =citizenship own child but denial=DNA (mother + father pays fees) =citizenship not ones own child=adoption

its simple!

japan is not a perfect planet on earth! give those illegitimate kids a bit of normal life out of wedlock!