1. Causes of Statelessness
The context of statelessness in Japan has been quite extensively studied with a series of mapping reports commissioned by UNHCR having been undertaken between 2010 and 2017 as well as a number of independent articles published in English and Japanese. Within identified groups of stateless persons in Japan, in particular, children are affected by conflict of nationality laws and children of unregistered migrants and abandoned children are particularly affected.
2. Lack of Legal Safeguards Against Childhood Statelessness
Under the Nationality Law of Japan, children born in Japan to stateless parents and foundling children born in Japan are considered nationals. However, research has shown that abandoned children of migrant workers, mixed-status families and multigeneration translational families are at times presumed to possess foreign nationality or have links to foreign states and are in turn denied the protection from these provisions. A survey undertaken by the Japan Immigration agency in 2020 found that the majority of stateless children in Japan were stateless as a result of procedural issues and failures to provide adequate documentation.
3. Citizenship Stripping
Following the end of the Second World War, and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean peninsula approximately 52,000 ethnic Koreans were stripped of Japanese citizenship. Some of these individuals were subsequently recorded as overseas nationals of South Korea, while others received the status as Chōsen (partially due to Japan’s rejection of recognizing North Korea’s statehood). As noted above, 25,358 persons retain the status of Chōsen as of 31 December 2022.
Ethnic Koreans and Taiwanese persons who are Japanese citizens have had their citizenship stripped in some cases. Since Korea and Taiwan ceased to be considered as a part of Japan by the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace with Japan, the Japanese government issued a notification to Japanese courts that ethnic Koreans and Taiwanese shall be deemed to no longer hold Japanese citizenship unless they have certain special relationships with Japanese nationals. A number of cases have commenced in Japanese courts seeking to retain the Japanese citizenship of affected persons. For example, the Supreme Court of Japan found that a child between a Korean father and Japanese mother, for which the Korean father acknowledged paternity before the amendment of the Nationality Law in 1950 shall obtain Chōsen nationality and lose Japanese nationality. On the other hand, the Supreme Court of Japan found that considering such a child’s paternity was acknowledged after the amendment of the Nationality Law in 1950, before the Treaty of Peace with Japan came into effect in April 1952, they shall not lose their Japanese nationality.
Ethnic Koreans and Taiwanese persons who are Japanese citizens have had their citizenship stripped in some cases.
A new amendment to the Nationality Law, which will come into force from 1 April 2024, stipulates that a child may be deprived of his or her Japanese citizenship when there is a fact which contradicts the acknowledgment from the father in the case of children born to a non-citizen mother and citizen father. There is no time limit to such deprivation. The amended paragraph is controversial as it jeopardizes the Japanese nationality of certain children and could result in them becoming stateless. There is opposition to the introduction of the new amended, which will add a Paragraph 3 to Article 3 of the Law. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has called for action to prevent children becoming stateless such as establishing a limitation period beyond which an acquired nationality cannot be withdrawn.
4. Administrative Barriers
The documents required for application for naturalization, particularly for proving nationality, may present a barrier to accessing citizenship through naturalization. Documents that prove nationality and family relationships of the applicant generally must be issued by a government official of the country of the applicant’s nationality. This requirement could present a barrier for an applicant who may not possess or be able to obtain an acceptable version of such documentation. In addition, applicants will be required to demonstrate a certain level of Japanese proficiency. The application documentation and consultation or interview will also be conducted in Japanese, which may present a barrier for certain applicants. Japan reported a 100% birth registration rate to UNICEF in 2022.
