The primary legal identity document in Japan, ‘My Number Card’ (in Japanese) or ‘Individual Number Card’ (in English), introduced in 2015, includes a unique 12-digit identification number assigned to Japanese citizens and foreign residents.[1] My Number Card is a plastic card that shows the individual’s full name, registered address, date of birth, gender, face photo, ID number and has an IC chip containing additional information.[2] A resident can apply for a My Number Card through the application form online (via phone or PC), town photo booth, or the local municipal office, using the unique Individual Number delivered to them through the Individual Number Notice (a notification card that states their assigned individual number).[3]
My Number Card is currently used for identity verification as well as access to public services and administrative procedures, including online banking, social security, taxation, health insurance, and disaster countermeasures.[4] Once an identification number is assigned to an individual, this My Number Card will remain unchanged throughout an individual’s lifetime, unless there is any change prompted by any data leaks or risk of improper use.[5]
Before the Individual Number Card was introduced, the Basic Resident Registration Card (also known as Juki card) was used from July 2013, which includes an 11-digit number that is randomly selected and assigned to all citizens and foreign residents, recorded in the Basic Resident Registration Network System.[6] The Juki card was a physical ID used for identification purposes when applying to or notifying administrative bodies, including services such as applying for a passport, registering as a qualified real estate agent, or applying for a pension.[7] With the issuance of the Individual Number Card in 2015, the government stopped issuing out the Basic Resident Registration Card in December 2015, but allowed the use of these cards until it expired.[8]
My Number Card is not a marker of citizenship as it is an ID card given to everyone who has a resident registry in Japan, including foreign residents.[9] My Number Card is connected to the resident registry system and is assigned based on each individual’s Resident Record Code (Juminhyo Code).[10]
All foreign citizens who fall within the following categories must make a resident application to the local government office where they reside:
- persons legally residing in Japan for a medium- to long-term period (over three months) with a valid status of residence, excluding temporary visitors, diplomats, or officials;
- Special Permanent Residents, such as those with ancestral origins in Japan’s former colonies like Korea during the colonial period;
- persons granted landing permission for temporary refuge or provisional stay; and
- persons who may continue to stay transitionally in Japan by birth or those who have lost Japanese nationality.[11]
In other words, all foreign citizens who are recorded in the resident registry are eligible for a My Number Card, while stateless persons, refugees, asylum seekers, or undocumented persons who do not fall within any of the above-mentioned four categories, cannot obtain a My Number Card.
The Family Registry Records (Koseki system) that records births, coming of age, marriages, and deaths for Japanese citizens, serves as a way to verify citizenship.[12] Birth registration involves submitting the hospital-issued birth notification form and a birth certificate issued by the hospital, along with parents’ identification documents, to the local ward office within 14 days of birth.[13]
Birth registration for children of parents with mixed nationality depends on whether one parent is Japanese and the marital status of the parents. If the mother is a Japanese national, the child automatically acquires Japanese nationality at birth, regardless of marital status, pursuant to Article 2 of the Nationality Act (Act No. 88 of 2008).[14] However, where the mother is not Japanese and the parents are not married, the Japanese nationality of the father does not automatically confer nationality on the child.[15] In such cases, the child acquires Japanese nationality only if the father acknowledges paternity before birth or completes the required legal procedures after birth.[16] Without this recognition, and if the foreign mother’s nationality laws in their origin country do not confer citizenship, the child may face the risk of statelessness.[17] According to ISSJ, an NGO working on statelessness, if a foreign mother does not report the birth to the municipal office and the embassy of their home country in Japan, their child may be without a nationality and be considered stateless.[18]
