One in every 30 babies born in Japan has at least one foreign parent. We have to discuss very seriously how we should involve foreign residents in building our society.

About time!!!!!!!!!!!

he supports a proposal to revise the nationality law to allow Japanese to hold dual citizenship

That's not really central to involving residents in building Japanese society.

That's not really central to involving residents in building Japanese society.

You surprise me, Nessie. A person refused nationality is going to be as involved as his neighbour who has nationality? Surely a person with nationality has the chance for more involvement in society, if it's only having the right to vote?

Go, Shinkun-kun!!

Thats will be great....for our childrens. And what about they parents? almost once a week i heard from someone- Did you know? they (goverment) thinking to cansell Eijuken!

Wow. What a concept. Involving foreign residents. Wow.

Hes got my vote. I was told once that the reason Japanese refuse to allow dual citizenship is to prevent bigamy!?!?! Didnt realise that was such a massive problem amongst people of dual nationality!

I hope the law gets approved. my daughter is 4 and she has Japanese and Australian citizenships. Does this also apply to Japanese citizens wanting to get a citizenship from another country??

Ahhh, the proverbial gaijin-in-the-woodpile !!

I'm Canadian, my wife is Japanese.....my sons are....well I guess that's up to Japan to decide. Right. I am sure they will get on it right away. Whereas, Canada recognizes dual citizenship.

Dual citizenship is just wrong people should only be able to be citizens of one country maybe people don't love (that right I said love) a country enough that they commit the rest of their lifes to it (to me being part of a nation it's not a right but a privilege). Would you risk your physical integrity for your countrymen and your country or would you flee (that is the people that have dual citenzenship)?

P.S. ...ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country... John F. Kennedy, Inaugural address, January 20, 1961

Dual citizenship is just wrong people should only be able to be citizens of one country

That's rubbish - like saying people should have only one parent. You have a mother and a father, and you love them both equally. What stops you loving their countries equally too?

Would you risk your physical integrity for your countrymen and your country

Speaking as one who does not have dual nationality, no I would not risk my physical integrity (if by that you mean go to war) for any country. Having dual nationality would not affect that in any way. Which means it's a pretty meaningless argument. Most single-nationality Japanese would probably say they were not prepared to go to war for their country. (I think I remember there was a poll on just that subject a while ago).

PS - We're not talking about America, which I believe already recognises dual nationality; we're talking about Japan. Give me dual Japanese/UK nationality and I will do what I can for Japan, in that I will vote.

And if each of your two parents had dual citizenship and none of the countries overlapped, you should be allowed to have quadruple citizenship! And so on until you have someone who is a CITIZEN OF THE WORRRRRLD.

"One in every 30 babies born in Japan has at least one foreign parent"

This must be why I see all these young people with brown or yellow hair...

"Dual citizenship"

Heck, let's allow people to have "multi-citizenship"! I'm sure some people who have dual citizenship probably feel being citizens of two countries is not enough. Heck, let's have "world citizenship"! That way you can be a citizen of any country! ( except North Korea probably )

Nah, I think people should make up their minds which country they want to be a citizen of.

Great! Both of my kids now have only JAPANESE citizenship and maybe I will get around to getting their other passports too this year.

Heck, let's allow people to have "multi-citizenship"!...Heck, let's have "world citizenship"!

That's a brilliant idea, Sarge. The more ties to different countries people have, the less likely they are to want to go to war against any of those countries. In fact many years ago when he was still comparatively coherent, former PM Nakasone stated that one reason he was against dual nationality was that it would be difficult if not impossible to get people with dual nationality to fight against one country on behalf of the other. I think that is a very strong argument in favour of dual nationality, not against it.

It isn't a new idea, either; hundreds of years ago the royal heads of Europe traded brides with each other on the reckoning that the king of country A would not go to war against country B if his daughter was Queen there, and vice versa.

Interesting nobody has raised the question here of non-nationals being given the vote.

In the EU if we live in another country we are entitled to vote in local and EU (not national) elctions. So if I live in France I can vote in local mayoral and city council elections even though I'm British.

I can't see any good reason why I don't have that right as a registered resident (spouse of Japanese national) here. I pay local taxes and as a 'citizen advisor' to the city on planning issues I get far more involved in local issues than 99% of Japanese residents.

If you want people to be involved in the community they should have the right to vote on how their taxes are spent.

With the number of international marriages this is becoming a serious issue. 'One person one vote' should be the rule for all residents. And no taxation without representation.

I gues there is a mistake or something is missing in this quote, because actually a child born in Japan from a foreign parent and a japanese one, can have two nationalities, even being registered at the japanese city hall can be registered at the foreign consulate at the same time, the point is, after he or she is 18 years old, he or she has to choose wich nationality want to keep, because Japan dont accept dual citizenship, this is clear, but what about the foreign country where the baby was registered, because in example: "My wife and i, we have a baby, born in Japan, we registered him at the city hall, but at the same time, registered him at the french consulate, once he is 18 years old, law says he has to choose one nationality but: 1.- Who is going to check that he choosed or not?, is there any bureocrat who is going to take his french passport?. 2.- France accept dual citizenship, as many other countries, including US, then if there is not anybody who will check if he choosed or not, anyway he has the right to keep his french passport, because France is not going to say "For Japan you are only japanese, because they said you choosed to be japanese, meanwhile being in Japan, but for french laws you are still french until you refuse openly french nationality at a french guvernamental office, following an admnistrative proccedure". If we understand this situation under the International Public Law doctrine, everything you do under japanese law in Japan about nationality, would be effective only in japanese territory, in an unilateral way, but... it doesnt work outside, in another countries what have different normativity and regulations. If Japan don't accept dual citizenship, according to japanese laws, it's valid only in japanese territory, because France asume that you are a french citizen and consider you as a french citizen, because you are registered under its laws too, and according it, dual citizenship is acceptable, and you can keep it until you obtain an administrative determination, after a proccedure, in this case Japan can't do anything. The best example of this kind of situation, in reverse, is about Mr. Fujimori, that japanese descendant born from japanese parents and grown up in Peru, who was president of this country, after being accused about many crimes, he ran away to Japan, he never refused his peruvian citizenship neither his japanese citizenship, because peruvian laws accept dual nationality, meanwhile he was in Japan, the peruvian goverment inquire Japan to send him back to Peru to be judged, but Japan always refused saying: "He never refused his japanese citizenship, then he's a japanese citizen, our laws don't accept extradition of japanese people to another countries, then we are not going to send him back".

Now, why i think this quote was wrong translated or something is missing is:

Ussually most of the children born in Japan from a foreign parent and a japanese national, have japanese citizenship, then dual citizenship, for babies born in Japan... Hmmm... i guess i explained my point of view about this in my first comment.

I gues when Mr. Shinkun is talking about discuss seriously how to involve foreign residents, who are parents of japanese children, in building japanese society, he maybe want to say: how we could make them feel and be integrated in this society?..., and the answer in this case is simple: GIVING THEM THE OPTION TO ACCESS A DUAL CITIZENSHIP, IF THEY WANT TO HAVE IT, then in this case a foreign male or female who is parent of children born in Japan with a japanese national, would have the choice to adopt a dual nationality, in case they want to do it, obviously if we are talking about situations when at least one of the parents is a foreigner, if he is talking about this, i agree with him, because in fact this contribute in one way to give more cohesion to the family. But, what about a couple, they both are foreigners and have children born in Japan?. Having in mind that japanese law don't accept the IUS SOLI (Latin for "right of the soil", "right of the territory" or "birthright citizenship", it's a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognised to any individual born in the territory of the related state), what will happen with these kids, who were born and raised in Japan, who went to japanese schools and speak japanese fluently as any other kid with japanese parents, these kids will be always foreigners, will always have the condition of permanent resident, but without the same rights than the other kids who are growing up with them, will have when they are adults. About this, i believe japanese goverment should visit towns like Hamamatsu in Shizuoka, were a typical japanese family have one or two kids (and two, in fact, is very rare), meanwhile a brazilian family have around 4 kids), and the brazilian kids, ussually at 15 or 16 starts working in factories, meanwhile the japanese teenagers run to Tokyo dreaming to be pop stars, in this proportion, after 20 years... whose do you think will be the majority population in this town?... the japanese?. These kids born in brazilian families, whose will be the mayority of the population in these towns, educated under japanese parametres in japanese schools, in japanese language, won't go to live in Brazil after they are 18 years old, because for them Japan is their home, and probably to live in south america would be hard for them as for any japanese, they grow up with a no belonging feeling "I was born here, i live here, but i dont belong here and will never belong here", finally for most of them is easy to feel far from any kind of sense and even respect to any kind of law or rule about living here, thats why some of then are in gangs, or sometimes commit "little" crimes.

Dual citizenship is just wrong people should only be able to be citizens of one country

if your parents are of different nationalities then disallowing dual nationality forces children to choose between a parent. pretty tough and unfair, imo

This must be why I see all these young people with brown or yellow hair...

Thats PALTY Sarge. Or sometimes its the paddle pop lion. I've seen many of him too!!!

How about, first, making it a law to treat foreigners equally and as people? After all, being the butt of some arrogant Japanese person's racist and bigoted comment or joke is really no fun.

Everyday more and more lines are drawn up to divide us. Its good to see, however minuscule the effort to break down these walls. We are all citizens of the universe, we belong to everything and everything belongs to us.