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> if I got divorced my wife would automatically get custody because I would not legally be able to take custody, not being a person. This isn't true. You're st

> if I got divorced my wife would automatically get custody because I would not legally be able to take custody, not being a person. This isn't true. You're still considered a person but you're not considered a citizen. Big difference. Koseki does not (nor should it) grant you the same rights as a naturalized citizen of Japan. Becoming a naturalized citizen (through citizinship) is a step which you (or anyone else who qualifies) can take if you want, but it takes a bit of time (same length as becoming a citizen in the U.S, ~10 years). In your comment, you don't differentiate being a naturalized citizen of Japan and a koseki. But there's a huge difference. A koseki is something different and apart from becoming a naturalized citizen. It shouldn't grant you the same rights if you're a foreigner, it wasn't meant too.

mikekchar 12y ago
You are correct :-) I was careless in the way I wrote. I did not mean to imply that being on the koseki imparted citizenship. It does not, and you are correct to point out that there is a big difference. What I meant is than in many areas of the law, you are literally not a legal person if you are not on the koseki. They just have no way of dealing with you. Family law is the most obvious place where this occurs, but there are some others a well. Basically, if the law is written to look at the juuminhyou (essentially your registered address), then as a foreigner you are good to go. If it is writen to look at the koseki, unless you are married, you are going to hit a brick wall. Unless, the law has changed very recently (and I know that they were planning to change it), the example I gave (custody in divorce) is a classic example. There is no way that a Japanese judge can grant custody of children to someone who is not on a koseki somewhere because it is legally impossible to do so. Where I was wrong was to say that this is a right. It is not a right (and as a foreigner living in any country you have to get used to the fact that you have a lot less rights than a citizen). It is a consequence of the way the law is written. Still, I can tell you that the difference between when I was living in Japan before I had my name on that piece of paper and after is quite large. Even better is to start a corporation as you then have an entity that you control that is recognized as a legal person (houjin). But that is way off topic...

mikekchar 12y ago

You are correct :-) I was careless in the way I wrote. I did not mean to imply that being on the koseki imparted citizenship. It does not, and you are correct to point out that there is a big difference. What I meant is than in many areas of the law, you are literally not a legal person if you are not on the koseki. They just have no way of dealing with you. Family law is the most obvious place where this occurs, but there are some others a well. Basically, if the law is written to look at the juuminhyou (essentially your registered address), then as a foreigner you are good to go. If it is writen to look at the koseki, unless you are married, you are going to hit a brick wall. Unless, the law has changed very recently (and I know that they were planning to change it), the example I gave (custody in divorce) is a classic example. There is no way that a Japanese judge can grant custody of children to someone who is not on a koseki somewhere because it is legally impossible to do so. Where I was wrong was to say that this is a right. It is not a right (and as a foreigner living in any country you have to get used to the fact that you have a lot less rights than a citizen). It is a consequence of the way the law is written. Still, I can tell you that the difference between when I was living in Japan before I had my name on that piece of paper and after is quite large. Even better is to start a corporation as you then have an entity that you control that is recognized as a legal person (houjin). But that is way off topic...