Legal Tokyo District Court rejects refugee's naturalisation bid over lack of Japanese-language ability

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by an African refugee seeking to overturn government decisions that twice denied him Japanese citizenship, ruling that his Japanese-language proficiency was insufficient. The case drew attention to what the plaintiff's lawyers described as the opaque and unclear standards foreign residents face when applying for naturalisation. They argued the process operated like a "black box".

Presiding Judge Yukito Okada said in the ruling that the justice minister has broad discretion in deciding whether to grant citizenship, taking into account the political and social situation at the time. The judge said it could not be concluded that the minister had abused that authority in this case, particularly given the plaintiff's level of Japanese proficiency. The plaintiff is a refugee in his 40s from an African country who fled persecution and was granted refugee status in Japan in October 2015. His lawyer requested that his exact age, nationality and name not be disclosed for privacy reasons.

The man had sought to overturn government decisions rejecting his naturalisation applications in May 2018 and January 2021. He also demanded ¥3.3 million, or about $20,900, in damages. According to the ruling, he applied again for Japanese citizenship in 2024, but that application was also rejected.

The plaintiff arrived in Japan in October 2013 after fleeing severe human rights abuses in his home country and later enrolled in a doctoral program at Waseda University, where he studied and received a doctorate in international relations, hoping to work for the United Nations. Without Japanese nationality, however, he was unable to obtain a passport and instead relied on a refugee travel document, which complicated job applications, overseas travel and prevented him from attending academic conferences abroad. He also cited difficulties opening bank accounts and securing phone and credit card contracts. The plaintiff's lawyers argued that being rejected for Japanese citizenship violated Japan's obligations stipulated in Article 34 of the United Nations Refugee Convention, which calls on signatory states to facilitate "as much as possible" the naturalization of refugees, and it unlawfully prevented him from fully integrating into Japanese society.

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One of the main issues in the trial was the level of Japanese proficiency required for a foreign resident to obtain citizenship. Justice Ministry guidelines state that applicants must possess enough Japanese proficiency to "integrate into Japanese society", though the standards themselves are not clearly defined in public. During the proceedings, the government argued that the plaintiff lacked the level of Japanese reading and writing ability considered necessary for naturalisation.