Legal Tokyo High Court upholds ban on dual nationality

An article of the nationality law states that Japanese citizens who acquire non-Japanese nationality on their own instigation automatically lose their Japanese nationality, effectively banning dual citizenship. The plaintiffs have said foreign nationality is necessary to facilitate their work and lives abroad, but that they hope to also maintain their Japanese citizenship. They argued that the clause stripping people of Japanese nationality violates the Constitution, which guarantees the right to pursue happiness and equality under the law. Swiss resident Hitoshi Nogawa, 79, who led the plaintiffs, said Japanese nationality forms part of his identity.

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The eight plaintiffs, who live abroad in countries including Switzerland and France, had argued that foreign nationality was necessary to facilitate their work and lives abroad. But they also had hoped to maintain their Japanese citizenship. They argued that with more countries allowing multiple citizenship, the clause in Japan's nationality law that strips people of Japanese nationality violates the Constitution, which guarantees the right to pursue happiness and equality under the law. The article effectively banning dual citizenship says, "If a Japanese citizen acquires the nationality of a foreign country at their own choice, that Japanese citizen loses Japanese citizenship." The Tokyo District Court rejected the lawsuit in 2021, saying that permitting multiple citizenship "could cause conflict in the rights and obligations between countries, as well as between the individual and the state."

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Petaris said:

I was actually just thinking/worrying about this the other day. My eldest is still a little ways from having this become an issue but time really flies for some things and its now less than a decade away for him. We have always thought that "don't ask, don't tell and hope for uninterested immigration officers" would be the way that our kids would need to proceed however it does add some risk and uncertainty.

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Petaris said:

So I'm curious, even if a person told immigration that they intended to keep the Japanese citizenship it seems like actually renouncing US citizenship is quite the process. So how would the Japanese side enforce that? I would also think there would be a lot of process in the opposite path. It doesn't seem like something that could be done during or even at the traversal of the immigration point at the airport.

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