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Comment by donw | Hacker News Reader

Last year, less than 9,000 foreigners naturalized into a population of 123 million.

In order to naturalize, you must present a compelling case to do so: you must speak, read, and write Japanese to the level required by compulsory education, must demonstrate that you can and will supporting yourself financially, must have no criminal record in Japan or elsewhere, and nominally must be married to a Japanese citizen.

Japan does not allow dual citizenship. If you naturalize, you are required to show proof that you have surrendered any non-Japanese citizenship.

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I said "half" for a reason, I wasn't talking about naturalized citizens but rather their descendants or people with part foreign ancestry. Zainichi Koreans are the main example I think.

It's not a lot more, but it's more than 2%.

If it doesn't drop below 88% then it's still higher than Finland and doesn't change my point at all.

I’m confused. If you are born and raised in Japan to at least one Japanese parent, you are Japanese.

Not to the kind of person who thinks Japanese people are genetically well-behaved.

> you must present a compelling case to do so

Nope. You must give a reason statement but it doesn't need to be compelling.

> you must speak, read, and write Japanese to the level required by compulsory education

Technically true but misleading - yes it's permitted to leave school at 14 in Japan, but very few children do.

> must demonstrate that you can and will supporting yourself financially

Up to a point. It's more "must have a household income equivalent to a minimum-wage full-time job, or equivalent lump sum assets, and not be behind on your taxes".

> nominally must be married to a Japanese citizen

What? No.

> Japan does not allow dual citizenship. If you naturalize, you are required to show proof that you have surrendered any non-Japanese citizenship.

Right, which is exactly what makes "less than 9,000 foreigners" a very misleading figure. Naturalisation gains you little compared to living as a foreign permanent resident, and requires renouncing citizenship, so most people don't.

For the overwhelming majority of people just becoming a permanent resident is more than enough - there's not a strong need to become a Japanese citizen vs. permanent residency outside of the right to vote, and for overwhelming majority, the trade-off isn't worth it.

But Japan is not a particularly difficult country to naturalize in if you so desire. The N1 can be studied for and passed without being fluent. Supporting yourself financially basically means having roughly full-time employment. No idea where you got the idea you need to be married to a Japanese citizen, not true at all.

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