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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
This paper examines the suffrage rights of mukosekisha: Japanese who are not listed in a household registration (koseki). It explains that Japanese who are not listed in a household registration do not enjoy the right to vote unless they are recorded in a resident record (jūmin hyō), which differs from the household registration. Moreover, a provision in the Public Offices Election Act enacted soon after World War II may prevent some Japanese who are not listed in a household registration from exercising their right to vote even if they are recorded in a resident record. This out-dated provision should be amended to allow the right to vote of Japanese who are not listed in a household registration but are recorded in a resident record.
1 TANIGUCHI Tomohei, Koseki Hō [Household Registration Act] (Tokyo: Yūhikaku, 1957), p.33. However, it must be emphasised that there is no legal definition of a household registration, not even in the Household Registration Act. As Endo points out, this implies that Japanese are so familiar with the household registration system that the authorities assume that no legal definition is necessary. ENDO Masataka, Koseki to Mukoseki: “Nihon Jin” no Rinkaku [Koseki and Mukoseki: Contours of “Japanese”] (Kyoto: Jinbun Shoin, 2017), pp.17-18.
2 “Mukoseki: Kaishō ha Hansuu Ika Hōmushō Chōsa [Mukoseki: Less than Half of Mukosekisha were listed in the Koseki according to the Ministry of Justice]”, Mainichi Shimbun, April 3, 2017.
3 IDO Masae, Mukoseki no Nihon Jin [Unregistered Japanese] (Tokyo: Shueisha, 2016), p.21.
4 Foreigners with resident status are also recorded in a resident record. See the following. Osamu Arakaki, Statelessness Conventions and Japanese Laws: Convergence and Divergence (translated by Hajime Akiyama, Tokyo: UNHCR Representation in Japan, 2016), p.55.
5 However, for foreigners, who are not listed in the household registration, household registration and resident record are not linked. For the relationship between household registration and resident record, see the section on “Japanese who are not listed in a Household Registration”.
6 Japanese nationals and foreigners have different access to social services. For instance, Japanese nationals have access to public assistance while there is no legal basis for foreign residents in Japan to access public assistance. See Arakaki supra note 4, pp.57-58.
7 Director of Administration Improvement Division, Local Administration Bureau, MIC, “Shusshō Todoke no Teishutu ni Itaranai Ko ni Kakaru Jūminhyō no Kisai nitsuite [Notification: Regarding Certificate of Residence of Children whose Birth is not Notified]” MIC Gyō Shi Dai 143 Gō. 7 July 2008. Local News Section, Mainichi Shimbun, Rikongo 300 Nichi Mondai Mukosekiji wo Sukue! [Problem of the 300 Days after Divorce: Save Mukoseki Children!] (Tokyo: Akashi Shoten, 2008), pp.183-186.
8 In 2009, 389 Japanese nationals who were not listed in a household registration were recorded in the resident record. Each year, the number increases, and 730 were recorded in the resident record in 2014. Mainichi Shimbun, “Mōichido Yomitai ‘Mukoseki Mondai Kyanpēn’ Mukoseki, Hinkon no Supairaru… Genkyō no 772 Jō [Archive: ‘Campaign on Mukoseki Problems’ Mukoseki, Endless Poverty… Article 772 as a Root Cause]” 4 December 2015.
9 SAKURAI Azusa, “‘Mukoseki Mondai’ wo meguru Genjō to Ronten [The Current Situation and Points at Issue of the ‘Mukoseki Issue‘]”, Rippō to Chōsa, 381, p.100. See Article 15(1) of the Japanese Constitution.
10 It must be noted that some prefectures recognise the right of foreign permanent residents to vote in national elections. However, such practice is a challenge to the sovereignty of Japanese nationals, which is one principle of the Japanese constitution, and it does not seem to be acceptable in Japan at this time. This paper assumes that all Japanese nationals have the right to vote in national election.
11 Director of the Civil Affairs First Division, Civil Affairs Bureau, MOJ, “Koseki ni Kisai ga Nai Mono ni kansuru Jōhō no Haaku oyobi Shien nitsuite [Request: Regarding Identification of Information of and Assistance to People who are not Listed in the Household Registration]” MOJ Min Ichi Dai 817 Gō, 31 July 2014 (Requested in Disclosure of Administrative Documents in one of the Tokyo Metropolitan Special Wards).
12 Japanese nationality is conferred by birth when either parent has Japanese nationality (Article 2(i) of the Japanese Nationality Act). However, it must be noted that children “born in Japan both of whose parents are unknown or are without nationality” also acquire Japanese nationality (Article 2(iii) of the Act. The author draws on the MOJ's Japanese Law Translation Database System (see here). It should be noted that this is not an official English translation of Japanese laws.). For the relationship between the household registration and nationality, see the following. Karl Jakob Krogness, “Jus Koseki: Household Registration and Japanese Citizenship” in David Chapman and Karl Jakob Krogness (eds.), Japan's Household Registration System and Citizenship: Koseki, Identification and Documentation (London and New York: Routledge, 2014), pp.145-165.
13 See Articles 49 and 52 of the Household Registration Act. It must be emphasised that all children born in Japan need to be registered at a municipal office even if the child is not Japanese. See the following. MOJ, “Question 1: Gaikoku Jin ga, Nihon de Konin (Kekkon) shitari, Kodomo wo Unda tokiha, Koseki no Todokede ha Hitsuyō desuka? [Question 1: Is it necessary for foreigners to register a marriage or the birth of a child in Japan?]”.
14 This translation benefited from suggestions by Tessa Morris-Suzuki. The author appreciates her comment.
15 See the following. Ido, supra note 3, pp.62-82.
16 See the following. Local News Section, Mainichi Shimbun, supra note 7, pp.12-18. It is also possible that the husband may not have been the father of the child.
17 Municipal offices can record individuals in a resident record without parental notification of birth. If the birth is confirmed, municipal offices have the authority to record the individual in a resident record (Article 12 of Order for Enforcement of the Basic Residents Registration Act).
18 Endo, supra note 1, pp.331-332.
19 Sakurai, supra note 9, p. 101.
20 Japan Federation of Bar Associations, “Mukoseki de Okomari no Katahe [For Japanese who are not listed in a household registration]”.
21 Dai 189 Kai Kokkai Shūgiin Hōmu Iinkai Kaigiroku [Minutes of the Committee for Legal Affairs, House of Representatives, the 189th Session of the Diet] (No. 2, 20 March 2015) p.16. The minutes of the Diet are available here.
22 Article 21 of the Public Offices Election Act states that each municipal office prepares an electoral roll, and Japanese nationals older than 17 years old who have had an address in the municipality for more than three months are listed in the electoral roll.
23 Note that the MIC encourages municipal offices to record Japanese nationals who are not listed in a household registration.
24 The MOJ does not provide a translation of the act. English translation by the author.
25 Dai 89 Kai Teikoku Gikai Shūgiin Giin Senkyo Hou Chuu Kaisei Hōritsu An Hoka Ikken Iinkaigiroku (Sokki) Dai 1 Kai [Minutes of the Committee for Amendment of the House of Representatives Election Act, House of Representatives, the 89th Session of the Imperial Diet] (No. 1, 4 December 1945), p.3. The minutes of the Imperial Diet are available here.
26 In Korea, “Ordinance of the Household Registration in Korea” (Governor-General's Ordinance No. 154 of 1922) was promulgated, and in Taiwan, “Regarding the Household Registration of the Mainland” (Ordinance No. 2 of 1932) was promulgated. (“Mainland” here means the mainland of Taiwan.) ENDO Masataka, Kindai Nihon no Shokuminchi Touchi niokeru Kokuseki to Koseki: Manshuu, Chosen, Taiwan [Nationality and Koseki in the Colonial Rule of Modern Japan: Manchuria, Korea and Taiwan] (Tokyo: Akashi Shoten, 2010), pp.130, 162.
27 The Circular of MOJ stated that “Korean and Taiwanese people including those living in mainland will lose Japanese nationality.” See the following for the text of the circular. CHONG Yong-hwan, “Shokuminchi no Dokuritsu to Jinken: Zainichi Chōsenjin no ”Kokuseki Sentaku Ken“ wo megutte [Colonial Independence and Human Rights: Focusing on the Rights of Nationality Choice for Koreans in Japan],” PRIME: International Peace Research Institute Meiji Gakuin University, 36 (2013) p.49. In case of Koreans, Onuma criticised the Japanese decision to deny Japaense nationality of Koreans and claims that the Koreans should be able to choose a nationality. ONUMA Yasuaki, “Zainichi Chōsen Jin no Hōteki Chii nikansuru Ichi Kōsatsu (6) [Legal Status of Koreans in Japan: With Special Reference to Nationality (6)],” Journal of the Jurisprudence Association, the University of Tokyo, 97(4) (1980) p.97. Japanese government discussed with the govenrment of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in 1951, and they agreed that Koreans' Korean nationality was recovered in 15 August 1948 when the ROK was established. TOBITA Yūichi, “San Furanshisuko Heiwa Jōyaku to Zainichi Chōsenjin [The Peace Treaty and Korean Residents in Japan],” Zainichi Chousenjin Shi Kenkyuu [History of Korean Residents in Japan], 6 (1980) p.5.
28 YASUDA Mitsuru and ARAKAWA Atsushi, Chikujō Kaisetsu Kōshoku Senkyo Hō (Jō) [Commentary on the Public Offices Election Act I] (Tokyo: Gyousei, 2009), p.15.
29 Dai 189 Kai Kokkai Shūgiin Hōmu Iinkai Kaigiroku [Minutes of the Committee for Legal Affairs, House of Representatives, the 189th Session of the Diet], supra note 21, p.16.
30 See Yasuda and Arakawa, supra note 28, p.73.
31 Endo, supra note 1, p.324. See MIC, “Shuugiin, Sangiin Hirei Daijou Senshutsu Giin Senkyo niokeru Rikkouho no Todokede tou [Declaration to Run for Election of the Members of the Houses of Representatives and Councilors to be Elected under Proportional Representation]”.
32 Under the 1889 Meiji Constitution, the head of a family and those who comprised the family, including wives of the children of the head of family, were listed in the same unit of household registration. This system was abolished when the 1947 Constitution was enacted. See Arakaki supra note 4, pp.94-95.
33 Denial of the suffrage of people from the former colonies is another important issue. But this paper's focus lies elsewhere.
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