Japan’s Ministry of Justice is to start allowing people to write “Taiwan” in the nationality field on household registration forms starting on May 26.
It is part of a change that would allow people to indicate a regional name alongside or in place of nationality, allowing Taiwanese who live in Japan to change their registration from “China” to “Taiwan.”
To register a household in Japan, it is necessary to be a Japanese citizen, the Japanese-language Nikkei reported.
Photo: CNA
Foreign spouses of Japanese citizens have their nationality recorded in the household registry, as do foreign-born individuals who later obtain Japanese nationality.
Regarding Taiwan and China, the issue of household registration dates to 1964, when the government had yet to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Nikkei reported.
To avoid issues, the ministry decided to register people from both the PRC and Republic of China as “China” to avoid issues, the report said.
About 800 to 1,000 Taiwanese marry Japanese spouses annually, statistics from Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior show.
This change brings the household registration document in line with Japanese resident cards for foreigners, which have allowed for people to list their regional identity since 2012.
It would also help the government better understand which foreign laws would apply in cases such as marriage, a ministry official said.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that through the correct descriptions on Japanese family registers, the rights and interests of overseas Taiwanese in Japan would be further protected.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) also expressed gratitude to the “long-term efforts made by various actors in Japan to address the issue of nationality descriptions on documents.”
As of the end of June last year, there were about 67,000 people from Taiwan living in Japan, the ninth-largest group among foreign residents.
The change also allows people to write “Palestine” as their place of origin.
The most recent changes do not mention Japan’s North Korean population, who still must use “Korea” in place of “North Korea.”
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS