"I hereby affirm that the above is the complete list of the members of this household," reads a typical juminhyo (resident registration form). The mayor of the issuing municipality applies the official stamp, and the family's all accounted for.
Or maybe not.
While Japanese law clearly states that "any person residing in Japan is a resident of Japan," and mandates that those people register as such, it also stipulates that "the names of foreign nationals may not appear on the juminhyo."
So what if there's been an international marriage or adoption in your household? These foreign members of the family must register their residency individually, under the Alien Registration Law.
They receive separate documentation, which serves as official proof of their identity, home address and even marriage to a Japanese, but makes no mention of their relationship to other members of their household, including their children or grandchildren.
If the juminhyo was used merely to confirm one's address, this might pose little problem, but many organizations -- banks and schools, for example -- rely on the certificate to determine relationships within a family. Not surprisingly, this can be a source of trouble for those the juminhyo does not include, in particular foreign spouses with children.
Among the problems "invisible dads" and "missing moms" have had to put up with: neighbors who assume their marriage is not legal and their children are illegitimate; visits to their "single-parent household" by welfare officials; and, more seriously, complications when trying to gain the right of child custody after a divorce.
"This," said Yasuhide Yamana, until recently parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, "is a violation of a foreign spouse's human rights. I am appalled that a policy that breaks up a family structure exists in this day and age."
In response to Yamana's requests for action, the ministry recently published an article that advises local governments to include, by request, the name of foreign spouses in the "remarks" section of the juminhyo.
From last year, an increasing number of municipalities have begun to comply, hoping "to obtain the trust of all residents, regardless of nationality," as one city government official in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, put it.
Others cities, however, are bluntly refusing to change.
Kumamoto City, for example, called the ministry advisory "merely the personal opinion" of one official, and will continue to refuse requests to include foreign nationals in the remarks space on the form.
As one official of the municipal citizens' division put it, "That space may be used as we please, for administrative purposes."
But even if all cities did comply, many foreign residents would remain unsatisfied. "The number of international marriages in Japan has increased, and the laws should reflect the changing times," said Lucinda Otsuka, a resident of Kumamoto. "Non-Japanese spouses should not be relegated to a 'remark.' "
The Japan Times: Jan. 20, 2002
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