700 nationals have no family registration in Japan: gov’t tally

August 26, 2017

TOKYO- At least 700 Japanese nationals living in the country had no family registration as of Aug. 10 because paperwork on their births had not been submitted, a Justice Ministry tally showed Friday.

In about 70 percnbt of the cases, mothers chose not to submit birth notifications to local governments in order to prevent their children from being recognized as legitimate children of their current or former husbands under Civil Code provisions.

The actual number of such people may top 10,000 as many cases remain hidden, a private-sector group supporting unregistered nationals said.

Japanese nationals not listed on family registers usually cannot obtain certificates of residence or passports in Japan. They also face significant difficulty concluding home rental contracts.

The Civil Code stipulates that a child conceived by a wife during marriage is presumed to be a child of her husband and that a child born within 300 days of the day of divorce is presumed to be a child of the mother's former husband.

These rules have led many women trying to escape from violence from their husbands to choose not to submit birth notifications for their children.

Since the ministry started taking statistics in 2014, the cumulative number of people confirmed to have no family registration has reached 1,426.

While some of them have obtained family registration, 700 people, including 131 adults, have yet to take such action, up from 567 as of March 2015, according to the ministry. Jiji Press