International marriage (Japan)

An international marriage in Japan is a marriage between a Japanese and a non-Japanese person, in accordance with the formalities provided by the law of Japan or of a foreign land. Procedures and rules mentioned in this article are mainly those of Japan, but in some cases other requirements are imposed by the homeland of the non-Japanese spouse, or by the foreign land where the concerned couple marry. In general the legality of a marriage for each spouse is determined by the homeland law of the spouse. ^[1]

History

Marriage between a Japanese national and a non-Japanese person was first officially permitted by act of law on March 14, 1873 ^[2] (6th year of the Meiji Period), before the former Meiji Constitution (1889) and the former Nationality Law (1899). This day is informally known as International Marriage Day (国際結婚の日) and coincides with the modern White Day.

International marriage at the time required both a permit and surrender of recognised social standing (分限).

During 1986 to 1991, the period of Japanese bubble economy, labor shortages for "3D jobs" (dirty, dangerous, and demeaning) occurred in Japan. This situation created expand the migrant labor rates. ^[3] However, the revised policy in 1990 prohibited unrestricted economic activities except for only four kinds of visa, which include the "Spouse or child of a Japanese national". This policy legalizes all kinds of economic activity for marriage migrations. ^[4]

Homeland law

According to an Act of Japan on general rules, ^[1]

• The homeland law of a person is the law of the country of citizenship of the person.
• If a person has more than one citizenship, and if one of the citizenships is Japan, the homeland law is the law of Japan;
• If a person has more than one citizenship, and none of them is Japanese, the homeland law of the person is the law of the country where the person habitually lives.
• as to a concerned person with nationality of a nation in which laws are different according to locality (like the US), the homeland law is the local law under rules of the nation or, if the nation doesn't have such rules, the homeland law is the law of the local area which is most closely related to the person.

Required translation

Each paper, document mentioned in this article as required by Japan, if not written in Japanese, needs to be accompanied with translation into Japanese; one of the concerned persons can themself be the translator; their name must accompany the translation. ^[5]

Legal documents

When a Japanese and a non-Japanese are intending to marry ^[5]

• in accordance with Japanese rules, homeland certification is required regarding the concerned non-Japanese that they are permitted to marry (see the related section below);
• in accordance with foreign law, certification by Japan may also be required.

Japanese regulations

Notification

If a couple including a Japanese citizen marry in Japan, the marriage is to be in accordance with Japanese law. ^[1] Thus Japan requires notification of the marriage. ^{[5] [6] [7]} Japan's diplomatic establishments abroad can not legally accept a notification of a marriage of this type. ^[5]

Competence certification as to the concerned non-Japanese

Japan requires competence certification as to the concerned non-Japanese, as a paper in principle, to be submitted; ^[5] if the homeland (state / nation) is one which doesn't issue this certification, ^[5]

• if he / she swears in the presence of the homeland's consul in Japan that he / she has legal competence under the homeland law to get married with a Japanese, the written oath signed by the consul might be the substitute for this certification paper;
• if even the substitutes can not be submitted, a copy of the homeland law on marriage with its source clarified, and identity certification(s) issued by the homeland's official institution(s) such as a passport, are required instead.

Family register

The fact the Japanese got married with the non-Japanese is to be recorded in a family register with the concerned Japanese written at its head; if the Japanese is one not written at the head, a new family register for the concerned couple is to be created. ^{[5] [6]}

Family name

While a rule of Japan for the common surname (i.e. family name) is not applied to the couple, the concerned Japanese can change his or her surname to that of the concerned non-Japanese spouse by filing notification as such. This notification, if not within 6 months of the day the marriage became effective, needs permission in advance from a family court. ^{[5] [8]}

International marriages in accordance with foreign legislation

Competence certification as to the concerned Japanese

If competence certification as to the concerned Japanese is required, the Japanese can request this certification as a paper

• issued in Japanese of a Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局);
• issued in Japanese of the municipality of the domicile of family register (本籍地の市町村);
• issued in a foreign language of a Japan's diplomatic establishment abroad (日本の在外公館);

this certification paper is called "Kon'in-Yōken Gubi Shōmeisho" (婚姻要件具備証明書) in Japanese. ^[5]

Certification as to the marriage

By a delivery of an authorized copy of certification as to the marriage issued by the foreign land (state / nation), the marriage is regarded under law of Japan as one in accordance with the formality of the foreign land. ^[5] As the additional required documents, Japanese government requires foreigners(non-Japanese citizen) to provide a sworn Affidavit of Competency to Marry, which is issued by their original country's embassy. ^[9]

Marriage approval

All marriages must be registered at a Japanese municipal government office. One common mistake is that consular officers has no legal rights for marriage registration, neither does the religious or fraternal bodies in Japan. ^[9]

Notification

Japan requires the authorized copy of certification as to the marriage

• to be submitted to a Japan's diplomatic establishment abroad (日本の在外公館), or,
• to be sent by post or submitted to the municipality of the domicile of family register (本籍地の市町村),

within 3 months of the day the marriage got effective; when the authorized copy of certification is legally accepted, the fact the Japanese got married with the non-Japanese is to be recorded in the family register of the concerned Japanese. ^[5]

Intermarriage by nationality

Korean–Japanese

After marriage, most of the Korean residents would still treat themselves as ethnically Korean, but without direct relation to North or South Korea anymore. Obtaining a pure Japanese nationality would not amount to a betrayal of their Korean identity. ^[10]

Chinese–Japanese

Ethnic Chinese, Mainland and Taiwanese in Japan intermarry with the residents. Japanese and Chinese are commonly speaken at home. ^[11]

Filipino–Japanese

Filipino (language) causes considerable difficulties for international marriages to Japanese. Children within Filipino-Japanese families are usually required to learn Filipino, Japanese and English, with the purpose of communicating with Filipino relatives, daily communication (living in Japan) and exploring the international world. The identity of being "doubles" (both Japanese and Filipino) is expected of a child. ^[12]

American–Japanese

For American–Japanese pairings, 83% are between an American husband and a Japanese wife (2022). ^{[13] [lower-alpha 1]} This gender imbalance, the reverse of Japanese–Other Asian pairings, has been the subject of much discussion and analysis. ^[14]

In the period after WW2, quite a few Japanese women married American soldiers. ^{[15] [16]} As of 2010, American–Japanese intermarriage as a share of foreign marriages was much more common in Okinawa (89.3%), Aomori (81.0%), Nagasaki (67.9%), Yamaguchi (39.7%), Kanagawa (34.7%), and Saga (33.3%). All six of these prefectures are home to American military bases. ^[16]

In modern times, Western men are often stereotyped as representing an idealized and romanticized West — especially progressive attitudes toward gender and in contrast to Japanese men — as well as a pathway to learning English. Foreign English-language teachers in Japan are mostly male. ^{[14] [17]}

In professional environments, marriage confers numerous professional benefits to Western men in Japan (that do not apply to Western women), as well as tempering negative stereotypes about Western men. Western women often have much greater difficulty finding a suitable partner, and as a result tend to leave Japan. ^[14]

Marriage and divorce trends

Marriage

In 2022, there were 17,685 international marriages registered within Japan. This accounts for 3.5% of all marriages. ^[18]

Divorce

A popularly-cited statistic is that one in three marriages end in divorce, and this number is around or above 50% for international marriages. ^{[19] [20] [21] [22]} However, this ratio (a marriage-divorce ratio) has been described as demographically meaningless by experts. ^[22]

See also

• Family marriage law in Japan
• International child abduction in Japan
• Asian migrant brides in Japan, a social and local government-led initiative involving the importation of women from other Asian countries

Notes

1. American brides: 236; American grooms: 1139; total 236 + 1139 = 1375; Grooms 82.8% of this total.

References

1. Act on general rules for application of law ( 法の適用に関する通則法 ) (Act No.78 of 2006): Chapter 3: Sections 5 and 7. The last effective revision was enforced on 1 January 2007.
2. "国際結婚の日（3月14日） - 歴史公文書探究サイト『ぶん蔵』 Bunzo". Archived from the original on 2009-05-17. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
3. "Japan Immigration Statistics 1960-2020". www.macrotrends.net. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
4. Yamaura, Chigusa, 1977- (15 July 2020). Marriage and marriageability : the practices of matchmaking between men from Japan and women from Northeast China. Ithaca. p. 148. ISBN   978-1-5017-5016-8. OCLC   1124775542.
5. 法務省民事局. "国際結婚，海外での出生等に関する戸籍Ｑ＆Ａ". the site of the Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
6. Family register act ( 戸籍法 , Kosekihō) (Act No.224 of 1947): Articles 6, 16, 74. The last effective revision was enforced on 1 October 2007.
7. Civil Code ( 民法 , Minpō) (Act No.89 of 1896): Part IV: Chapter 2. The last effective revision was enforced on 1 January 2007.
8. Ito, Masami, "Marriage ever-changing institution", Japan Times , November 3, 2009.
9. "Marriage". U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Japan. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
10. Chung, Erin Aeran. (2010). Immigration and citizenship in Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 118. ISBN   978-0-511-71185-5. OCLC   642205408.
11. Lan, Hongyan (2019). Intercultural Marriages Between Chinese and Japanese: Chinese Wives’ Perspectives (PDF). www-s3-live.kent.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
12. Satake, Masaaki (2004). "Filipina-Japanese Intermarriages: A Pathway to New Gender and Cross-Cultural Relations". Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. 13 (4): 464. doi:10.1177/011719680401300403. ISSN   0117-1968. S2CID   147927004.
13. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. 表番号 9-18 夫妻の国籍別にみた年次別婚姻件数・百分率 (In Japanese) Vital Statistics Survey 2022. Government of Japan. Retrieved 2024-09-14.
14. Appleby, R. (2014). Men and Masculinities in Global English Language Teaching. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 8–9, 27, 98–119, 135, 147. ISBN   9781137331809 . Retrieved 2023-12-24.
15. Kim, Viktoriya; Balgoa, Nelia G.; Yamamoto, Beverley Anne (10 December 2021). The Politics of International Marriage in Japan. Rutgers University Press. p. 33. ISBN   978-1-9788-0903-1.
16. Kumagai, Fumie (14 October 2014). Family Issues on Marriage, Divorce, and Older Adults in Japan: With Special Attention to Regional Variations. Springer. pp. 66–71. ISBN   978-981-287-185-5.
17. "Capital and the Fetish of the White Man", Women on the Verge, Duke University Press, pp. 133–134, 2001, doi:10.1215/9780822383277-004, ISBN   978-0-8223-2805-6 , retrieved 2024-09-14
18. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. 表番号 9-18 夫妻の国籍別にみた年次別婚姻件数・百分率 (In Japanese) Vital Statistics Survey 2022. Government of Japan. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
19. "国際結婚夫婦の離婚率は50％以上！離婚率が高いカップルの組み合わせは？" [The divorce rate for internationally married couples is over 50%! What combinations of couples have the highest divorce rates?]. Ricon-Pro (in Japanese). 国際結婚の場合、なんと50%以上の離婚率になってしまうのです。[For international marriages, the divorce rate is a whopping 50% or more.]
20. TIMES編集部, ABEMA (2023-09-19). "「二度と相手の国に入れない可能性も」 半数が離婚する国際結婚の現実、異文化は理解し合える？" [‘You may never enter your partner's country again’ The reality of international marriage, where half of all marriages end in divorce; can different cultures understand each other?]. ABEMA TIMES (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-09-11. しかし、現実には良い話ばかりではなく、厚生労働省の「2021年度 人口動態調査」によれば、国際結婚の離婚率は51％となっている（国内離婚率は36.3％）。[However, the reality is not all good news: according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's 2021 Demographic Survey, the divorce rate for international marriages is 51% (the domestic divorce rate is 36.3%).]
21. Shinkawa, Terue. "「国際結婚」から学ぶ、夫婦間ストレスの乗り越え方" [Learning from ‘international marriages’ how to overcome marital stress.]. 通販生活（Catalog House) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-09-11. 日本では「3組に1組が離婚する」（※2）と言われる中、国際結婚になると「2組に1組」以上です。[In Japan, it is said that "one in three marriages will divorce" (※2), but in international marriages, it is more than "one in two marriages."]
22. "離婚「3組に1組」説の真偽は？　専門家が本気で計算" [How true is the ‘one in three couples’ theory of divorce? Experts' serious calculations.]. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei Asia) (in Japanese). 2022-05-14. Retrieved September 11, 2024. 36.8%という数字は単に2020年の結婚に対する離婚の比率に過ぎません。人口学的には意味がないですね。[The figure of 36.8% is merely the ratio of divorces to marriages in 2020. It has no demographic significance.]

External links

• The Japan Children's Rights Network