Citizenship comes with a collection of rights that separate citizens from people who merely have visas or are permanent residents. In Japan, these rights include having a family registry established and the right to vote, among other things. While citizenship can be applied for later in life, whether a newborn baby is born as a Japanese citizen or not can greatly impact its opportunities in the future.
There are two major systems that countries use to grant citizenship to newborn babies. The first is called “jus sanguinis” (citizenship by parentage) and under this system babies will be granted the citizenship of one or both of their parents. Japan follows the citizenship by parentage system exclusively and only babies born to one or more Japanese parents will receive Japanese citizenship.
The second system is called “jus soli” (citizenship by place of birth) and under this system a baby will be granted citizenship in the country of its birth. Only a few countries, including the United States, follow the citizenship by place of birth system.
Therefore, babies born in Japan to foreign parents will not automatically be granted Japanese citizenship. Instead, under the citizenship by parentage system, as long as one of the child’s parents is Japanese, the baby is entitled to receive Japanese citizenship. This means that even babies born outside of Japan are granted Japanese citizenship as long as one of their parents is Japanese. The birth of the baby must be registered with the local government office in Japan or, if overseas, at the Japanese embassy or consulate.
However, even if a foreign baby is not granted citizenship upon birth in Japan, it is likely that the baby will be able to receive some type of legal status to stay in Japan. The type of visa will depend on the parents’ legal status and parents should ensure that they take the proper immigration procedures upon the birth of their child.