Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s Ministry of Justice on Tuesday announced a new family register ordinance that will come into force in May. The new system allows regions and other territories to be included in the list of countries that Japanese nationals must register when certain details change in the family registration system.

The change means Palestinian citizens will now be able to specify “Palestine” as their nationality in Japan’s family register system.

Japanese law requires all households in Japan to register births, deaths, marriages and other information with local governments.

Under the family register system, foreigners who have naturalized in Japan will have their country of origin listed in the family register. Also, Japanese nationals who marry foreigners will have their partner’s nationality listed in the marriage information section of their family register.

In line with this change, Japan will amend the Enforcement Regulations of the Family Register Act and update the system required to record names on the family register.

The State of Palestine has a permanent general mission in Tokyo, where Representative Waleed Siam serves as de facto ambassador, but there are no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. Japan also has a “representative office” in Palestine.

Naturalized Japanese can already list their native region or territory as their place of origin on their resident registration and residence cards.

The new rules will also apply to Taiwan, which has drawn criticism from China.