Japan to Allow Taiwan as Nationality in Family Register

   Tokyo, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan will allow regions to be recorded as nationalities under its family register system, enabling people from Taiwan to write the self-governing island instead of China, Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said Tuesday.
   Beijing has criticized the change, set to take effect May 26, as it claims Taiwan as an inseparable part of Chinese territory. Suzuki countered that the family register system is a matter of Japan's internal affairs.
   For the change, Japan will revise the enforcement rules for the family register law in a move coinciding with a system update needed to record the phonetic readings of registered people's names.
   The change will enable people to list Palestine as their nationality as well, although the area covering the West Bank and the Gaza Strip does not have diplomatic ties with Tokyo.
   Japan's residence records and residence cards for foreign nationals already allow regions to be listed as their places of origin.

(2025/02/18-19:23)

To read a full story, please click here to find out how to subscribe.