Most world governments go out of their way not to anger China by recognizing Taiwan as an independent country. That leaves them grasping for ways to acknowledge reality without creating a diplomatic row. In a new attempt at threading that needle, Japan has announced it’ll allow Taiwanese people to identify their heritage for the first time on one of the country’s central documents.
According to NHK and multiple other reports, starting in May, Taiwanese citizens who marry a Japanese citizen can elect to identify their nationality as “Taiwan” on their spouse’s family registry (戸籍; koseki). The document is Japan’s primary method of identifying citizens and their familial relations.
Up until now, according to Nikkei, Taiwanese people had to identify themselves as from “China.” The rule will also impact those who naturalize or who are adopted by Japanese families.
As part of the change, Nikkei reports, the field on the koseki that identifies nationality will change from “Nationality” (国籍; kokuseki) to “Nationality / Region” (国籍・地域; chiiki). The change is apparently aimed at quelling Chinese objections that Japan is recognizing Taiwan as an independent country.
Foreign nationals from Taiwan can already identify their region as Taiwan on their residence cards, which every foreign resident must keep on them at all times. The change brings consistency between the family registry and residence cards while also honoring Taiwanese people’s choice to identify their heritage.
The change is one of several that’s happened in recent years to koseki law. Japan has also changed laws recently related to so-called “kira-kira” names – offbeat readings of Japanese kanji – in order to crack down on parents giving their kids weird names.
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