Views from the Abyss #9: Abolishing the Koseki System

In Views from the Abyss #2: Marriage in Japan, it was alluded to that in Japan, the topic of adapting the koseki system to allow international marriages is not a topic of debate.

What has long been a topic of debate however, in some circles of activism, is that of abolishing the koseki system altogether.

And while international marriages are certainly a part of this, the real momentum lies in the high numbers of foreign nationals (particular Korean) that have lived in Japan for generations as foreigners despite having no qualitative connection to their "native" countries. They don't get to be part of the koseki system, which becomes intrinsically linked to potential issues of discrimination.

There are a plurality of reasons why this approach is unlikely to yield fruit.

1. They are still foreigners

Just as it is true that they have no qualitative life in their "native" countries, they also have only a very weak legal stake in Japan, especially when they lack the right to vote. Welcome to limbo guys.

Of course, the obvious answer is that aside from those with certain kinds of criminal backgrounds, there is literally nothing stopping them from naturalising. It doesn't cost anything, it isn't that difficult, and "Special Permanent Residents" even get fast-tracked now. Once done, they get all the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as any other citizen.

Q. Aren't they put off by a past injustice though? Wasn't an entire generation once stripped of their Japanese nationalities?

A. Koreans remaining in Japan after the war were indeed stripped of their citizenship, yes. It was a messy period of postwar reconstruction, and Koreans that grew up in Japan with no home in Korea to return to got a particularly raw deal out of it. Perhaps the government had a lot on its plate, and their fate was not a priority. Perhaps it was intentional persecution, in the hopes that they would leave anyway. Perhaps it was a tying off of loose ends from its colonial past to give the country a cleaner start moving forward. Or it could be something else entirely, most likely a combination of factors. Whatever the reasoning though, strong negative feelings over what is perceived to be yet another great injustice by the State is completely understandable.

Now by intent or by accident, the Japanese Nationality Act which was put into effect a few years later in 1950 addressed this by allowing those who had remained to regain their citizenship by naturalisation. A mentality of "Screw you, you took away my citizenship, and now I have to come begging for it back?!" is again completely understandable, even if it may be construed as cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. An unwillingness to abandon a heritage (even one you have no qualitative connection to), in favour of a State that has consistently treated you as a third class nobody, is similarly understandable. Anger, pride, dignity... These are powerful motivators.

But one has to question what anger, pride and dignity are really worth in the long term. Are they worth denying yourself a quality of life by way of dissent? Are they worth denying your children the right to enjoy the benefits of fully fledged citizenship from birth, or them denying it to themselves as adults? How about their children, and their children?

Evidently, many seem to think so. And many think not.

It's a personal choice at the end of the day, but if they want the benefits of citizenship, and the option to attain them at no tangible loss is available, they will not succeed in convincing anybody that the entire legal basis for family should be abolished.

Which leads us neatly to...

2. Calls for upheaval will fall on deaf ears

Many advocates of change want to tear down the entire system and start again from scratch (hey, wasn't that how the problem started in the first place?). The system has a vested interest in not being torn down, and we've seen enough examples in recent history of what happens when it is. It isn't pretty.

And when a system largely works, but has a few perceivable kinks that could be ironed out, advocating for the ironing out of said kinks is more likely to open avenues for discussion.

The mentality of "1. Tear it down. 2. ????? 3. Equality!" will not.


Disclaimer: While the historical context provided is vastly simplified and serves only to illustrate that there is justifiable reason for malcontent among the Korean population, it is my intent to represent it fairly. If there are any valid discrepancies or misrepresentations, please point them out in the comments.