Entering Japan w/ a Japanese passport

yogurt

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I'm based in the US and I'm starting to get tired of the escorts here (cost to performance ratio is low compared to Japan). I have both a US and Japanese passport. I have always entered and departed Japan with a US passport as a tourist. Am I able to enter Japan from the US with my Japanese passport, even though I virtually never left Japan? Will this raise eyebrows?

It seems my friends/other people with dual citizenship have done this, but I'm never convinced. Want to know what TAG's opinion on this is.

Thanks!
 
I'm no expert but I'm also the only person in my household without a Japanese passport. Given the situation in Japan right now and the restrictions in place, and also given the Japanese government's black/white interpretation of citizenship law, I would expect that assuming your Japanese is fluent enough to explain to the customs officers your situation and that you hold dual-citizenship (i.e., to avoid suspicion), you'd be waved through like any other Japanese citizen and then subjected to the same protocols as far as quarantine, transport from the airport, etc.

My question would be: Why the hell didn't you take advantage of your Japanese passport while visiting and avoid all the bullshit that comes with the gaijin line at the airport? I never truly appreciated having my work visa during my years in Japan and being allowed to follow all the Japanese into the lightning-fast "JAPANESE CITIZEN/RE-ENTRY PERMIT" line until I came back to visit years later and got stuck for three fucking hours in the KIX foreigner line surrounded by several hundred shoving and shrieking Chinese tourists and a mish-mash of other third-world refugees. These days I end up practically jogging off the plane and through the terminal at HND so I can get ahead of the rest of idiot fucking American tourists on my flights and get through customs and onto the train before any of them have the opportunity to bog down and jam up the lines while they totter around aimlessly, tapping on their fucking iPhones and cheerfully trying to use all five Japanese words they know at the customs counter and making what should be a one-minute transaction take ten.
 
you'd be waved through like any other Japanese citizen and then subjected to the same protocols as far as quarantine, transport from the airport, etc
You don't get waved through as a Japanese or a Foreigner unless there are pre-arranged circumstances. If you come from a high risk area (e.g. certain U.S. states) you'll face the more stringent requirements no matter what passport you have.
In normal circumstances, they'll all go through the same procedure & require the 14 day 'stay-at-home' with location monitoring.

I have always entered and departed Japan with a US passport as a tourist.
Bottom line, you will not be able to enter a on a U.S. passport as a tourist. You'll need a residence (valid visa status) to be here OR be a Japanese citizen... with a Japanese passport.
 
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Given the situation in Japan right now and the restrictions in place, and also given the Japanese government's black/white interpretation of citizenship law, I would expect that assuming your Japanese is fluent enough to explain to the customs officers your situation and that you hold dual-citizenship (i.e., to avoid suspicion), you'd be waved through like any other Japanese citizen and then subjected to the same protocols as far as quarantine, transport from the airport, etc.

My understanding is that dual or multiple citizenship is prohibited for adult Japanese citizens. A person mentioning to immigration authorities that they believe they have it may not be a good idea…
 
You don't get waved through as a Japanese or a Foreigner unless there are pre-arranged circumstances. If you come from a high risk area (e.g. certain U.S. states) you'll face the more stringent requirements no matter what passport you have.

I had no idea they were basing protocols on individual U.S. states of departure. Might be useful in convincing my other half not to come back to visit, as my current state has one of the worst per-capita infection rates in the country right now.
 
The common wisdom tells you should always leave and enter a country with their passport if you can. So when leaving Japan you use the Japanese passport, when entering US you use the US passport. The latter is actually even a law.

As is said above you currently cannot enter Japan with your US passport so if you come you need to use your Japanese one. If the immigration asks why they don't see your exit just tell them you used another passport but now you have decided to select the Japanese citizenship.

Usually the border control people don't care even if you have two passports now, it is not their job to control the dual citizenship.
 
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My understanding is that dual or multiple citizenship is prohibited for adult Japanese citizens. A person mentioning to immigration authorities that they believe they have it may not be a good idea…

I grew up in the 80s surrounded by kids (stateside) with dual US/JPN citizenship, and as I always understood it--as far as the U.S. government was concerned--those kids had to choose at age 19 (or maybe 20?) one nationality or the other. All of my friends obviously chose America. But a few of my friends who chose America also continued to renew their Japanese passports at the local embassy and to this day have two passports...and mind you, we're all in our 40s now. I don't know if that's technically legal or not but as it was always explained to me, the Japanese government doesn't really give a shit so long as you keep showing up and speak Japanese while you do your renewal paperwork. I have a female friend around my age who's mixed race, very visibly not full Japanese and doesn't even speak Japanese all that well but who still holds US and JPN passports, and when I asked how she manages to pull that off and keep renewing the Japanese passport at the embassy, her explanation was: "Just don't say anything."

Go figure. Again, I'm no expert. I just surround myself with very dishonest people.
 
and as I always understood it--as far as the U.S. government was concerned--those kids had to choose at age 19 (or maybe 20?) one nationality or the other.

As far as I have understood your understanding is wrong. US of A allows dual citizenship and thus don't give a rat's ass if you hold one or two or more passports. They just want your tax monies wherever you live.

Japan on the other hand doesn't allow dual citizenship and wants everyone who gets two at birth to select which one they want to keep when they enter adulthood, which at the moment stands at 20 years of age. But because they are so very nice they give you two years to ponder over it, so you should choose by 22.

Then again they cannot go and take away your other passport so the best they can do is to ask you which one you chose and if you say the other one they will cancel your Japanese citizenship.

The funny thing is they actually have a box to fill in the passport application to say you are holding another citizenship too. If you are you should check this box as lying to government is never a good idea. But because it is not actually these people who are made to bother with duals checking that box has no effect on anything.

So now if you are renewing your passport inside Japan nobody asks you anything, they just assume you have discarded your other citizenship. In some embassies around the world the staff can be more butt hurt and they might ask you which one you choose. The correct answer is of course "I choose Japanese citizenship". To which they might say "Then you need to get rid of the other" to which the correct reply again is "I am in the process of doing it".

It is not your fault the process is a long and winding road and takes the rest of your life.

There is a theoretical possibility that if they found out you are holding two citizenships after you have turned adult they strip you off of the Japanese one. Though this has never yet happened to anyone who got those two citizenships at birth.
 
I had no idea they were basing protocols on individual U.S. states of departure. Might be useful in convincing my other half not to come back to visit, as my current state has one of the worst per-capita infection rates in the country right now.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html - Look at Section 3, Part 2 - It breaks out specific states for the U.S. which is updated regularly to remove/add states based on local cases reported in that region.

Currently: States of Idaho, Arkansas, Arizona, Oregon, Kentucky, Colorado, Nevada, Mississippi, Montana, Louisiana, Washington
And then you'll see releases/changes such as: (All cross border travelers and returnees from Estonia, Nigeria, France, States of Kansas, Delaware, Maine (United States of America) arriving after 0:00 am (JST) on July 9, 2021, are not subject to the above mentioned quarantine measures , but until that time, the quarantine measures for border enforcement as mentioned in (iii) above shall be applied.) [This means that they go back to the 14 day rule at home instead of the 3 day forced hotel stay, etc.]

Currently also listed:
States of Utah, Wyoming
States of Oklahoma, Missouri
States of Indiana, Kansas, Texas
States of Alaska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Nebraska
State of Florida

It's important to note that this is for where you stayed at - not where you transited through. They ask specific what location you were 'staying' in and not about where you transited through to get to Japan.
 
You _will_ set off flags if you enter Japan on a Japanese passport that doesn't have an associated previous exit. The immigration database tags that for investigation. An acquaintance actually did trigger this through a complex set of circumstances.
 
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You _will_ set off flags if you enter Japan on a Japanese passport that doesn't have an associated previous exit. The immigration database tags that for investigation. An acquaintance actually did trigger this through a complex set of circumstances.

As always it depends. How long time ago you left. How old you were at that time. It's not like they believe you are still in Japan as there is no exit marks in your records. They already know you have left the country so they also know it was with some other passport.

They have estimated there are anything from half a million to a full million of people in Japan with dual citizenships. Most of the time they are not going to be interested in you and your goings.

Especially the border control people do not care if you have several passports. I know people who have come in to Narita, handed the US passport, panicked and peed their pants just to be told by the bored official "no, the other passport".
 
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As always it depends. How long time ago you left. How old you were at that time. It's not like they believe you are still in Japan as there is no exit marks in your records. They already know you have left the country so they also know it was with some other passport.

They have estimated there are anything from half a million to a full million of people in Japan with dual citizenships. Most of the time they are not going to be interested in you and your goings.

Especially the border control people do not care if you have several passports. I know people who have come in to Narita, handed the US passport, panicked and peed their pants just to be told by the bored official "no, the other passport".
That's my impression.

My only worry is that their senses are heightened during these times because of COVID. I would not hesitate to enter Japan with my Japanese passport (with no exit stamp) if it were not the pandemic.
 
Especially the border control people do not care if you have several passports. I know people who have come in to Narita, handed the US passport, panicked and peed their pants just to be told by the bored official "no, the other passport".

I'm not saying they will care much but it is something that will pop up on the screen when they scan your passport. The database is supposed to keep track of associated exit/reentry (and for tourists entrry/exit) loops and it's mainly a thing for them to just verify I think.

Most likely cause of an incomplete pair is probably a passport renewal outside the country issuing it.