Why become Japanese ?

[Mikawa Ossan]

So what is the point of becoming naturalised Japanese ? This should be one of the most disastrous action one could ever take in their citizen's life. As Japan does not accept dual citizenship, it would effectively mean having a paper nationality that most people in the society do not recognise, stay out of the group in the eyes of the group, and be treated as a foreigner in one's birth country (for visas, work, etc.). In other words, such a person would lose all feeling of belonging to a particular society, which could be one of the worst thing a human may have to endure psychologically.

The longer I live in Japan, the more I realize that thanks to the choices I have made and am currently making, becoming naturalized is the only viable choice for me. It has to do with the American government, which I found out recently will not renew passports for people who work as civil servants for foreign countries. I am currently studying to obtain my teacher's license in Japan, and if and when I am hired as a full time regular teacher for the public school system, I will fall under the aforementioned category.

I don't mind giving up my American citizenship per se, because I don't feel like an "American" or that I belong to that society. I have felt like a foreigner in America for quite some time, as for some reason a lot of people there seem to think I'm not American, even though that's where I was born and raised.

In Japan, on the other hand, I actually find it easier to fit in than in my home country. I think it has to do with the fact that in Japan, I am a minority and therefore expected to be different. I merely have to look in the mirror to be reminded that I am indeed different. This is in opposition to America, where I am in the so-called majority, but for some unexplicable reason, I am different.

I think about what it must be like to be a minority in America. I have had a number of minority friends in the US, and I tend to like them better than white people. I don't know why, but I do know that they have now and historically have had problems, even in this "land of immigrants".

I think about slavery, the lynchings, discrimination, poverty, and other things minorities in America have been subjected to over the years, and I compare my situation here in Japan.

The only conclusion I can make is that although being a minority in Japan isn't perfect, there are worse alternatives. Perhaps the US is better today, but who's to say? I need only remember an ex-coworker from my eikaiwa days who got married to a Pakistani. When she visited her old home in Ohio, she got a very cold reception. She told me that on one occasion, someone said to her that Middle-Easterners are not human!

The minor inconveniences we face day to day are insignificant in comparision to what numerous people have had to face in similar circumstances. I get annoyed sometimes, but I rarely complain. This is the life I chose, and it is my obligation to deal with the consequences.

So to me the fact that it is difficult to be accepted in Japan is a non-issue when deciding whether to apply for Japanese citizenship.

[epigene]

I understand how Mikawa-san feels very well, because I've had friends who said the same thing, although decision to take Japanese citizenship differed by person, depending on background and career. Having a Japanese or American passport does not matter much, in terms of traveling around the world--though you may be seriously inconvenienced if you should decide to retire somewhere in the US...

I don't know if I should be posting this in public, but I had an Amerasian friend born as natural American citizen who finally decided to take Japanese citizenship because she no longer has relatives in the US and her entire life and career are in Japan. When her Japanese citizenship was approved, she had to submit a pledge that she will revoke her American citizenship, which she did. But she never revoked her US citizenship and still carries an American passport...