Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo View Post
Thanks for the data, pipokun. I was justly looking for that. I'll translate for the others :

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過去５年間の国籍離脱者数の推移
法務省民事局
（単位：人）
平成16年
211

Renunciation of (Japanese) nationality in the last 5 years : 211
(Data from the Civil Bureau or the Ministry of Interior)

過去５年間の国籍喪失者数の推移 : 515

Loss of (Japanese) nationality in the last 5 years : 515
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I am not sure what's the difference. I suppose that the first one is voluntary, and the 2nd forced (by taking another nationality, as Japan does not allow dual nationality).

The figures are not so high, though.
the first part are those that have renounced their right to the citizenship, and the second part are those that have been disqualified
from the citizenship. The second part, in most cases, might be those of the young children who have turned 18, at which time they have to make a choice of whether to retain their japanese citizenship by right of parents, or take the citizenship of the country of where they were born... but there is a grace period for japanese who have renounced their citizenship with a petition that their
initial choice was a mistake..but then it is imperative that the family register is not destroyed, a japanese citizen will always have the
right to re-claim the citizenship even after renounciation..in effect, dual citizenship is not allowed, but this might be the loophole for many ex japanese.. but not sure about the offsprings..