1948 Family Register Law
+ resident (and alien) register laws
Registration in the age of egalitarian family law
By William Wetherall
First posted 1 April 2008
Last updated 31 March 2025
1948 Family Register Law
Essential articles
Major revisions since 1948
1985 nationality selection
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1994 computerization
Postwar resident registration laws
Alien registration laws since 1946
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1952 Resident Registsration Law
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1967 Residents Basic Registry Law
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2002 Residents Basic Registry Network System
2012 Integration of alien residents
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2016 My Number Card system
My own registrations
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1948 Family Register Law
The existing Family Register Law is a 22 December 1947 revision (Justice Ministry Order No. 94) that came into force in from 1 January 1948. The revised Civil Code, which the Family Register Law follows, was also promulgated on 22 December 1947 and enforced from 1 January 1948. Both laws were revised to reflect principles of individual law introduced in the post-Pacific War Constitution, which was promulgated on 3 November 1946 and became effective from 3 May 1947.
The postwar revisions of the Civil Code and Family Register Law abolished a number of measures going back to the early Meiji period and the Taishō period.
The "house" or "corporate family" (家 ie) unit was changed to a husband-wife (夫婦 fŭfu) unit that includes the children (子 ko) of the couple -- in effect a parent-child (親子 oyako) unit, though this term does not appear in the law.
The so-called "corporate family system" (家制度 ie seido), which was introduced in 1915, essentially codifying a number of common-law family law practices, was effectively abolished when the postwar Constitution came into effect from 3 May 1947.
Essential articles in 1948 Family Register Law
1 January 1948
Law No. 224 of 1947 (22 December)
Enforced from 1 January 1948 (replacing 1872 law)
The new Family Register Law reflected the new constitutional right of adults to establish independent family registers.
The new law abolished the system of registration notifications in exterior registers. In other words, people in prefectural registers no longer had cause to change registration from an interior (prefectural) to an exterior (Taiwan, Karafuto, Chosen) register.
The postwar revision of the Family Register Law, coming as it did before the 1950 Nationality Law, still contains the provisions for acquisition of nationality through adoption or marriage. These provisions for derivative nationality would not be abolished until the 1950 Nationality Law came into effect from 1 July 1950.
Obligation to create household register
The 1948 law, like the 1914 law and earlier versions, obliged local officials to create a household register for everyone qualified who was both a resident of the locality and otherwise qualified to be a member of such a register -- namely, someone qualified for status as a national of Japan.
| Articles mandating creation of household registers for qualified individuals | |
| 1914 Family Register Law | 1948 Family Register Law |
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第九条 戸籍ハ市町村ノ区域内ニ本籍ヲ定メタル者ニ付キ戸主ヲ本トシテ一戸毎ニ之ヲ編製ス Article 9 Structural translationFamily registers shall be established for persons who have established their principal register [domicile] within the area [zone] of a city, town, or village, with the head of household as the principal [source of family name], for every single household. Received translationForthcoming. |
第六条 戸籍は、市町村の区域内に本籍を定める一の夫婦及びこれと氏を同じくする子ごとに、これを編製する。ただし、日本人でない者（以下「外国人」という。）と婚姻をした者又は配偶者がない者について新たに戸籍を編製するときは、その者及びこれと氏を同じくする子ごとに、これを編製する。 Article 6 Structural translationA family register shall be created for a single couple [husband-wife] who have established their principal register [domicile] within the area [zone] of a city, town, or village, and for each child [offspring] who makes [his or her] family name the same [as that of] [the couple]. However, when creating a new register for a person who has married a person who is not a Japanese (hereafter called an "alien") or for a person who does not have a spouse, a register shall be created for the person and for each child with the same family name as [that of] [the person]. Received translationA family register shall be established for a husband and a wife, who establish their principal register within a district of a city, town, or village. and for each child who has the same family name as theirs. However, when newly establishing a family register for a person who is married to a person who is not a Japanese national (hereafter referred to as a "foreign national") or for a person who has no spouse, it shall be established for the person and for each child who has the same family name as the person. |
When one or both parents is/are not Japanese
Article 49 in the 1948 Family Register Law, concerning notifications of birth, like its Article 69 counterpart in the 1914 law, required that birth notications be submitted within 14 days of birth. However, the phrasing in the 1914 law (Article 69 Item 7) and the 1948 law (Article 49 Item 3), concerning the requirement of particulars when the one or both of the child's parents did not have Japan's nationality, was different.
| When the child's parents do not possess the nationality of Japan | |
| 1914 Family Register Law | 1948 Family Register Law |
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第六十九条、第二項、第七号 日本ノ国籍ヲ有セサル者ノ子ナルトキハ其旨 Article 69, Paragraph 2, Item 7 Structural translationWhen [the child whose birth is being notified] is a child of one [a person (a father / mother)] who does not possess the nationality of Japan, the particulars. Received translationForthcoming. |
第四十九条、第二項、第三号 父母の氏名及び本籍若し、日本の国籍を有しないときは、その旨 Article 49, Paragraph 2, Item 3 Structural translationThe family and personal names of the father and the mother, [and] if [the father and/or the mother] do (does) not possess the nationality of Japan, the particulars. Received translationForthcoming |
Major revisions to Family Register Law since 1948
The 1948 Family Register Law has been revised a number of times. Revisions of interest here include a longer period of time within which to effect a notification of birth of a child born overseas, and revisions in the wording of the requirement to provide particulars when the child's father and/or mother is/are foreigners -- i.e., do not possess the nationality of Japan.
Both of the following revisions were made pursuant to Law Number 45 of 25 May 1984 (昭和59年5月25日法律第45号), referring to "Law revising parts of the Nationality Law and Family Register Law" (Kokusekihō oyobi Kosekihō no ichibu o kaisei suru hōritsu 国籍法及び戸籍法の一部を改正する法律). The revisions came into effect from 1 January 1985.
Overseas birth notification period increased to 3 months from 1985
By 1988, Paragraph 1 Article 49 had been significantly revised to allow effecting notifications of births overseas within 3 months rather than 14 days. The phrasing of Item 3 of Paragraph 2, concerning the birth notification of a child with a foreign father and/or mother, was also changed.
| Period within which birth notifications are to be filed | |
| Family Register Law effective 1 January 1948 | As revised effective 1 January 1985 |
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第四十九条 出生の届出は、十四日居内にこれをしなければならない。 Article 49 Structural translationAs for a notification of birth, [persons responsible for submitting it] must do (effect [submit]) this (it) [the notification] within 14 days. Received translationForthcoming. |
第四十九条 出生の届出は、十四日以内（国外で出生があつたときは、三箇月以内）にこれをしなければならない。 Article 49 Structural translationAs for a notification of birth, [persons responsible for submitting it] must do (effect [submit] this (it) within 14 days (when the birth has been overseas, within 3 months). Received translationA notification of birth shall be given within 14 days (if birth took place outside the country, within three months). (EHS Law Bulletin Series, Family Register Law, 1988) |
When one or both parents is/are not Japanese
| When the child's parents do not possess the nationality of Japan | |
| Family Register Law effective 1 January 1948 | As revised effective 1 January 1985 |
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第四十九条、第二項、第三号 父母の氏名及び本籍若し、日本の国籍を有しないときは、その旨 Article 49, Paragraph 2, Item 3 Structural translationThe family and personal names of the father and the mother, [and] if [the father and/or the mother] do (does) not possess the nationality of Japan, the particulars. Received translationForthcoming |
第四十九条、第二項、第三号 父母の氏名及び本籍、父又は母が外国人であるときは、その氏名及び国籍 Article 49, Paragraph 2, Item 3 Structural translationThe family and personal names and honseki of the father and the mother, [and] when the father or the mother are foreigners, their family and personal name(s) and nationality(ies). Received translationFull names and registered locality of its [the child's] father and [or] mother; if either father or mother is a foreign national, full name and nationality thereof; (EHS Law Bulletin Series (1988) |
Nationality selection from 1985
The most important revisions in the 1948 Family Register Law, from the viewpoint of nationality, were those introduced to facilitate the 1984 revisions in the 1950 Nationality Law effective from 1 January 1985.
| Nationality Law in Family Register Law, 1948 and 1985 | |||||||
| 1948 Fam Reg Law (1899 Natl Law) | 1985 Rev 1948 Fam Reg Law (1985 Rev 1950 Natl Law) | ||||||
| The Japan Year Book, 1946-48 (1949) | EHS Law Bulletin Series (1988) | ||||||
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CENSUS REGISTRATION LAW
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III |
FAMILY REGISTRATION LAW
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III |
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Chapter IV
Section XIV Article 102. If an alien is to acquire Japanese nationality by reason of an adoption or a marriage, the original nationality of the acquisator of Japanese nationality shall be stated in the written notification of the adoption or of the marriage.
Article 103. If an alien is to acquire Japanese nationality by reason of recognition, the original nationality of the recognized child shall be stated in the written notification of the recongition. If the person who recognized a child is its father, the written notification shall state the nationality of its mother.
Article 104. A notification of naturalization shall be given within ten days of the day on which the license thereof was granted. . . . [rest omitted].
Article 105. A notification of loss of Japanese nationality of a person shall be given by the spouse or any of his relatives within the fourth degree of relationship within one month of the day on which he became aware of that fact, upon being annexed with a writing proving the loss of Japanese nationality. . . . [rest omitted].
Article 106. A notification of recovery of Japanese nationality shall be given within ten days of the day on which the license thereof was granted. . . . [rest omitted].
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Chapter IV
Section 14 (Notification of acquisition of nationality) Article 102. A notification of acquisition of nationality in the case of the nationality which has been acquired in accordance with the provision of Article 3 paragraph 1 or Article 17 paragraph 1 or 2 of the Nationality Law (Law No. 147 of 1950) [ Note: i.e., by reason of legitimation or by reacquisition of nationality ] shall, within one month from the day of such acquisition (if a person is outside the country, within three months therefrom), be given by a person who has acquired the nationality. 2. The notification in writing shall state the following particulars and shall be accompanied by a document proving the acquisition of nationality. . . . [rest omitted]. Article 102-2. A notification of naturalization shall be given by a naturalized person within a month from the date of public notice. With respect to the particulars to be stated in the notification in such case, the provision of paragraph 2 of the preceding Article shall apply mutatis mutandis. (Notification of loss of nationality) Article 103. A notification of loss of nationality shall be given by the person to whom such matter occurred, a spouse, or any relative within the fourth grade relatives, within one month from the day he or she has become aware of the fact of loss of nationality (if the person bound to give notification is outside the country on the day he becomes aware of the fact, within three months therefrom). . . . [rest omitted]. (Declaration of intention of reserving nationality) Article 104. The declaration of intention of reserving nationality as provided for in Article 12 of the Nationality Law shall, within three months from the date of birth, be made by a person who is able to give a notification of birth (excluding a person who is bound to give notification in accordance with the provision of Article 52 paragraph 3), giving notification to the effect that Japanese nationality is reserved. . . . [rest omitted]. (Declaration to choose Japanese nationality) Article 104-2. A declaration to choose Japanese nationality under the provision of Article 14 paragraph 2 of the Nationality Law shall be made by a person, who wishes to make such declaration, giving notification to that effect. . . . [rest omitted]. (Declaration to pending choice of nationality) Article 104-3. If the mayor of a city, town, or village considers at the time of conducting family-register affairs that a person, who is bound to choose nationality in accordance with the provision of Article 14 paragraph 1 of the Nationality Law, has not yet chosen it within the time limit prescribed in said paragraph, the mayor shall give notice of the same and registered locality of the person, and other matters prescribed by ordinance to the Director of the supervising Legal Affairs Bureau or the District Legal Affairs Bureau. (Report of loss of nationality by government or public authority) Article 105. If a government or public authority who has learned in the performance of duties thereof that any person has lost his nationality, the authority shall, without delay, make report on the loss of nationality to the mayor of a city, town, or village which is the registered locality of such person, attaching the document proving the loss of nationality. . . . [rest omitted]. (Notification of loss of foreign nationality) Article 106. If a Japanese national having foreign nationality has lost his foreign nationality, the person shall give notification to that effect within one month from the day he has become aware of the fact of the loss (if the person is outside the country on the day he has become aware of the fact, within three months from such day). . . . [rest omitted]. |
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Chapter V
Chapter VI |
Chapter V
Chapter VI |
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Overseas notifications
Japan's consulates are proxies for the handling of all manner of legal procedures that would generally be undertaken by competent agencies in Japan, including notifications that, in Japan, are handled by municipal registrars. The changes brought about by the simultaneous revisions of the Nationality Law and Family Register Law in 1984, effective from 1985, affected how consulates handled family register and nationality matters, which are closely intertwined.
The following notices posted on the website of the Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles, dated 20 March 2025 (Japanese) and 9 July 2024 (English), dramatize what concerns Japan's consulates today (notices slightly reformatted, red text as received, highlighted comments mine, viewed 31 March 2025).
出生届について令和7年3月20日 当館にて書類を受理した後、1ヶ月半〜2ヶ月程で戸籍に記載されます。お急ぎの方は、本籍地の市区町村役場へ直接郵送されることをお勧めします。 米国は出生地主義を採っていますので、米国で出生した子は自動的に米国籍を取得することになります。 ・出生した子について日本国籍を留保しようとする時は、父または母が出生届書「日本国籍を留保する」欄に署名し、3カ月以内(仮に3月10日生まれの場合、6月9日まで）に総領事館に届け出をしていただく必要があります。3カ月を過ぎますと出生届は受理できませんのでご注意ください。 ・国籍留保した子は二重国籍となるため、20歳になるまでにいずれか一方の国籍を選択することになります。 ・両親のいずれかが外国籍の場合で、届出書に記載する出生した子の氏は日本人の親と同じになります。出生証明の子の氏が親の戸籍の氏と違っていても、問題ありません。 ・米国に帰化された方は、日本国籍を喪失しています。子の出生以前に日本国籍者の親が帰化されている場合は、出生児は出生届の対象になりませんので、ご注意下さい。 |
Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles
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Notesautomatically is a bit of a misnomer, because capacity to acquire U.S. citizenship, through birth within the jurisdiction of the United States, depends on the circumstances of one's birth. A person who claims to have been born in the United States, but cannot produce a valid certificate of birth in the United States, will not be recognized as a U.S. citizen. And a person with proof of birth in the United States, if born to alien parents with diplomatic immunity, will not be recognized as a U.S. citizen. citizenship is an Americanization of what in all of Japan's domestic laws is called "nationality", reflecting usage in Japan's Nationality Law, which does not concern citizenship. In the United States, "nationality" is what you need to obtain a U.S. passport, whether you are a "citizen" or a "national" of the United States. Procedures for a Japanese parent to reserve Japanese nationality was introduced in 1924 in response to pressure from the United States to minimize dual nationality among the U.S.-born children of Japanese nationals in America. See 1924 revision of 1899 Nationality Law in the article on Japan's "1899 Nationality Law" under "Nationality Laws" for details. Birth Report and Birth Registration are the consulate's terms for what is properly known as "Birth Notification" (shussei todoke 出生届). age 20 is a revision of "age 22" in the original nationality selection (choice) article in the 1984 revisions of the Nationality Law and Family Register Law effective from 1985. The revision reflects the change of majority from 20 years old to 18 years old The first line of the notice in Japanese states that it sill take from 1 and 1/2 to 2 months, after a birth notification form is submitted to and accepted by the consulate, for the birth to be registered in the parents' family register. The consulate recommends that parents in a hurry should send the birth notification directly to "the municipal hall of the city, ward, town, or village of their honseki locality" (honsekichi no shi-ku-chō-son yakuba 本籍地の市区町村役場). Note in this regard that Japan's nationality is predicated on having a honseki at an address in a municipality within Japan's sovereign dominion. The term "koseki" (戸籍) refers to the use of the honseki (principal register, permanent domicile) as a register of members of a household legally affiliated with the "honsekichi", which is essentially a parcel of land within Japan's sovereign territory, hence affiliation with Japan nation's demographic nation and possession of its nationality. In other words, Japan's nationality comes and goes with territorial -- not blood -- affiliation with Japan. |
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1994 computerization of family registration
Family Register Law revised to accommodate computerization.
Related registration laws
Forthcoming.
Alien registration laws since 1946
Because alien registration and related border control laws were introduced to Japan under GHQ/SCAP direction during the Allied Occupation of Japan between 1945-1952, such laws are grouped in the following article, which see for further details.
Alien registration and immigration: Changing statuses during and after the Occupation of Japan.
The above article necessarily focused on the impact of the Alien Registration Law and the Exit-country enter-country Control Law on Taiwanese and Chosenese in the prefectures before and after they lost their Japanese nationality in 1952. However, it also describes their enactment and enforcement as laws that have applied equally to all aliens and Japanese.
The "have applied equally to all aliens and Japanese" is to be taken literally, for some Japanese are also subject to certain aspects of alien registration, and all Japanese are subject to border control provisions in what in English has been misnomered an "immigration" law.
Alien Registration as such ended on 9 July 2012, when the administration of alien residence was taken over by the Immigration Control Bureau under a so-called "Residence Management System". See Alien control laws in Japan: The regulation of entry, stay, and residence and Family and alien registers: Why they still need to be merged and how to merge them for particulars.
1951 Resident Registration Law (Law No. 218)
Forthcoming.
1967 Basic Resident Registration Law (Law No. 81)
Forthcoming.
Postwar resident registration laws
After the Pacific War, Japan revised its Civil Code and Family Register Law in 1947, effective from 1948, in concert with the new 1947 Constitution. From 28 April 1952, the day Japan regained its full sovereignty and diplomatic independence from the Allied Powers, a number of new laws came into effect, including a Resident Registration Law, which replaced the 1915 Temporary Residence Law. The 1952 was replaced by a 1967 law, which was replaced by a 2002 law, which has been revised to accommodate electronic record and nationwide databases of municipal residence registration data and oversee the issuance of resident ID cards.
Resident registration facilitates the needs of municipalities and prefectures to know who is living in their jurisdictions. The state also compiles national statistics on residence and migration based on local resident basic registries.
1952 Resident Registration Law
The 1915 Temporary Residence Law was replaced by the Resident Registration Law (住民登録法 Jūmin tōroku hō), Law No. 218 of 1951, effective from 28 April 1952. The Resident Registration Law Enforcement Law (住民登録法施行法 Jūmin tōroku hō shikō hō), Law No. 106 of 1952, was promulgated and also came into effect on 28 April 1952 -- the day the Allied Occupation of Japan ended and Japan regained its sovereignty.
1967 Residents Basic Registry Law
The 1952 Resident Registration Law was both abrogated by Supplementary Article 2 of the current Residents Basic Registry Law (住民基本台帳法 Jūmin kihon daichō hō), Law 81 of 1967, which also replaced it effective from 10 November 1967. A revised version of the newer law is the foundation for today's Residents Basic Registry Network (住民基本台帳ネットワーク Jūmin kihon dai nettowaaku) or "Juki Net" (住基ネット Jūmin ki netto) system. Under this system, each municipal registrant is assigned a personal registration number to facilitate the computerization of numerous municipal resident services -- from public school enrollment, national health insurance, national pension, local taxes, and voting in municipal, prefectural, and national elections -- and to simplify the process of moving from one municipality to another, which requires that a registrant be struck from the resident roll of one municipality when entered on that of another.
2002 Residents Basic Registry Network System
The Residents Basic Registry Network System (住民基本台帳ネットワークシステム jūmin kihon daichō nettowaaku shisutemu) began operating in 2002. The Jūkinetto (住基ネット) is essentially a national database of resident basic registries.
Under the Residents Basic Registry Network System, municipalities issued an ID card called a "Residents Basic Registry Card" (住民基本台帳カード jūmin kihon daichō kaado) to Japanese residents to facilitate exercising the rights and duties that derive from their legal status in the municipality. Japanese who wished to have such cards obtained them upon application from the village, town, or city in which they were registered as residents.
There were two types of resident cards (Jūkikaado 住基カード). The simpler card showed only the name of the registrant and the municipality of affiliation. The more elaborate card showed the registrant's name, address, birth date, gender, and a photograph. The card memory chip included the eleven-digit number of the registrant's resident card for use as a database key. The registrant used a four-digit PIN number to verify identity at points of service. Authentication and transport keys were encrypted to prevent counterfeiting and use if stolen.
2012 Integration of alien residents
End of separate Alien Registration registers
Law No. 79 of 2009, promulgated 15 July 2009, fully effective from 9 July 2012, ended Alien Registration as a system of segregated municipal resident registration for foreigners. Until this time, municipalities mediated the immigration affairs of aliens in Japan through local alien registers. From this time, responsibility for the administration of all alien immigration affairs was transferred to the Immigration Control Bureau. Municipalities would thereafter be responsible only for registering aliens as municipal residents, on a par with Japanese, under the resident registry system that until then had applied only to Japanese.
For immigration control matters, aliens now deal only with the Immigration Control Bureau at ports of entry and exit, and at its regional offices. Aliens now deal with municipal offices for all residence registration related matters, beginning with obligatory municipal resident registration for aliens with immigration statuses of residence permitting stays of 90 or more days.
Since 9 July 2012, municipal resident basic registries have included foreigners, who are treated on a par with Japanese residents for residence purposes. Foreigners now obtain resident certificates when they need to verify their legal residence in Japan.
See Alien control laws in Japan: The regulation of entry, stay, and residence.
Only Special Permanent Residents (SPRs), whose rights of abode in Japan are governed by treaty-related rather than immigration control laws, continue to deal with legal status matters through municipal offices. The SPR status is not a status of residence but right tied to postwar nationality losses linked with the effecuation of the San Francisco Peace Treaty on 28 April 1952. The SPR status is inherited by qualified descendants of Chosenese and Taiwanese who lost Japan's nationality on this date. SPR aliens, representing about 50 nationalities, are today accorded "all-but-national" treatment under most Japanese laws. The SPR population, a virtual caste with a birth-to-death ratio that is well below 1 and decreasing, will extint or close to extinct by the middle of this century.
See SPR extinction: Why Special Permanent Residents are a vanishing species
2016 My Number Card system
From January 2016, a so-called "my number" (mai nanbaa マイナンバー) system was introduced, according to which every resident of a municipality of Japan would have a unique personal number that would serve as a key to the resident's civil records, beginning with tax and property registration to national health insurance and pensions. At some point the number might also be used on medical and other records that needed linking in computer databases.
Upon application, a resident was issued a "personal number" (kojin bangō 個人番号) and "personal number card (kojin bangō kaado 個人番号カード), better known as a "my number Card" (mai nanbaa kaado マイナンバーカード). number and a card called a "My Number Card" (mai nanbaa kaado マイナンバーカード). The front of the card shows the bearer's name, sex, address, date of birth, card expiration date, and photograph. The back of the card shows the number, name, and date of birth. The card is issued in a plastic sleeve that has opaque bars on the front and back to hide the "sex" and "number".
Issuance of the older Juki Net Cards ended in December 2015, from January 2016 Personal Number Cards were issued.
Personal registration experiences
I lived in Japan while serving in a U.S. Army Hospital as a laboratory technician from December 1965 to October 1966. I lived with a family and married, while working and studying in Japan, from January 1970 to July 1972, and settled in Japan in July 1975, and I became Japanese in 2012. I have thus experienced all aspects of resident registration as first an alien, and then as a Japanese, for over half a century.
Having never had a driver's license in Japan, for many years my only photo ID was an Alien Registration Certificate -- originally a booklet, later a card -- which I was required to carry with me. When filing a naturalization notification at the municipal hall in the city where I reside, after the Ministry of Justice formally announced my naturalization, I had to surrender my Alien Registration Certificate, which left me with no photo ID. I immediately applied for, and on the same day received a photo ID Juki Net Card. When personal numbers became available, I applied for one, and was issued a My Number Card, at which time I surrendered my Juki Net Card.
For a variety of reasons -- from not thinking it's worth the trouble to worry about privacy and identity theft -- people have been slow to apply for a My Number Card. At the time of this writing (November 2022) -- despite all manner of consumer and citizen-service incentives to obtain a card, which is slated to include health insurance card data hence eliminate the health cards -- the acquisition rate has reached only about 50 percent (Shūkan bunshun, 27 October 2022, pages 29-30).