Passport 5 star

22 CFR § 51.5 - Adjudication and

issuance of passports.
§ 51.5 Adjudication and issuance of passports.
(a) A passport authorizing officer may adjudicate applications and authorize
the issuance of passports.
(b) A passport authorizing officer will examine the passport application and
all documents, photographs and statements submitted in support of the
application in accordance with guidance issued by the Department.

Applying for a Japanese passport

Some people seem to believe that you receive a passport upon naturalizing as your
proof of citizenship. You don't. The proof of your citizenship that you possess lies in both
kikasha no shōmeisho
the 帰化者の身分証明書 (proof of identity of naturalized citizen), which you receive
hōmukyoku
from the 法務局 ) (Bureau of Legal Affairs) after being informed that you've
kuyakusho
received permission to naturalize. You use that document at your local 区役所 (ward
shiyakusho
office) or 市役所 (city hall) as a breeder document to create
jūminhyō gaikokujin tōroku
your 住民票 (Japanese local resident registration), delete your 外国人登録 (alien
koseki
registration) records, and create your 戸籍 (family register), which is stored at
honseki
your 本籍 (registered domicile) and you can request authenticated copies of or make
kuyakusho shiyakusho
changes from, even remotely, from your 区役所 (ward office) or 市役所 (city
hall).

Once all of this Japanese paperwork is done, you no longer need

kikasha no shōmeisho
your 帰化者の身分証明書 (proof of identity of naturalized citizen) as a breeder
koseki
document. For here on, like all other Japanese citizens, your 戸籍 (family register)
 jūminhyō
or 住民票 (Japanese local resident registration) becomes your reference
documentation.

In a pinch, an official can verify whether you are Japanese or not from a driver's license
honseki
— which has your 本籍 (registered domicile) digitally encrypted inside of it —
foreigners have their foreign country of nationality listed in this space while Japanese
jūki kādo
will have a registered domicile in Japan — or from a 住基カード (local resident
identification card) that has a photo on it ("version B"). Some people elect to get a card
that has no photo on it. These ("version A") cannot be used as identity verification.

However, once you are a Japanese national, you must enter and leave Japan using a
Japanese Passport, even if you have a valid foreign passport.

To apply for a passport, you either get an application form at your

kuyakusho shiyakusho
local 区役所 (Ward Office) or 市役所 (City Hall), then submit that application to
a section (probably in a different building) that will probably be titled something
shimin-ka seikatsu bunka kyoku
like 市民課 (Citizen's Section) or, in the case of Tokyo, 生活文化局 (Bureau
of Citizens of Cultural Affairs). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a list of all the places in
Japan where you can apply for a passport.

It is also possible to have a passport issued to you by a Japanese embassy or consulate

overseas (with the exception of the Iraq embassy). However, not all overseas embassies
are capable of making IC-chip enabled aka biometric or ePassports (mostly in developing countries).
Japan has been using IC-chip based passports since March 20, 2006. Unlike passports of
other countries, the only biometric data stored in the chip is your photograph. Currently,
fingerprints are not recorded.

At your application center there will probably be a sign on the wall with a placard that
says "If you apply for a passport today, your passport will be ready on this
date: year 年 month 月 day 日 ". The date when I went there was set a week in advance.
Seven days to receive a passport is not bad.

Because my original nationality is American and thus I renounce after I naturalize within
two years, and I needed my new passport immediately, I still had my U.S. nationality
when I applied for a passport. I travel a lot for business, and once you have Japanese
nationality, you're not supposed to enter or leave Japan using a non-Japanese passport.
Additionally, the Ministry of Justice will cancel both your 再 入 国 許 可 (Re-Entry Permit) and
any visa or permanent residency for Japan that you may possess. They will not stamp
"VOID" or "EXPIRED" on the stamps, but they will mark it in the computer, so when they
scan the QR Codes (or the 1D bar code on the back of the disembarkation card attached
to your passport, which is a backup these days) or manually input the numbers into the
immigration computers they will see that they have been nullified.
To submit your passport application, you must have an official copy of your family
koseki tōhon
register ( 戸籍謄本 ), which may take up to ten business days to have mailed to you if
your registered domicile is not near you, and either one or two forms of identification. In
general, nationally valid IDs with photos don't require additional identification. Other
forms of local identification require two forms of id. If you are applying at an embassy
that doesn't have the technology to make IC-chip based passports, you will need two
copies of the photo and application form.

You also need a photo that is of the proper specification. They have an instant photo machine
right outside the entrance in case you forgot and you don't mind taking a photo that
minute that will last for the next ten years. Inside the passport application area, they
have a poster demonstrating what types of photos are good (○) and no good (×):

hair and accessories can't distract from the face

all of these are no good

The surprising one? Top row, third from the right. "No unnatural facial expressions." In
other words, no (excessive) smiling! You're Japanese now! We don't smile in
photos! ☻ The perfect specimen is here:
 this is a "natural" expression

both of these are okay

On the passport application, there is a box on the bottom might that one must
complete:
現 在 外 国 の 国 籍 を 有 し て い ま す か 。
（ ※ 該 当 す る 枠 内 に ✓ 印 を 記 入 し て く だ さ い ）
は い □ い い え □
「 は い 」 の 場 合
ど の 国 の 国 籍 で す か 。 ＿ ＿ ＿ ＿ ＿ ＿
取 得 年 月 日 ＿ ＿ ＿ 年 ＿ ＿ 月 ＿ ＿ 日
ど の よ う な 方 法 で 取 得 し ま し た か 。
外 国 籍 の 父 又 は 母 の 子 と し て 出 生 □
外 国 で 出 生 □
外国人との婚姻又は養子縁組 □
Translated, this box says:
Do you currently possess foreign nationality?
(* Check the appropriate boxes)
Yes □ No □
 If "yes",
Which country's nationality? __________________________
Acquisition Date: Year __________ Month ____ Date _____
How did you acquire your nationality?
By birth to a father or mother possessing foreign nationality □
By birth in a foreign country □
By marriage to or adoption by a foreigner □

On that same form, there is a warning in small print on the left side:

虚偽の記載をしてこの申請書を提出したり、旅券の交付を受けた場合は、罰せられます。（旅券法第二三条及び刑法第一五七条）

This basically says that anybody who writes false information on the application form
and submits it may be penalized according to Passport Law Article 23 and Criminal Law
Article 157 (up to 5 years imprisonment and/or up to a ¥3,000,000 fine).

So I answered honestly, and when the processor looked at it, she told me that if I filled it
out this way (in other words, told them that I had another non-Japanese passport), there
was a probability that they would reject my passport application. I told her how I needed
the passport immediately and that renunciation took some time with the United States,
she asked how long I had had my Japanese nationality. When I told her "two weeks,"
and swore to her that I intended to renounce before two years, she said in that case it
was okay that I write "no" on the application form (she did initial the form as having
been reviewed by her).

There are four places where you enter your name:

kanji
1. On the front, in 漢字 (Japanese sinograms)
gaimushō Hebon-shiki rōmaji
2. On the front, in 外務省ヘボン式ローマ字 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs modified Hepburn
dictionary style transliteration), slightly modified to exclude diacritics.
3. On the front, in signature form (which does not have do be legible or readable, which
works for me, as my signature is abstract)
4. Optionally, on the back, you give an alternate family name / transliterations and/or
alternate given names / transliterations.
The alternate names are useful for people that use a non-Hepburn style transliteration
for their name or they have an English / International name. People who have spouses
or children who are dual nationals often choose to put the surname of their children or
spouse that they use overseas, which can make travel as a family easier to verify for
overseas officials. The alternate names will not be on the digital version of your
information in the IC chip embedded in your passport.

Because my daughter has an American passport with a family name that is different
from her Japanese passport, I chose to put my old family name in parentheses so it
matches her U.S. passport.

If you choose an alternate name, you will need to provide appropriate proof and
documentation that shows your alternate names legitimately refer to you.

It took exactly one week to make my passport and cost ¥16,000, payable via revenue
stamps upon pick up.
When you receive your passport, the staff has your photo identification, so they will ask
you for your birth date and may ask you your name and how you write it. Passports that
expire in five years (which are the only passports that minors under 20 years old can
have) are blue. Passports valid for ten years are red.

They will then place the NFC (near field contact) page, which is in the middle of a
Japanese passport and shielded, onto an electronic reader as they direct your attention
to a computer screen that displays the contents of the chip. Again, the chip will have all
of the same information that is on your printed page, including a digital color
photograph, except for the family name that is in parentheses after your real name.
Japanese are a little sensitive about electronically stored personal information, so they
do this "show me" procedure for your driver's license (which requires PINs to decode) as
well.

If you wish to register for the express automated gates at Japanese airports (which
usually require no human intervention) as a Japanese you do so at the airport itself right
before going through passport inspection. You should allow about 30 extra minutes for
processing to register your passport and fingerprints. Foreigners with re-entry permits
can register to use them too, but they use a different form that registers their re-entry
permit and ARC (Alien Registration Card) number. Registering for the automated gates
is free. All you need is your passport and the application form.

Link to the homepage of the prefecture where you apply for

a passport
August 12, 2020
For inquiries about general passport issuance applications, office opening dates, reception
hours, and issuing municipality names, etc., please contact the counter of each prefecture where
you are registered as a resident. Please note that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not accept
applications for ordinary passports.
Please select a prefecture.

Hokkaido / Aomori Prefecture / Iwate Prefecture / Miyagi Prefecture / Akita

Prefecture / Yamagata Prefecture / Fukushima Prefecture

Ibaraki prefecture / Tochigi prefecture / Gunma prefecture / Saitama prefecture

/ Chiba prefecture / Tokyo / Kanagawa prefecture

Niigata Prefecture / Toyama Prefecture / Ishikawa Prefecture / Fukui Prefecture /

Yamanashi Prefecture/ Nagano Prefecture / Gifu Prefecture / Shizuoka Prefecture / Aichi
Prefecture

Mie prefecture / Shiga prefecture / Kyoto prefecture / Osaka prefecture / Hyogo

prefecture / Nara prefecture / Wakayama prefecture
Tottori Prefecture / Shimane Prefecture / Okayama Prefecture / Hiroshima Prefecture
/ Yamaguchi Prefecture

Tokushima Prefecture / Kagawa Prefecture / Ehime Prefecture / Kochi Prefecture

Fukuoka prefecture / Saga prefecture / Nagasaki prefecture / Kumamoto prefecture

/ Oita prefecture / Miyazaki prefecture / Kagoshima prefecture / Okinawa prefecture

(Note) If you are going on an overseas trip or business trip for less than 3 months, please
register with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Overseas Travel Registration "Tabiregi," a free
service that notifies you of safety information about your destination by e-mail.
Also, if you are staying for more than 3 months, please register with ORR Net. Click the
banner to register!