FORWARDED APPEAL (Philippines/Japan): Uneven application of right to nationality denies children equal rights in Japan 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is forwarding to you an appeal from various organisations regarding the petition of nine Japanese-Filipino children to grant them Japanese nationality. The petitioners are represented by their Filipina mothers in their appeal filed before the 38th Section of the Civil Court, Tokyo District Court and the Minister of Justice.

Under Japan’s law, Japanese nationality can only be given to children of mixed marriages or children whose parents are not married, only when the Japanese father recognises the child prior to her/his birth. But if a child is borne to an unmarried Japanese mother and a foreign father, they are automatically Japanese nationals.

It has become an issue of national concern in recent times in Japan due to the increasing number of affected children. Please send your letter of appeal to the address below requesting to repeal certain provisions in Japan’s Nationality Law, and to grant equal rights to all children recognised by their Japanese father.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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Dear friends,

Greetings of justice and solidarity!

Below is a petition to support nine Japanese-Filipino children together with their Filipina mothers who filed an appeal at the 38th Section of the Civil Court, Tokyo District Court and to the Minister of Justice in Japan.

It’s quite urgent that we submit our signature for this petition before the 28th of February this year.  We would also appreciate if you could submit a copy of this petition with your organization/individual signature to the Japanese Embassy/Consulate in your respective country of work.

Thank you for your prompt response to this appeal and for soliciting other signatures from your network organizations and friends.

Sincerely,

Ramon Bultron
Managing  Director

For:
The 38th Section of the Civil Court, Tokyo District Court
The Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice, Japan

Letter of Appeal to Declare Certain Provisions of the Nationality Law of Japan as Unconstitutional; and to Grant Japanese Nationality to Petitioners

There are an increasing number of children borne by mixed parents, particularly between women from the Philippines and Japanese men.   Many of these children, although recognized by their Japanese father (‘ Ninchi), are deprived of Japanese nationality simply because their parents, for one reason or another, are not legally married, and recognition of the child by the Japanese father came after birth.

It has become an issue of national concern because the number of affected children is growing.  Under the law, Japanese nationality is given only to children of mixed marriages, and to illegitimate children, but only when recognition of the child (by the Japanese father) comes before the birth of the child (‘Taiji Ninchi).  This doesn’t apply to illegitimate children who were recognized after birth (‘Ninchi). In this case, marriage between parents is their only hope to acquire Japanese nationality.

On the other hand, under Article 2, Section 1 of the Nationality Law of Japan, a child borne by a Japanese mother and a foreign father are automatically given Japanese nationality even if the parents, in this case, are not legally married.

The number of interracial marriages in Japan is growing because of the internal conditions in Japan and as a result of globalization where the movement of people is almost at pace with the movement of capital and commodities.  At the same time, views about family relationship have also changed resulting in increased number of bi-cultural families with illegitimate children.

On April 12, 2005, nine Japanese-Filipino children together with their Filipina mothers filed an appeal/petition at the Tokyo District Court to change provisions of the law that grant Japanese nationality to children of mixed parents. These children hope that their rights be heard like other Japanese children.

Demands of the Petition to the 38th Section of the Civil Court, Tokyo District Court

1.  Article 3-1 of the Japan Nationality Law requires marriage of parents aside from child recognition (‘Ninchi) from Japanese father.  This violates Artilce 14-1 of the Japanese Constitution that guarantees equal rights to its citizens.   We appeal for a fair ruling on the issue, and that Japanese nationality is given to the petitioner.

Demands of the Petition to the The Minister of Justice

1.  Appeal to change the provisions of the Japan Nationality Law, and to grant equal rights to children recognized by their Japanese father (‘Ninchi).

Organization petitioners:

Lawyer’s Association for Confirmation of Japanese Nationality
Lawyer’s Association for Japanese-Filipino Children
Children’s Network for Japanese-Filipino Children (JFC Network)
KAFIN (Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa) – Tokyo
KAFIN (Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa) – Saitama
KAFIN (Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa) – Gunma
KAFIN (Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa) – Nagano
KAFIN (Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa) – Nagoya
KAFIN (Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa) – Osaka
KAFIN (Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa) – Yokohama
Filipina Circle for Advncement and Progress (FICAP) Nagoya
Philippine Society in Japan – Nagoya
League of Filipino Seniors – Nagoya
Filipino Migrants Center (FMC)
Ecumenical Learning Center for Children – Nagoya
Center for Japanese-Filipino Families (CJFF)

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER