🚀 go-pugleaf

kenji@tom.astem.or.jp (Kenji Rikitake) writes:

>In article <2704@aegis.or.jp> davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane) writes:
> |So are you saying you think that Koreans would be willing to accept
> |Japanese citizenship under their own names yet give up their Korean
> |citizenship without any problem? That is, their Korean name is more
> |important than their Korean citizenship?

>My understanding on this issue is that Korean residents in Japan will
>not want to obtain Japanese nationality (note: using the word
>"citizenship" is not accurate in this case) nor changing their names. 
>They will not give up their names for their nationality or vice versa.

I'm not sure what the difference between 'citizenship' and
'nationality' is. Some people use one, other people the other. Could
you elaborate on the difference: I'd like to know. 

In any case, I can definitely understand the not wanting to give up
either one's name or one's nationality: my question was and still is
"Why is it we only hear about having to give up the name and never
hear about having to give up nationality?" Further, we seem to hear
a great deal about how this shows discrimination with respect to
Koreans but in fact the name/nationality requirement applies to all
non-Japanese. 

>The problem is that Japanese legal system is simple too hostile to
>non-Japanese residents.

I'm not so sure 'hostile' is the appropriate term. 

Japan, like some (but not all) other countries is very protective of
what it means to be "Japanese" (meaning become both a passport
holder and an accepted member of the social culture). Some people
say that making it easy to become a passport holder of any country
is a Good Thing but I would say it's up to the Japan government
and/or Japanese culture how restrictive/protective they want to be.

Dave

--
Dave McLane  davidg@aegis.or.jp
You're free to copy/quote/translate as long as credit is given. 
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087