Opinion

Missing mothers and fathers

By Tony Laszlo

The past 30 years have seen a 6.5-fold rise in so-called "international marriages," i.e., marriages between Japanese and non-Japanese. In Tokyo, one in every 10 couples falls into this category, according to a recent government report. In Osaka, it's one in 12. In Yamanashi, about one in 14. All told, more than 36,000 such weddings were registered in 2000. Who is marrying whom?

Don't be fooled by the gossip columns and afternoon talk shows; this surge is not being driven by Japanese actresses tying the knot with foreign men in exotic lands. In fact, the great majority of these matches — about 80 percent — are between Japanese men and non-Japanese women, mostly of Chinese, Philippine or Korean origin.

Of course, love and marriage know no boundaries. And one does not have to be an official member of a state in order to become a spouse, or a father or mother. Or does one?

"I hereby affirm that this document is an accurate copy of the original juminhyo (resident certificate) of all members of this household." These words commonly appear on one's official juminhyo copy, accompanied by the official stamp of the mayor of the municipality issuing it. True to those words, all members of the household are recorded clearly on the document. But with the exception of any foreign nationals that might be living in that household. Thus a family of four, in which the father or mother is a foreigner, is recorded on this document as a family of three with one of the parents missing.

What's going on here? Article 39 of the Basic Resident Registry Law is the culprit. It stipulates that names of foreign nationals "may not be noted on the juminhyo." Non-Japanese are recorded separately — as individuals, rather than as family members — via the Alien Registration Act. As the juminhyo copy is the one that people normally use in Japan to show proof of residency, the Japanese in the household are naturally regarded as "the family," while any foreign nationals living under that roof — even one whose income might be holding that roof up — spend life as the "Invisible Dad," "Missing Mom" or the "See-through Spouse." Or even, "the House Alien."

Obviously, the people who designed the Japanese system for recording households never envisioned that foreign nationals and Japanese would be forming families together. This mentality exists, even now, as witnessed by the adamant refusal of one city, Kumamoto, to comply with a recent government advisory and make a note of the foreign spouse's existence in the "remarks" section of the juminhyo copy, upon request.

The Japanese people, as the majority in Japanese society, need to let their voices be heard on this matter. The matter was recently taken up in the Diet, and the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Post and Telecommunications is now considering a legislative revision of Article 39. If it goes through, foreign family members will be noted as proper family members. If it does not, they will continue to be either missing people, attachments or remarks. And the line dividing "us" and "them" in Japan will continue to run straight through the integral unit of this and any society — the family. Some things need to change with the times. This is one of them.

Shukan ST: April 19, 2002

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