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On November 18, the Japanese government said it will grant Japanese citizenship to a child born out of wedlock to a Filipina woman and a Japanese man. In a settlement worked out at the Hiroshima District Court, the government said it would give Japanese nationality to the child and cancel the deportation order for the child and the mother.

The government's decision followed a Justice Ministry announcement in July 1996 that divorced, separated, widowed or otherwise single foreigners--even those illegally in Japan-- who are bringing up children with at least one Japanese parent would be granted legal residency. If a child is born to a foreign women out of wedlock, the Japanese father must acknowledge the baby before birth for the mother and child to remain in Japan.

According to Japanese press reports, many municipalities have begun to treat foreigners like ordinary residents; many no longer worry whether a foreigner has overstayed his or her visa. Local authorities are supposed to report visa violations to the Immigration Bureau, but many do not.

Shinjuku Ward in Tokyo gives illegal foreign residents access to public hospitals and schools. Other local governments provide Japanese language training, job placement assistance and classes on Japanese culture to foreign residents.

Under current laws, local governments can hire foreign residents only if they possess special skills, and if their job does not involve the "use of public power." Local authorities would like to have more freedom to hire foreign residents, especially for 3-D jobs--dirty, dangerous, and difficult--and to help to provide government services to the growing foreign communities.

The governors and mayors of several cities that have large (and growing) foreign populations, including the Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto governments, would like to give foreign residents the right to vote in local elections.

The Fukuoka District Court sentenced 18 Chinese to one year in prison, suspended for three to four years, for illegally entering Japan from a Chinese fishing boat on August 22, 1996.

The Japanese birth rate hit an all-time low in 1995, down to 1.4 births per woman. If this low birth rate continues, Japan's population is projected to fall from 125 million in 1996 to 55 million in the year 2100.

Some Japanese worry that a declining population could lead to costly economic adjustments or a loss of world power and prestige. Some local governments offer financial rewards to mothers with four or more children and a few are helping to arrange for the immigration of Filipino wives.


"Filipina/Japanese child to get Japanese nationality," Japan Economic Newswire, November 18, 1996. "18 Chinese sentenced for illegal immigration," Mainichi Daily News, November 15, 1996. "Letting Local Government Push Its Limits--Rights of Foreign Residents," Japan Economic Institute of America Report, November 15, 1996.