101. Article 772 and Japan's unregistered.
- Author
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Chapman, David
- Subjects
STATELESSNESS ,CITIZENSHIP ,CIVIL law ,EMIGRATION & immigration ,HUMAN rights ,SEX discrimination ,JAPANESE people - Abstract
There are estimated to be more than 10,000 children in Japan that are without the legal identity usually afforded through household registration. These children are placed in an extremely vulnerable position with diminished security and inadequate access to fundamental services provided by the state. In many cases, this situation continues into adulthood where a lifetime of difficulties awaits. In this article, I survey the recent context to provide insight into the complex legislative environment and a glimpse into the lives of the unregistered. Further, I argue that Japan's problem of unregistered children (mukosekiji) has been a matter of legislation that favours patriarchy and normative notions of family, which, combined with systemic inadequacies, has failed to sufficiently address the situation. I further argue that, the specific conditions of Article 772 of Japan's Civil Code that creates this type of statelessness reveals the indiscriminate and random effects within the exercise of state power that run counter to the intended outcomes of population governance, social control and legal status in Japan. This research is particularly relevant given Japan's demographic decline and resistance to progressive immigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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