Three Japanese-Filipinos left in the Philippines after the death or forced repatriation of their Japanese fathers after World War 2 have had their request for Japanese nationality rejected by the Naha Family Court.
The court, which handed down the three rulings in October, cited the lack of records certifying their parents’ marriage or admission of paternity as the reason for the denial.
Lawyers representing the three have filed an appeal with the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court, arguing that their clients are related to their respective fathers by blood.
There are still about 50 Japanese-Filipinos in the Philippines hoping to have their Japanese nationality recognized. Many are unable to do so as their parents’ marriage records were lost during World War II and the ensuing postwar turmoil.
At the time of their birth, the law stipulated that children of Japanese men acquired Japanese nationality by default. The three individuals were born to Okinawan men, who had moved to the Philippines before the war, and local Filipino women.
They applied in August to the Naha Family Court for permission to create a Japanese family register, stating they had obtained Japanese nationality by birth.
After the war, the three met with relatives in Japan, who recognized them as children of their Japanese fathers. One, whose father had been forcibly repatriated to Japan, had met and been acknowledged by their father as his child, but no official written records remain.
Another individual underwent a DNA test, which confirmed a 99.9 percent probability of a blood relationship with Japanese relatives.
Their lawyers argue that using marriage records or admission of paternity to discriminate against biologically-related children violates the constitutional principle of equality.
Jose Takei, an 82-year-old Japanese-Filipino man in a similar situation, met his Japanese relatives for the first time on a government-funded trip in August. He was denied Japanese nationality by the Tokyo Family Court in September for the same reasons, and has filed an appeal with the Tokyo High Court.
