About the family register system（戸籍制度について）

The family register is the only public record in Japan in which information on the family relations of Japanese nationals is registered and authenticated. The family register contains genealogical information on married couples and their children bearing the same family name, and provides details of each individual member's status from birth to death. Please note that there is no family register for non-Japanese residents.

The Family Registration Law does not contain provisions on specific purposes and target persons, but also applies in effect to non-Japanese residents in Japan. In the event notification is made between a Japanese national and non-Japanese resident, this fact will be written in the family register of the Japanese national concerned. In the event notification is made between two non-Japanese residents, this written notification shall be retained for a period of 10 years, and shall be granted official recognition. As such, in the event two non-Japanese residents initiate a legitimate process which affects their familial status in Japan (for instance, marriage, divorce, etc.), or in the event of some natural event which alters the family composition (birth, death, etc.), notification is to be made to the head of his or her municipality in accordance with the procedures prescribed in the Family Registration Law. Please note that if two non-Japanese residents get married, divorced etc. through an embassy or consulate of his or her country using that country's methods, there is no need to submit notification at a Japanese family register counter.

For example, if two non-Japanese residents initiate a process which affects their familial status in Japan (marriage, divorce, etc.), there is no family register for non-Japanese residents, so they cannot have a certificate of family register/partial family register etc. issued to prove their family relationship. However, to prove that two non-Japanese residents have initiate a legitimate process which affects their familial status in Japan, they need to have submitted notification of this to their municipality to be issued with a certificate of acceptance.