Japan's immigration and naturalization policy

如今，每年有超过1.3万名申请者获得日本国籍，其中大部分是韩国人和中国人。考虑到日本的人口趋势，这些数字可能还会增加。因此，日本的入籍政策可能会对日本社会的未来及其移民政策产生重大影响。然而，尽管它很重要，人们对日本入籍的过程却知之甚少。是否接受入籍申请的最终决定在很大程度上取决于司法部，做出决定的程序和标准仍然含糊不清，并笼罩在官僚保密的面纱之下。本文的目的是探讨日本入籍政策的实施方式，追溯其演变的方式，并阐明这些政策所依据的潜在神话、信仰和经济和政治利益的含义。

Today, over 13,000 applicants, mostly Koreans and Chinese, acquire Japanese nationality annually. Given demographic trends in Japan, these numbers are likely to increase. Therefore, Japan's naturalization policies are likely to have major implications for both the future of Japanese society and its immigration policy. Yet, despite its importance, relatively little is known about the process of Japanese naturalization. The final decision whether to accept a naturalization application is left largely to the Ministry of Justice, and the procedures and criteria for making a decision remain ambiguous and shrouded in a veil of bureaucratic secrecy. The aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which Japanese naturalization policy is carried out, to trace the ways in which it has evolved, and to shed light on the underlying myths, beliefs and implications of economic and political interest on which those policies are based.