By Focus and AFP | 2025-02-19

TOKYO -- Japan will allow residents from Taiwan to list the island as their place of origin in the country's family registry instead of China, a justice ministry official said on February 18.

When a Japanese citizen marries someone from overseas, the spouse's nationality and name are recorded in the registry system that local governments must maintain by law.

Currently, residents from Taiwan -- regarded as a region, not a country, under a policy in place since 1972 when Tokyo normalized ties with Beijing -- are described as from China.

But "from May, after revisions to ministry rules, a name of a region can be written in the nationality field," a justice ministry official told AFP.

The change follows requests from Taiwanese spouses who want to express their regional identity, he added.

Praise from Taipei

Taiwan's government welcomed the decision, foreign ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuangwei told reporters.

The move will "demonstrate respect for the identity of Taiwanese residents in Japan" and "will also provide greater clarity in identification," he said.

Japan's residence certificates for mid- to long-term foreign residents already allow Taiwanese to describe themselves as being from Taiwan, the Japanese official noted.

"Practical difficulties have also arisen due to discrepancies in the country or region names -- Taiwan on the residence card, and China in the family register," he added.

China opposes any actions that attempt to confer international legitimacy on Taiwan.

"We urge the Japanese side to abide by the one-China principle," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters on February 17 after Japanese media reported the change.

In response, Japanese Justice Minister Suzuki Keisuke said at a news conference on February 18 that the registry reform was an internal decision of Japan and that it had no need to reply.