Talk:Kimi Onoda

Multiple misleading descriptions

"In October 2015, Onoda completed the procedures to select Japanese citizenship"

There are not "procedures" to select Japanese citizenship. There is a single, simple procedure (in reality, a bit of meaningless handwaving that does not affect Japanese nationality status at all), handled in one visit to a municipal office for Japan-based applicants. In this short form

001384490.pdf

the fixed phrase 日本の国籍を選択し、外国の国籍を放棄します declares that the applicant "chooses [their] Japanese nationality and abandons the foreign nationality".

It's clear that this statement can have no jurisdictional effect on the foreign nationality. For a few countries, this act of declaration may result (but only under their own laws) in automatic loss of citizenship. The United States is most definitely not one of those countries - it's a formal and absolutely clearly documented process. Both the Nationality Law and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) state that after the choice of (Japanese) nationality the applicant must "endeavour" (the translated term used in the Law) or "strive" (the term used in the Ministry's guidance materials) to deprive themselves of their foreign nationality.

2. "it was discovered that she had not completed the renunciation procedure in the U.S"

The US renunciation procedure is separate in every possible way from the declaration of choice in Japan. "Not completed" is a gross understatement for something never started or attempted.

3. "she was in a dual nationality status."

Very neat, just a technical misunderstanding.

Now the reality: after gaining Japanese nationality in early childhood, Onoda was always a dual national, plain and simple, and did nothing to change it. Like every other applicant, to submit her declaration of choice, she was required to provide documentary proof of foreign nationality, e.g., a passport, a birth certificate, or a certificate of nationality. Additionally the Law and the MOJ make it clear in all their associated materials that subsequent to the declaration procedure, they wish applicants to seek to give up their foreign nationality (they are not in reality able to require it). They tell the applicant, and the applicant knows, that they are dual nationals until they take further steps to get rid of their foreign nationality.

4. "it turned out that she also needed to apply to the U.S. government to renounce her U.S. citizenship".

Nothing turned out. Onoda knew (and formally proved to Japan) that she was a US national when she declared her choice of nationality. She was already 32 years old. She knows that you cannot possibly renounce US nationality by doing a quickie procedure in a Japanese local government office, whether that's in Okayama, Tokyo, or anywhere else. 106.73.237.32 (talk) 12:59, 24 October 2025 (UTC)