I heard about this but I find it hard to believe. There is no way immigration would allow it, there would be so many people doing it to stay illegally.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/15tkyc8/are_foreign_adults_adopted_in_japan/
I heard about this but I find it hard to believe. There is no way immigration would allow it, there would be so many people doing it to stay illegally.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/15tkyc8/are_foreign_adults_adopted_in_japan/
10 comments
Are you talking about men marrying into a family (婿養子 mukoyoshi)?
Adult adoption isn’t uncommon. Donald Keene (arguably one of the fathers of modern Japanology) emigrated to Japan, and around the time he naturalized, Keene adopted an adult shamisen player to be his heir.
I suppose if there was a good, legitimate reason adult adoption might be viable.
Edit: a word
Adult adoptions are complicated and the parents of the adult being adopted must be deceased. The adoption gets a lot of scrutiny if the adult is a foreigner desiring to immigrate.
I am to understand that if a non-Japanese citizen is adopted after becoming an adult, by a Japanese citizen, they will not receive any favorable measures for their naturalization applications. Neither will they receive any preferential treatment for their status of residence in Japan. This is to prevent illegal entry and stay using the adoption system.
If they were adopted while they are still a minor in both Japan *and* their country of nationality, I believe the required duration of residence in Japan is reduced to one year for their naturalization application.
I don’t think it’s very common. Never heard anyone around me getting adopted, or people talking about others getting adopted.
Adoption has often been used by Japanese gay men in lieu of marriage rights (one would adopt the other to get inheritance rights, tax advantages, the same family name, etc).
Japanese MEN are often adopted into families that have no sons, to ensure the continuation of the family name and/or business. Still fairly common since married couple MUST choose the same last name and it’s often the man’s.
“adult adoption” in Japan means you marry their daughter and take the family name
Adult adoption is also common in the Kabuki scene as far as I know. To keep the line of acting houses alive.
Still done today. Especially when the family wants son-in-law to accept wife’s maiden name to keep the family name alive due to having no sons and to ensure the assets of the family stay within the family name. The case I am aware of personally is the husband already had the spouse visa. Accepting the family’s name had little bearing when he switched to PR. After his young wife died, he became the sole caretaker of the elderly FIL as the MIL has already passed away.