Guys,
Is there any way to procure a copy of koseki tohon if the original family refuses to acknowledge us?
By the way, I am a 3rd generation Japanese descendant. My aunt tried to contact and even visited my great grandfather family in Chiba, Japan but unfortunately they are not very accommodating. They refused to accept us.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/163h0ra/japanese_descendant/
6 comments
You don’t need your family’s permission to get the Koseki. But someone would need to get it on the city hall of the city where your grandparents were born in Japan. If you don’t know anyone who could do it for you, there’re some companies that could do it. Actually, I think it’s easier if you just pay them to do it.
I’m nisei on one side and yonsei on the other. I’ve come to understand that (before the age of the Internet) it was a certain type of person that decided to emigrate. My nisei side left because everyone died in the war. My yonsei side left because the family were not upstanding or honorable people. In both cases, it was easier to leave because of who they were leaving behind.
I say this not to discourage you, but to prepare your heart for what and who you may find in your family tree koseki.
The first step for you will be determining where the honseki true home is for your family. If you know that, a Japanese lawyer or a Japanese heritage/genealogical society can help from there. [This](https://www.jcchawaii.org/resources/tokioka-heritage-resource-center) is very Hawaii specific, but it gets you the idea of what needs to be done. Do you know where your Japanese relative landed after leaving Japan? If so, that location’s government might have record of where your relative’s honseki is.
Japanese genealogy or 家系 “family tree” research pretty much entails using Koseki from each generation to move backwards through time. This is a pretty normal practice and in my experience does not require any permission from any particular family member. It’s pretty easy to do by directly contacting the relevant city hall / ward office – but I also agree with the advice that using a professional genealogy research company might be fastest.
Are you able to manage these transactions in Japanese?
I’m upset about this issue
but they can make healthier suggestions if you give more details
Are you on the koseki?
If you are then of course you can get it but you have to get it face to face. Japanese are annal about red tape.
Yes, but you just have to prove you’re related to the person on the koseki. I’ve done this and copies of birth certificates were fine.