Donald Keene Will Become Japanese Citizen

88-year-old Japanologist Donald Keene recently told the Japanese press that he has decided to become a Japanese citizen and live the rest of his life in Japan.

In interviews with N-H-K and Kyodo, Keene confirmed that he plans to naturalize and become a Japanese citizen. He said that the March 11th earthquake has not lessened his desire to live in Japan, a country that he truly loves.

In the N-H-K interview, he criticized companies that had relocated staff to foreign countries and baseball players who had fled following the earthquake. Keene believes that this is an important time to show one’s faith in the Japanese country and its people.

In 2008, the Emperor of Japan conferred the Order of Culture on Keene in recognition of the scholar’s great contributions to the study of Japanese culture.

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21 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - April 16, 2011 at 12:22 pm

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags:

Hamachiman

That’s awesome, great for him.

Why, if you read some of the naysayers here, the Japanese would never accept a foreigner as “one of their own.” Or something (rolling eyes over and over and over).
- RTN
  
  Becoming a citizen, which is a legal function of the state, is not necessarily the same as becoming “one of their own”, which is more a function of the nation (“the Japanese”). Not saying the latter isn’t possible, but they aren’t necessarily the same thing.
Craig

He can enjoy his retirement by riding around on the buses and trains drinking a one-cup
vonskippy

“88-year-old Japanologist Donald Keene recently told the Japanese press that he has decided to become a Japanese citizen and live the rest of his life in Japan.”

Hopefully those will be the happiest weeks of his life.

Nothing like putting off those big decisions until the last minute there Donald.
- Anonymous
  
  He could end up living another 20 years. You never know, man.
Craig

Only 88 though. He can still have a run at politics over here.
- sublight
  
  Doesn’t sound like much fun. The party elders are notorious for dumping all the crap work on the young kids.
http://tepido.org LB

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The Order of Culture and two(!) Order of the Rising Sun are huge plusses in his favor, but he doesn’t actually live in Japan. That is usually kind of necessary to naturalize…

Still, I am sure the Justice Ministry would find some way to work around that little detail.
- jeffrey
  
  When I last saw Professor Keene speak at Columbia in the early 1990s, he was already spending about half the year in Japan (having long ago retired from teaching). He already owned a residence then. It may be an economic as much as sentimental choice as he has never been as culturally or politically influential as the other Donald (no, not Trump, Richie) or Gerald Curtis, who also owns a residence in Japan.
  
  Perhaps his partner can’t travel much any longer.
jason black

‘(H)e has decided to become a Japanese citizen and live the rest of his life in Japan’.
Wow! Normal mortals have to go through the triviality of actually APPYING for citizenship, but I am sure Donald just phoned the Emperor and told him.
It only took him until he was 88 to decide?! With those incisive decision making skills, the above poster was right- he could have an outstanding career in Japanese politics!
9jira

He should have said he refuses to become a Japanese citizen until Japan allows dual citizenship.
- kujirakira
  
  It wouldn’t matter since America doesn’t allow dual citizenship either.
  - lovely
    
    there are many who beg to differ.
  - sublight
    
    The US allows dual citizenship. What it expressly forbids is using dual citizenship to avoid responsibilities (jury duty, filing tax returns, registration with selective service, etc.).
    - http://tepido.org LB
      
      It would probably be closer to the truth to say the US tolerates dual citizenship.
      
      If a foreign national naturalizes in the US, as part of the oath of citizenship they are required to swear that they renounce all allegiances to their former country and government. They are not required to formally renounce their previous nationality at that country’s embassy in the US, true, but that is more an admission that the US government has no way to force someone to renounce, and cannot revoke nationality bestowed by another state. Still, if one has formally renounced all allegiances to their previous country as required by US law, I personally don’t see why they’d be hanging onto their old passport anyway.
      
      For Americans who naturalize in another country, the US can revoke citizenship if it is clear that the person who naturalized did so with the intention of renouncing their US citizenship, even if they have not formally renounced themselves. This could be applied to any American who naturalizes in Japan.
    - kujirakira
      
      The US “tolerates” dual citizenship only in the sense that certain countries (like Israel) have basically made loopholes so that there’s little to nothing we can do about it.
      Are you saying those same loopholes (such as simply not recognizing the renunciation of citizenship notification) don’t work with Japan?
      
      If you want a security clearance in the US you’ll have to answer questions like
      “have you ever had dual citizenship?”
      “have you ever used a passport from another country?”
      … and those are in the same section as “have you ever been arrested for drug possession?”
      
      This “allows” bit is only because there is essentially nothing US government can do about certain loopholes.
      
      Bottom line is: Naturalizing to any country (dual citizenship allowed or not) Keenes would lose US citizenship.
      http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html
    - kujirakira
      
      I personally don’t see why they’d be hanging onto their old passport anyway
      
      Using a foreign country’s passport in the United States has, at least in the past, also been grounds for revoking US citizenship.
Comment

Not only does America allow dual citizenship, it practically allows non-citizenship, although it may claim otherwise.
britling

It would be interesting to know just how Keene would qualify to become a citizen or even a resident. Japan does not have a ‘retiree’ visa system, but I suppose he could come in as a Professor or on a Cultural Studies one. Bit of a stretch, though, given his age.

The Yomiuri article about this says that he has owned a home in Tokyo for over 30 years. Perhaps he acquired permanent residence some years ago, with a re-entry permit? If so, he would only need to come back to Japan once every four years, live in his house for a bit, and renew the permit. (The three-year re-entry permit can be extended by one year at a Japanese embassy or consulate.) Given all that, he would probably meet the residency requirements if they add up all the stays.
dude

This article’s date is 2011, but the comments are 2 years old?

Japan’s rules are vague, on purpose. If they like someone, as they do with Donald Keene, they will fast track his citizenship application. For people like him (pro-Japan, old), normal rules do not apply.

Note to idiots: I don’t see articles in Japanese saying that he has been accepted as Japanese, or Japanese people think he is one of them, etc. I only see that in English language articles.
Note 2 to idiots: One or two of his Japanese friends have said that he is more Japanese than most Japanese people. but when the other 125 + million Japanese people look at him, they see an old foreigner.
- ponta
  
  ” I don’t see articles in Japanese saying that he has been accepted as Japanese, or Japanese people think he is one of them, etc.”
  
  His contribution to Japan is so great that I, as a native Japanese, can’t help but feel he is one of us, whether he has naturalized or not.
  
  “One or two of his Japanese friends have said that he is more Japanese than most Japanese people. but when the other 125 + million Japanese people look at him, they see an old foreigner”
  
  Friends of, say, an Asian American guy might say that he is more American than most American people but it is not uncommon to hear the complaints from Asian Americans that they are viewed from the general public as eternal foreigners.
  It takes time for the general public to see minorities of different races as holding the same citizenship as theirs.

Donald Keene Will Become Japanese Citizen

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