Question about koseki

[californiaguy]

Hi all, we live in California but my wife is from japan. I'm trying to figure out how to find if I am on her family's koseki.( I think that's the right word for family registry) I was doing a bunch of research and i figured since im on this site everyday anyways, i might as well throw it out there. Does anyone know how to get that info?... Without asking her... Long story

[Taro Toporific]

...I'm trying to figure out how to find if I am on her family's koseki.( I think that's the right word for family registry)...Does anyone know how to get that info?... Without asking her... Long story

I will bet you a couple of beers you ain't any family registry, if you were married in the States. If you never applied for a spouse visa in Japan, there would be no reason for your Japanese wife to go to the trouble. If gaijin husband wants to be on a koseki, nearly always the Japanese wife files to start her own family koseki rather than putting a stinky gaijin her parent's koseki.

Hell, up until a few years ago gaijin husbands generally were listed only in the margin notes section of the koseki along with chattel.

As to, "how to get that info" ---sheeeeit, I don't know. If I want a copy of Mrs. Taro's koseki, I just steal her hanko and go down to the ward office to get it. There must be some kind of power-of-attorney procedure for a registered legal scrivener to do the same thing, but I don't know.

[Yokohammer]

I think the answer lies in whether you know someone in Japan who would be prepared to help you out. Or, if it's serious you might want to make a quick trip over.

According to current law, anyone who is listed on the koseki is eligible to obtain a copy. So if you were here all you'd have to do is go down to the ward office and a) if they gave you a copy you'd know you're on it, or b) if they refused you'd know you aren't.

If there are legal proceedings going on that involve anyone on the koseki, a lawyer can obtain a copy.

By the way, us FGs are notorious for having lots of time on our hands and loving gossip ... so feel free to relate your "long story" ...

[IparryU]

By the way, us FGs are notorious for having lots of time on our hands and loving gossip ... so feel free to relate your "long story" ...

really though, tell us why you want it? really pointless... My wife just took me off the kosuke so taxes would be cheaper... i think thats BS though... i need to come up with a back up plan if any funy stuffs happens...

[maraboutslim]

FWIW, you can request a koseki from anywhere in the world. You have to get an international money order to pay for it ($10 will do it and they'll give you japanese stamps back as change), and then just mail your request in.
We did this recently because we needed them to get our kids' passports renewed here in California. We included photocopies of our passports (didn't know if this was necessary but figure, what the hell) and just wrote a short letter requesting two official copies of the koseki. Send it to the local Kuyakusho (ward office) where the koseki was filed. It took less than two weeks.

[prafdemers]

If u r married in Japan, then all u gotta do is go to the city hall and ask for ur kosekitohon. There it says if u r on ur wife`s koseki. But if ur married in the States, then forget about it. Did she change her name after ur marriage? If yes then she might put u on her koseki, but the Japanese law says that a Japanese national it is not obligated to change her name after the marriage with a gaijin. I`ve changed mine after 5 years, cos I didn`t want my daughter to have different names.

[Greji]

Hi all, we live in California but my wife is from japan. I'm trying to figure out how to find if I am on her family's koseki.( I think that's the right word for family registry) I was doing a bunch of research and i figured since im on this site everyday anyways, i might as well throw it out there. Does anyone know how to get that info?... Without asking her... Long story

Couple of things needed to answer this. Where were you married? In, or outside of Japan. Have you ever been registered as an fg in Japan, since you were married? Do you have kids, by the J-wife, born in, or outside of Japan?

[Yokohammer]

My wife just took me off the kosuke so taxes would be cheaper... i think thats BS though... i need to come up with a back up plan if any funy stuffs happens...

Was that around the same time she took out a few premium insurance policies on you?