Would you give up your american citizenship to gain japanese citizenship?

Actually, there is one good reason to give up American citizenship to settle in Japan, as reminded on this date that is April 15. As an American citizen, you are required to file and pay federal income tax regardless of where you live in the world. If you've been living in Japan for the last 20 years with a Japanese wife and three kids, if you kept your American citizenship, you still have to file for US federal tax every year. If your income is over a certain level, you also owe tax money to the IRS. For most Americans living in Japan, the personal exemption amount is high enough that they don't have to pay, but there may be hefty penalties waiting for you if you've neglected to file for years. This is really a potential incentive for someone who's permanently settled in Japan. Normally, permanent residency is good enough, and you can get that after you live in Japan for 10 years.

Mm I would not change my American citizenship for any other one..

It would rather be easy to gain a permanent residency than "citizenship". Gaining citizenship takes huge time and effort and yet you are not sure if you can gain it. I am a Japanese, and thinking what if I could gain a citizenship of US. Giving up my citizenship of Japan is totally another thing. I would be happy if I could get a permanent residency of the US, but I wouldn't be expecting more.

Unless you are a minor with dual citizenship already that is a virtual impossibility. It is very, VERY hard to become a naturalized Japanese citizen. Only a very few foreigners have ever managed it.

Japanese are quite xenophobic and the police, government, and immigration authorities are pretty overtly racist. Even against whites, but mostly other Asians/Africans. You'll have to change your name to a Japanese name that can be written in Kanji, and you'll be considered a freak or at the very least quite eccentric by both foreigners and native Japanese. I like living here OK, (been here 6 years) and I don't mean to make Japan sound like a terrible place, because it is a nice place to live, but like any other country, it does have its faults, and a major fault is the insularity of the people, stubborness to accept change, and a quest for mediocricy and normality. None of which encourage immigration of other races to join their culture. Here are some prime quotes from the Governor of Tokyo (Shintaro Ishihara), one of the most powerful men in the country. Regarding the Rape of Nanjing: "They say we made a holocaust there, but that is not true. It is a lie made up by the Chinese." "Old women who live after they have lost their reproductive function are useless and are committing a sin" “There is a marked increase in the number of cases in which some foreigners who enter Japan on working and other visas remain in the country illegally to commit heinous crimes.” "There is fear–and not without cause–that it will not be long before the entire nature of Japanese society itself will be altered by the spread of this type of crime that is indicative of the ethnic DNA [of the Chinese].” If a guy like this can be elected as the governor of the cultural and governmental capital of Japan, it makes me wonder. Read more about Debito and then tell me what you think. http://www.debito.org/ The magic may wear off, and a permanent resident visa is perfectly acceptable for a long-termer. @Leftcoast: thanks for the reminder. I had blissfully forgotten about the IRS. @Uke: Japan is a very interesting place and I'm sure you will enjoy it, but there's no reason to toss your US citizenship! That is a very serious decision that should be based on more than liking cherry blossoms and flower arrangement. Get a visa first!

Nope, especially since I'm Black. Debito complains about it, and he' white! (japs worship whites). Imagine what merciless horrors a Black Man would face!

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I would so give up my U.S. citizenship, if I had the money I would definitely leave the U.S.A. To leave to another country would be amazing, learing a new culture and have new experiences would be an amazing oppertunity. I have been teaching myself japanese and learning the history and traditions of the country, it'd be great to put it to the test.

i think if i could, i would.... hahaha i think it would be cool to live there XD