Acknowledgment 

Acknowledgment is a procedure that establishes a legal parent-child relationship for a child born of parents not in a marital relationship. For the mother, the legal parent-child relationship is established through the fact of childbirth, so acknowledgment exists to establish a legal parent-child relationship between the father and child. 

Marital relationship: Having submitted a marriage notification and getting married. 

Childbirth: Giving birth to a baby. 

What does acknowledgment do? 

Acknowledgment establishes a legal parent-child relationship between the child born out of wedlock and the father. 

Acknowledgment… 

• Allows for child support. 
• Makes the child a legal heir of its father. 

Child born out of wedlock: A child born to parents who are not legally married. 

Child support: Money necessary for raising a child (includes the cost of clothing, food, housing, education, and medical care). 

Legal heir: A person who can inherit property (money), land, etc. from a deceased person under civil law. 

The child may also apply for “Spouse or Child of Japanese National” status of residence and can acquire Japanese nationality (by notifying the Minister of Justice). 

*If the child is acknowledged by the Japanese man, the foreign mother may be granted “Long Term Resident” status as someone nursing and raising a biological child of a Japanese national.

How to acknowledge a child 

There are two main ways to acknowledge a child, voluntary acknowledgment and an order of filiation. 

Voluntary acknowledgment: When the father acknowledges the child of his own will. 

Order of filiation: When the father does not voluntarily acknowledge the child, filiation is determined by the court regardless of the father’s will. 

Types of acknowledgment 

Voluntary acknowledgment is broadly classified into two types, prenatal and postnatal acknowledgment, depending on when it is performed. 

*There is also “acknowledgment by testament” in which a child is acknowledged by testament if for some reason acknowledgment was not possible during the father’s lifetime. (acknowledgment by testament requires the mother’s consent when the child is a fetus or minor and the child’s consent when the child is an adult.) 

(1) Prenatal acknowledgment 

Prenatal acknowledgment refers to acknowledgment by the father before birth, while the child is still a fetus. 
In prenatal acknowledgment, the father submits an acknowledgment notification to the municipal office for the mother’s registered domicile. If the mother is a foreign national, she has no registered domicile, so the acknowledgment notification is to be submitted to the municipal office of the mother’s residence. Prenatal acknowledgment requires the mother’s consent, meaning the mother’s signature or seal must be on the acknowledgment notification. 

Fetus: An unborn child still in the mother’s womb. 

Registered domicile: The location where a family is registered in the Japanese family registration system. Foreign nationals do not have a registered domicile. 

Acknowledgment notification: Available in a standardized format distributed at local government offices nationwide. 

Prenatal Acknowledgment and Nationality 

Prenatal acknowledgment establishes a legal parent-child relationship with the Japanese father from the moment the child is born. Therefore, the child can acquire Japanese nationality at birth. 

*The acknowledgment notification will not be accepted if the mother is married to a man other than the child’s father. 

(2) Postnatal acknowledgment

Postnatal acknowledgment refers to the acknowledgment of the child by the father after it is born. Acknowledgment can be done at any time after the child is born; however, if the child is an adult, this will require consent from the child. 

Postnatal acknowledgment notifications are to be submitted to the municipal office for the father’s residence or registered domicile. 

Postnatal Acknowledgment and Nationality 

When the mother is a foreign national and the father is Japanese, a child born out of wedlock will, in principle, acquire the same nationality as its mother. (The child will need to acquire a status of residence if living in Japan.) Postnatal acknowledgment by the father allows the child to acquire Japanese nationality under Article 3 of the Nationality Act. 
Acquiring Japanese nationality requires not only an acknowledgment notification but separate nationality acquisition procedures. The acknowledged child must appear at the Legal Affairs Bureau with jurisdiction over their residence (or at the Japanese embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over their residence if living abroad) and submit a written notification. 

Postnatal: After a child is born 

Notification of Nationality Acquisition for an Acknowledged Child (Ministry of Justice) 

*When submitting an acknowledgment notification after the birth, the required documents differ significantly and the process is more complex. Once born, the child will acquire the nationality of the foreign woman. 

Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth in Japan for Foreigners

In Japan, there are various procedures that must be completed when during pregnancy and childbirth.

Problem #1: “I am unmarried and gave birth to a child with a Japanese partner. What is the child’s nationality?”

There are cases where a foreign woman becomes pregnant with the child of her Japanese partner. What should she do if she gives birth unmarried and the child’s father does not acknowledge the child as his? Here is a case in which the child has obtained Japanese citizenship through support.

Problem #2: My Japanese Husband Left Me Before the Birth of My Child

A foreign woman was married to a Japanese national, living under the status of Spouse or Child of a Japanese national and was expecting a baby. However, one day, her husband left her and she lost contact with him. What will happen to the status of residence of the woman and her child?