This essay, dated March 10, 2019, centers on the argument that candidates for the National Diet should disclose their nationality information, especially their naturalization history, and examines Japan’s electoral system and media culture through that lens.
Drawing on remarks by Japan Innovation Party lawmaker Yasushi Adachi, the dual-nationality controversy surrounding Renho, and the view of critic Kazuo Yawata, it argues that such information is not a matter of privacy but a prerequisite for transparency in democracy and for ensuring loyalty to the nation.

2019-03-10
It should, of course, be disclosed.
The more peaceful a nation is, the more necessary such disclosure becomes in securing loyalty to the country.
Ambiguity is also incompatible with modern international law.

A friend of mine, a truly formidable reader, told me the following information.
It is, quite literally, a sound argument.
The other day, by chance, I watched Toranomon News on Internet television, and for the first time clearly understood the reason behind Osaka Mayor Yoshimura’s Osaka Metropolis plan.
Needless to say, it was also the first time I thought, “If that is the case, then I understand.”
Even so, why is it that something no more complicated than this remains utterly incomprehensible if one subscribes to Asahi and watches NHK and commercial television?
Needless to say, I sent my cheers to Mr. Yoshimura, saying, “Keep going, Ishin.”
The issue below is one that runs through the above issue as well.

Yasushi Adachi, House of Representatives member of the Japan Innovation Party, known as “the bomb-thrower of the Diet,” made what was called a “bombshell remark” at the House Committee on Internal Affairs and Communications on the 7th, causing a great uproar online.
He proposed that nationality information, including when a member of the National Diet acquired Japanese nationality, should be disclosed to the people.
“There are many citizens around me who want to know when a candidate running for the National Diet was naturalized in Japan.”
When Mr. Adachi said this, the committee room stirred.
Ishin has submitted, as member-sponsored legislation, a “Bill to Amend the Public Offices Election Act” containing the provision that candidates in national elections should properly disclose their “nationality” information, including the “acquisition and loss information” of foreign nationality, in election bulletins and the like.
Officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications only answered in the committee that “when granting Japanese nationality, we strictly examine whether it is appropriate or not.”
On the morning of the 8th, speaking to Yukan Fuji, Mr. Adachi said, “When a person naturalized as Japanese seeks to enter the National Diet, the highest organ of state power, it is necessary to confirm such matters as ‘how much patriotism he or she has.’
From the awareness of the problem, ‘Is it really proper to be elected while hiding one’s naturalization information?’, I am aiming for legislation.”
After Mr. Adachi’s questioning ended, major reactions appeared online, such as, “This is an issue at the root of the nation.
Nationality and naturalization history should be disclosed back to three generations,” and, “We need to know this.
I am completely in favor!”
Certainly, in elections to the United States Congress, candidates are openly introduced as “African-American,” “Puerto Rican,” “Korean-American,” and so forth.
Kazuo Yawata, the critic who pursued the “dual nationality” issue of Constitutional Democratic Party Vice Representative Renho, said, “Is there any country other than Japan that treats a National Diet member’s background as though it were a matter of privacy?
It should be understood that ‘to begin with, it is not privacy.’
It should, of course, be disclosed.
The more peaceful a nation is, the more necessary such disclosure becomes in securing loyalty to the country.
Ambiguity is also incompatible with modern international law.”