Originally Posted by
LapLap
That pretty much sums up the figures I've seen. Not sure if they include children with dual Japanese nationality outside of Japan.. a great deal of these will have Japanese mothers rather than fathers so won't be part of Japanese households according to the archaic way this is categorised in the consulates and embassies.
The unfortunate reality, even if one does live somewhere like the UK which allows dual nationality, is that, currently, Japan only needs to find an example of a Japanese adult using foreign ID documents for that to be grounds to strip them of their Japanese nationality. And with the war against terror and other economic/political motives meaning that more and more information of this sort is being shared amongst governments (a chilling example are the shenanigans the US government is getting up to to ensure data is given up regarding US citizens abroad so that they give accurate information to the IRS and the sort of penalties for corporations and governments that don't comply... a situation that must go both ways) hiding dual nationality is just going to get harder and harder.
Actually the Japanese rules only require that you
endeavor to give up your foreign nationality not that you actually give it up. For most countries, an election in Japan to choose Japanese citizenship has no impact on your citizenship in the other country. The U.S. for example won't accept a renunciation of U.S. citizenship if they know the reason for doing so is that it is being forced by the Japanese government. So in fact, it's impossible to do so unless you actually have other reasons for renunciation.
At least for those dual nationals who have Japanese citizenship by parentage (as opposed to those who elected to be naturalized), I'm pretty sure there are no instances where Japan has stripped someone of their Japanese nationality. There is also a proposal before the Diet to loosen the rules. I'm not sure of the status. A similar proposal was submitted in 2008, but nothing came of it.
Also, you may know, but if you were born before 1985, there is no legal requirement to make an explicit election.