Recovery of Japanese Nationality as Cause for Expatriation in American Law

A peculiar and difficult nationality problem latent for decades in the relationship of American to Japanese law suddenly has emerged since the Japanese surrender in 1945. Directly involved is the nationality status of several thousands of Nisei (American-born individuals of Japanese paternity) who now are dismayed to discover that certain actions taken by them or on their behalf in the course of World War II either have seriously clouded their claims to American citizenship or have resulted in an apparently irrevocable expatriation. Stated briefly, the problem involved is that of the effect on American nationality of reacquisition of Japanese nationality obtained through a process known to Japanese law as “recovery.” In this article a description first is made of the Japanese legal institution of “recovery” and its relationship to other phases of Japanese nationality law. Consideration then is given to the application to “recoveries” of those articles and sections of the American Nationality Acts of 1907 and 1940 which deal with expatriation. In a final section, certain troublesome categories of ostensible “recoveries” as well as “recoveries” obtained during minority are examined, and various possibilities are explored for challenging the apparent loss of American nationality which has resulted

Citizenship · Immigration · Institution · Nationality · Political science · Politics · Surrender · Korean Peninsula Historical and Political Studies · Law