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Asia Japan

Guide to Japan, family history and genealogy parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



---LOCATION---

Japan is a country comprising many islands in the area of the northwest Pacific Ocean. It lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south.

Japan is a strato-volcanic archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan's population of 126 million is the world's tenth largest.

About 73 percent of Japan is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use.

The islands of Japan are located in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Japan has 108 active volcanoes. During the twentieth century several new volcanoes emerged, including Shōwa-shinzan on Hokkaido and Myōjin-shō off the Bayonnaise Rocks in the Pacific. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century. The most recent of these was in 2011, resulting in a major tsunami that destroyed much of the local area, and causing destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi Atomic Energy plant.

---HISTORY---

A Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC constitutes the first known habitation of the Japanese archipelago. This was followed from around 14,000 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture, who include ancestors of both the contemporary Ainu people and Yamato people.

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han. The Nara period (710–784) of the 8th century marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). The Heian period (794–1185) was the period when a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its art, poetry and prose. Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem Kimigayo were written during this time.

Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan in the Genpei War.

During the 16th century, traders and Jesuit missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West.

On March 31, 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry and the "Black Ships" of the United States Navy forced the opening of Japan to the outside world with the Convention of Kanagawa. Subsequent similar treaties with Western countries in the Bakumatsu period brought economic and political crises.

The early 20th. century saw a major rise in expansionism and military growth. The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). The Imperial Japanese Army swiftly captured the capital Nanjing and conducted the Nanking Massacre.

On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces carried out surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, attacks on British forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong and declared war, bringing the US and the UK into World War II in the Pacific. After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945.

In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952 and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956.

---RELIGION---

Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from Baekje of Korea, but the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China. The Shinto religion was primarily an outgrowth or development of the feudal era.

Today, Japan has full religious freedom based on Article 20 of its Constitution. Upper estimates suggest that 84–96 percent of the Japanese population subscribe to Buddhism or Shinto, including a large number of followers of a syncretism of both religions.

However it appears that the activity of a large proportion of the population attend the local temples only for social reasons or for cultural occasions, and probably no more than about 30% of the population, and primarily females, are true believers.

It is estimated that less than 1% of the population are followers of the Christian faith.

---ECONOMY---

Prior to WWII, Japan had the largest economy in Asia, but its products were primarily sold within Asia, and were rarely seen in the west. However with the help received from the USA after the end of the war, Japan's economic muscles grew. Originally known for cheap products, both in price and in quality, the country rapidly became known for excellent quality at reasonable prices. It was the first of the Asian tigers to develop.

Today, the country has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the world's fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fifth-largest exporter and fifth-largest importer. Many of its major names in the automotive, electronics, and optical spheres, have set up manufacturing operations throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

---RESEARCH TOOLS---

The four top sources for Japanese genealogical research are: koseki (household registers), kakochō (Buddhist death registers), Shumonchō (Examination of Religion Register), and kafu (compiled family sources).

See these web sites also:

The Japanese Genealogy Blog http://www.AdvantageGenealogy.com/blog

Tips for Obtaining a Copy of Your Japanese Family Registry (courtesy: JapanGenWeb)

Searching for your Japanese ancestors cannot be done the same way you would research for someone from non-Asian countries. The main reason is that Japan has very strict privacy laws and access to Vital Records is carefully protected. That being said, the Japanese are wonderful record-keepers and the koseki or Family Registration is the record on which births, deaths, marriages and divorces of Japanese nationals are kept and is a rich source of genealogical information. A child is listed on his or her parent's koseki until they create their own.

The koseki is kept and protected by the city hall in the hometown (honseki) or permanent address of the head of household. If your ancestor was listed on a koseki, you can get a copy of the record. This is the best resource for finding your ancestors, as often many generations are included. Obtaining your family's koseki requires some effort but it is worth every bit of it.

The best and easiest way to get your koseki is check with other family members, (i.e.cousins still in Japan, etc.) and see if someone already has a copy and will make you a copy. If they do - do the happy dance!

---GENEALOGY SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS---

GENEALOGY ABOUT

Kindred Trails

WOW, Japan

Ancestry.com Japan

---CEMETERIES AND GRAVEYARDS---

Cemeteries in Japan

Japanese funerals