Japan Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
タイトル: 日本, 海外渡航者名簿

Record Description
This collection contains a list of Japanese emigrants from the country as recorded by the Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. The records are from an index of overseas travelers processed through Japanese emigration agents and related immigration papers for the years 1893-1941.

Japanese emigration records were generated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japanese Diplomacy office at the time when people emigrated from Japan.

These records are in Japanese. See the For Help Reading These Records section for translation tools.

Record Content


Passenger lists usually include the following information:


 * Full name of passenger
 * Address
 * Date of birth
 * Date of departure
 * Gender
 * Destination
 * Residence

Emigration records usually include the following information:


 * Passport Number
 * Full Name
 * Prefecture
 * Birth Date
 * Gender
 * Residence before departure
 * Date of Departure
 * Departure Age
 * Destination Place

How to Use the Record
These records are used to identify the permanent domicile of the head of the household, which is helpful in obtaining the koseki, the Japanese word for a family registry. These records are good linkage records. They are particularly helpful for American researchers who are trying to determine where their Japanese ancestor came from.

Search the Collection
To start on your search in the Immigration Records, you need to know the following information:


 * Ancestor’s name
 * Place of birth
 * Residence at the time of departure

To search by index: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence, age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Japanese. For help with reading the records, see the following resource:


 * The Genealogy of the Japanese Language
 * Japanese to English Translation

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date
 * Find the place of birth for your ancestor
 * Use the residence to locate census records
 * Use the destination information to look for immigration records

If you are wondering what to do next with the record you found, be sure to look at all of the information on other family records. This information will help you figure out relationships and form family groups. If you are unable to find your ancestor, search for your ancestor’s nickname and various spellings of the name.

For more Japanese records, see the Related FamilySearch Historical Articles section of this article.

Related Websites

 * Kesekilaw Rootsweb page: Explains how to use and get family papers called koseki
 * Japanese Embassies list: Listing of Japanese embassies, needed to get koseki
 * Japanese military at Archives.gov: Information about Japanese internment camps during WWII
 * Japanese American Legacy Project
 * Japan's GenWeb Project
 * Japanese immigrants to the United States

Related Wiki Articles

 * Japan Emigration and Immigration
 * Japan Genealogy
 * Japan Research Methods
 * Japan For Further Reading
 * Japan

Related FamilySearch Historical Records

 * Japan, Village Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Japan, Genealogies (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Japan, Iwate Land Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information (often called citing your sources). This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

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