Japan Genealogy

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If you have Japanese ancestors who emigrated out of Japan, this guide may help you, particularly if they emigrated to the United States or Canada. Even if they emigrated to other countries, the strategies and the kinds of records you use are the same throughout the world. So you could adapt them to your situation.


 * 1) Obtain the household register (koseki) of your family.
 * 2) Use the koseki to copy the new information onto a Family Group worksheet.
 * 3) Study the historical background of your people. Depending on who your ancestors were, where they came from, and what happened to them, you may use different kinds of records.
 * 4) Use other records that pertain to the situation of your ancestor to fill out more family group worksheets.
 * 5) Use a genealogical computer software, such as Personal Ancestral File (PAF 5), to enter your family information. You can use the English CD and choose Japanese as your language option. (PAF 5 is available in Japanese, English, Portuguese, Spanish, and other languages.)

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Did You Know?

 * Christian Church records (Kirisuto Kyokai Kiroku) of baptisms, marriages, and deaths were kept by church clergy. They include the parish registers of Roman-Catholic and various protestant churches. They cover the time period of 1873 to the present.

Five Useful Websites
http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/fhc/Japan/index.asp

http://members.tripod.com/runker_room/family.htm

http://www.distantcousin.com/Links/Ethnic/Japan.html

http://genealogy.about.com/cs/japan/

http://www.archives.go.jp/index_e.html