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Why 3,000 People in Japan Claim the Imperial Palace Is Their Home
Japan’s registered domicile law means that, when you get married, you can claim you hail from anywhere in the country. And many people do.
By Jay Allen
What do you think of when you think of home? For most people, it’s where they were born and raised. For some wisecrackers in Japan, though, it’s where the emperor lives. A loophole in Japanese laws allows couples (perhaps too much) flexibility in declaring where they’re from. That’s led around 3,000 to declare the Imperial Palace as their registered domicile — and it has some bureaucrats tearing their hair out.
Just write anything — even the Imperial Palace!
In Japan, all families have a family registry (戸籍; koseki) that records a couple’s marriage and any children they might have. When a couple gets married, they create a new family registry. At that time, they each also have to list their registered domicile, or honseki (本籍). Foreigners can specify their country of citizenship.
Most couples who get married list either their family home or current address. Naturalized citizens also have to pick a registered domicile as part of the naturalization process. Legally, they can pick any location in Japan with a few exceptions, such as the Kuril Islands.
It turns out this isn’t just a privilege extended to naturalized foreigners. Anyone can list an address anywhere in the country, with a few exceptions. And some people do. One guy interviewed by FNN Prime Online, for example, said he listed his workplace.
“That way I won’t forget it,” he said. “I’ve heard that the Imperial Palace is a popular home address, but I wanted to be different.”
The dude isn’t wrong. According to FNN, around 3,000 people have opted to list the Imperial Palace in Tokyo’s Chiyoda City as their registered domicile.
