PREFACE The Study Group on Statelessness in Japan, to which the authors of this report belong, is a voluntary group founded in 2014 by researchers, practitioners, and NGO staff interested in issues of statelessness in Japan. The same year in August, the group began conducting a study funded by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations Law Foundation, i.e., the Study No. 111 “Study on Statelessness in Japan: Understanding the situations of stateless persons and the legal framework relating to protection of stateless persons.”1 It has also held its study session once every one to two months and has carried out overseas research by interested members in order to deepen the knowledge on statelessness issues in Japan. Two studies on statelessness in Japan commissioned by UNHCR Tokyo have already been conducted. These are: Kohki Abe, “Overview of Statelessness: International and Japanese Context” (March 2010), and Osamu Arakaki, “Statelessness Conventions and Japanese Laws: Convergence and Divergence” (May 2015). 2 They both produced significant outcomes as studies examining statelessness in Japan in recent years. In consolidating the research outcomes for the purposes of writing this report, the Study Group on Statelessness in Japan intends to characterize it as a third volume complementing the two previous studies and aiming to be read together with them to provide further insights into the phenomenon of statelessness in Japan. Appreciation is hereby made with gratitude to Professor Kohki Abe who conducted one of the earlier studies for his great support on this report. We also would like to express our gratitude to the persons involved with each case which this report covers, their attorneys-at-law, supporting organizations, and embassies and consulates in Japan for providing information as well as advice. Moreover, Professor Atsushi Kondo, other members of the Study Group on Statelessness in Japan, and UNHCR staff, especially Ms. Mai Kaneko and Ms. Radha Govil, provided us with many useful comments. The English translation of this report was 1 Japan Law Foundation, Kenkyu [Study], at https://www.jlf.or.jp/work/kenkyu.shtml. Kohki Abe, Mukokusekino Joukei: Kokusaihouno Shiza, Nihonno Kadai [Overview of Statelessness: International and Japanese Context] (UNHCR, 2010), at http://www.unhcr.org/4ce643ac9.html. (Translator’s note: the English version is the following. Kohki Abe, Overview of statelessness: International and Japanese Context (UNHCR, 2010), at http://www.refworld.org/docid/4c344c252.html.) Osamu Arakaki, Mukokuseki Jouyakuto Nihonno Kokunaihou: Sono Settento Hedatari [Statelessness Conventions and Japanese Laws: Convergence and Divergence] (UNHCR, 2015), at http://www.unhcr.org/jp/wpcontent/uploads/sites/34/protect/Statelessness_Conventions_and_Japanese_Law.pdf. (Translator’s note: the English version is the following. Osamu Arakaki, Statelessness Conventions and Japanese Laws: Convergence and Divergence (UNHCR, 2015), at http://www.unhcr.org/jp/wpcontent/uploads/sites/34/protect/Statelessness_Conventions_and_Japanese_Laws_EN.pdf.) 2 4