FOREWORD A stateless person is somebody who is not considered a national by any State. There are at least 10 million stateless people and persons at risk of statelessness worldwide. Without the formal legal bond of nationality, stateless people are often unable to enjoy basic human rights such as going to school, receiving healthcare, or registering birth or marriage. Many stateless persons cannot legally travel to and stay in another country. Some may even face detention. UNHCR is mandated by the UN General Assembly to assist States to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness as well as to protect stateless persons. States and UNHCR have in recent years strengthened their efforts to address statelessness. Since the beginning of UNHCR’s renewed accession campaign in 2010, the number of contracting States for the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness increased from 65 to 89 and 33 to 70 respectively. Furthermore, a number of States have made changes to their national legal frameworks or established statelessness determination procedures. Encouraged by these positive developments, UNHCR launched its #iBelong campaign in November 2014 to end statelessness within 10 years. This report is the third study commissioned by UNHCR in Japan and complements the two previous studies by Professor Kohki Abe entitled “Overview of Statelessness: International and Japanese Context” (2010) and Professor Osamu Arakaki entitled “Statelessness Conventions and Japanese Laws: Divergence and Convergence” (2015). These earlier studies had recommended that further research be carried out to help identify the number and circumstances of stateless persons in Japan and the realities they face. The study provides useful insights on the various procedures in which administrative bodies assess a person’s nationality status. It provides case studies of stateless persons and persons who are potentially stateless, categorized by the causes, and proposes measures to address the challenges identified through the case studies. The report will also help the government to more accurately quantify statelessness in Japan in the future. 2