will eliminate conflict and become one.”121 His cosmopolitan thinking has liberated him from the restrictions a nationality imposes, with the paradoxical but unlimited potential in statelessness. His permanent resident status appeared to have supported this positive attitude towards statelessness. A substantial number of stateless persons hold permanent resident status,122 and they live a life similar to Japanese citizens. However, in the present national system, permanent residents face restrictions in the right to vote, traveling across borders and can still face deportation. Mr. A runs a chiropractic clinic in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. He is also stateless but does not have a regular residence status. He held the nationality of the People’s Republic of China, but lost this nationality when he was naturalized as a Bolivian citizen in 1992. He acquired his new nationality for convenience in travel. When he came to Japan in February 1995, he tried to regain his Chinese nationality because Bolivian laws had been revised: he would have to return to Bolivia every time to renew his passport. Bolivian Embassy officials also recommended him to do so. “The Chinese Embassy official told me that to acquire Chinese nationality, I would have to renounce my Bolivian nationality, and bring a document to prove this fact. So I renounced my Bolivian nationality at the Bolivian Embassy on April 13, 1995, and obtained a document certifying this fact.”123 When the Chinese Embassy contacted A in June, his three-month visa had already expired. However, “the Chinese Embassy official told me that since I did not have a long-term visa in Japan, I could not regain my Chinese nationality. My request had been rejected.” Thus A became stateless, without Chinese or Bolivian nationality.124 Without legal residence status, he faces difficulties such as not being eligible for health insurance. “Not being able to attend my mother’s funeral or say goodbye to her when she died in January last year was heart-breaking. I could not carry out my duties as the eldest son in 121 The world as seen from a stateless perspective- Reconsidering Nationality in Modern Society Program and summaries (Chen Tien-shi, ed., November 23, 2008), p.7. 122 Among 1,573 registered stateless aliens in Japan in 2007, 399 had permanent resident status. Others were 93 spouses, etc. of Japanese, 7 spouses, etc. of permanent residents, 253 long-term residents, and 69 special permanent residents. Those who had not obtained residence status were 313. See supra note 110. 123 Interview with Mr. A on November 10, 2008. 124 Although it may be necessary to consider whether the Bolivian Nationality Law required renunciation prior to acquiring Bolivian nationality, from the perspective of measures for statelessness, we cannot overlook the fact that this problem under Japanese government jurisdiction had languished unresolved for a long period of time. 47