Preface We often take for granted the fact that each one of us is a citizen or a national of a country. Many of us even have two or three nationalities and passports. There are millions of people, however, who are not recognized as citizens or nationals of any country. These people are often called stateless people and their situation is a significant problem in many parts of the world. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that approximately 12 million people are stateless in the world today. The fate of stateless people has attracted little attention and they are often called the ‘forgotten people’. Having no citizenship and nationality, normal life may become very difficult for stateless people. Daily lives may become very complex and full of legal and administrative hurdles. Without a nationality, individuals may find it difficult to secure legal status and to register with local authorities to obtain an identification document which is essential to gain access to social services, to receive an education and to find a means of employment. Another obvious consequence is the difficulty in obtaining any kind of national passport or international travel document and visa. Furthermore, travelling to other countries becomes very complex. People are often stateless for reasons beyond their control such as the break-up of a country and the redrawing of borders after a conflict. In other instances, conflicting laws within and amongst countries means that people may unwittingly lose their nationality or fail to obtain one. Such cases often involve children born out of marriages involving different nationalities. Sometimes, people may be deprived of their nationality arbitrarily or on purpose. Under certain circumstances, stateless people may be refugees and in need of international protection. UNHCR has a mandate, given by the UN General Assembly, to act on behalf of stateless people and to prevent and to seek to address their plight. At present, there are two international legal instruments relating to statelessness, namely: the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. To date, some 65 countries have acceded to both or one of these Statelessness Conventions. Little information is currently available about the issue of statelessness in Japan. It is 4