has withheld state recognition of Palestine from its failure to satisfy requirements of statehood, especially independence. Approving Palestinian nationality without recognizing the Palestinian state may be subject to debate from the perspective of effective nationality.104 Naturalization The Nationality Act expects naturalization by a stateless person (Article 5(5)) and has provisions that facilitate naturalization procedures for stateless persons in certain cases. As stated previously, naturalization restrictions have been eased for stateless persons born in Japan and residing in the country for more than three years since birth. However, naturalization has not been recognized as a right, as its approval is left to the discretion of the Minister of Justice. Therefore easing conditions for naturalization does not always facilitate naturalization procedures. The Civil Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice has produced statistics for the number of naturalization applications in the ten-year period from 1999 to 2008, which are shown in the table below.105 The number of stateless applicants during that period was not published, but interviews with the Ministry of Justice's Civil Affairs Bureau have indicated that every year there are roughly around 10 to 20 stateless applicants, and that in 2008 there were 16. In this context, applicants whose nationalities are unclear are lumped together with applicants who do not have a nationality and are given the same treatment. Passports, birth certificates, identification documents, parents' nationalities, and other such documents that can have relevance to nationality identification are taken into consideration in determining an applicant's nationality, or lack thereof.106 104 Professor Okuda quotes an international law scholar’s view that when the reason for not recognizing a new state or government lies in its not having the essential conditions of a state or government, then the court cannot treat it as a state or government. In private law, it should not be possible to apply laws pertaining to an area that does not have the quality of a state. Japanese nationality cannot be deprived from a person acquiring the nationality of an area that does not have the requirements of a state. Okuda, supra note 3, pp.93-94. According to Ministry of Justice Immigration Bureau Director-General Toshio Inami, who participated in the 166th National Diet Session Budget Committee Third Division as a government witness on February 28, 2007, “Palestinians who entered Japan with travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority have been classified as stateless, but Palestinians working at the General Mission of Palestine in Tokyo and their families have been granted residence status for “designated activities” (Palestinians working for the General Mission of Palestine in Tokyo and their families). 105 http://www.moj.go.jp/TOUKEI/t_minj03.html. 106 Interviews with the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice conducted on 30 April 2009. 42