Nationality Act solved this problem substantially by adopting jus sanguinis of bilineal descent.88 The Japanese Nationality Act has several important provisions that prevent statelessness which substantively accommodate the principles stated in the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. Firstly, the child acquires Japanese nationality at birth, when both parents are unknown or have no nationality in a case where the child is born in Japan (Article 2(3）). This is an exception to the otherwise jus sanguinis principle adopted in the Act. In acquiring nationality after birth, restrictions on naturalization procedures have been relaxed. Article 8(4) of the Nationality Act provides for relaxation of the requirements for naturalization for a person born in Japan with no nationality since the time of birth and domiciled in Japan for three consecutive years or more since then (Article 8(4)).89 A Japanese national loses her/his nationality only when s/he acquires a foreign nationality by her/his own choice (Article 11). The Nationality Act prevents dual nationality in accordance with the principle of single nationality, but loss of Japanese nationality occurs only after the person acquires another nationality. The Act prevents statelessness by refraining to create it before the person has acquired another nationality. The provisions do not refer to the deprivation of foreign nationality.90 However, experts suggest that if the deprivation is retroactive to the time the person acquired a foreign nationality, s/he would be considered not to have acquired a foreign nationality and would remain a Japanese national.91 88 The Supplementary Provision 5 of the 1984 revision (Law No.45, May 25, 1984), states that those born from January 1, 1965, to the day before the revised Nationality Act was enforced on January 1, 1985, can be granted Japanese nationality by notifying the Minister of Justice if their mother was a Japanese citizen when the child was born. In Okinawa, even before the revision of the Nationality Act, a concerted effort existed for the elimination of the problem of statelessness. (Ibid., Chapter 3). 89 This provision was added in the 1984 Revised Nationality Act. During the discussion for revision, the drafters considered whether a child born in Japan, who would otherwise be rendered stateless, should be granted Japanese nationality. However, as long as one of the parents possesses a foreign nationality, the child could succeed that nationality, so this provision was not included. Ministry of Justice Civil Affairs Bureau Legal Affairs Study Group, supra note 87, pp.13. 90 The United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness lists in Article 8 exceptions to the otherwise prohibited deprivation of nationality: when nationality is obtained by misrepresentation or fraud; and the individual has committed acts inconsistent with a duty of loyalty either in violation of an express prohibition or by personal conduct seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the state. 91 Kidana supra note 3 pp.341-42. Article 11(2) provides for loss of Japanese nationality when a Japanese national who possesses another nationality chooses that nationality. However, this has been criticized as depriving Japanese nationality against the child’s will. Okuda supra note 3, pp.17-18 35