RetireJapan

Hello -

I have a question regarding the "head of household" in Japan, and was looking online for some info, but i haven't found anything yet.  It is in regards to the Head of Household designation in Japan, i guess on the Jyuminhyo, Koseki...and maybe for my office dependent forms too.

Before I got married (~6 months ago) and up till now, i was listed as the "head of household" for my work dependent forms and presumably for Japan tax stuff.   But recently, when my wife contacted either the ward office or pension office, she said that they told her that now that we're married that i cannot be listed as the "head of household" because it can only be a Japanese citizen.  I am just wondering does that have any effect on taxes or anything else?  

Thanks for any info or help.

I don’t think it would affect taxes…

But it is also perhaps untrue what they are telling your wife. I confirmed on my Juminhyo now that I am the 世帯主 of my household, and my partner is a 妻. I am also 100% a foreigner with merely Permanent Residency.

Edit - ah could that be it? Permanent Residency? It might have been my wife that was head at some stage… but I only got PR long after getting married and having a kid and buying a house… sorry no I guess that is not it. Maybe the Juminhyo depends on the way the Koseki is registered… I suppose the Koseki would take precedence.

Edit - maybe your municipality is out of date. This link says you can be the head of household:
https://www.office-shira.com/QA09#:~:te ... 9%E3%80%82

I'm the head of my household. Haven't naturalized yet.

I find city office employees sometimes make stuff up. In that case escalating tends to fix the issue.

Perhaps they are talking about the koseki which is true that only the Japanese citizen can be the head of the koseki (you're a footnote in it).
The juminhyo can have you as the head I'm pretty sure but maybe it got changed when you updated your koseki (like maybe the city hall worker asked your wife whether to change it and she said yes) and no one bothered to check otherwise.

I think for tax filings it wouldn't matter since the NTA won't be referring to your koseki.

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 2:21 pm ....

I find city office employees sometimes make stuff up. In that case escalating tends to fix the issue.

Off-topic, but how do you escalate matters in ward or city office? Do you ask to speak to their managers?

goran wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 2:50 am Off-topic, but how do you escalate matters in ward or city office? Do you ask to speak to their managers?

Yep. Ask to speak to the 責任者 or just come back another time and speak to someone else. Or phone them (from the same building): I find slightly more senior people tend to answer the phones. So far that has generally worked for me.

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 2:21 pm

I find city office employees sometimes make stuff up.

Ain’t that the truth.

Im not Japanese and I’m listed as the head of the household for all things financial.

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 3:14 am

goran wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 2:50 am Off-topic, but how do you escalate matters in ward or city office? Do you ask to speak to their managers?

Yep. Ask to speak to the 責任者 or just come back another time and speak to someone else. Or phone them (from the same building): I find slightly more senior people tend to answer the phones. So far that has generally worked for me.

Thanks!
Faced some minor issue with people making stuff up during my last ward office visit.

The Koseki is the proof of Japanese Citizenship /Nationality, and so by definition can only be headed by a Japanese Citizen.

If two Japanese citizens get married, then they are both removed from their parents' Kosekis, and a new Koseki is started for the new family.
If a Japanese citizen marries a non-Japanese citizen, then the Japanese Citizen is removed from their parents' Koseki, and a new Koseki is started for the new family.
If the Husband is a Japanese Citizen, then the Koseki is established in his name, with the foreign wife as his spouse on the Koseki.
If the Wife is a Japanese Citizen, then the Koseki is established in her name, with the foreign husband as her spouse on the Koseki.

Children are then registered on the Koseki at time of birth registration, and remain there until they get married and start families of their own, in which case, they are both removed from their parents' Kosekis, and a new Koseki is started for the new family.

As an aside, if child is born to (a) Japanese Parent(s) overseas, and by virtue of their birth overseas, they also acquire a foreign nationality at birth, there is only a very strict 90 day window in which the child must be registered with the Japanese Embassy or Consulate in order to reserve Japanese Citizenship for the child, and the child is registered on the Parents' Koseki.
If the 90 day window is missed, under Article 12 of the Japanese Nationality Law:
https://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/information/tnl-01.html
"A Japanese national who was born in a foreign country and has acquired a foreign nationality by birth shall lose Japanese nationality retroactively as from the time of birth, unless the Japanese national clearly indicates his or her volition to reserve Japanese nationality according to the provisions of the Family Registration Law (Law No.224 of 1947)."

Tkydon wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 8:25 am...
Children are then registered on the Koseki at time of birth registration, and remain there until they get married and start families of their own, in which case, they are both removed from their parents' Kosekis, and a new Koseki is started for the new family.
...

Trivia: Our kids took their mother's family name at birth (she didn't change to mine). We petitioned via the family court (at different times) to have each one's family name changed to mine.

So I'm on my wife's koseki, and separate new ones were created for each kid at the time their names changed. One family, two kids, three koseki.