3,000 people in Japan have legally declared that the Imperial Palace is their home (6 photos)

And the main thing I like is that everything is legal! According to Japanese law, when you get married, you can declare that you are from anywhere in the country. And many do!





View of the Imperial Palace from the river

Where the Japanese live

AT THE PALACE in Chiyoda. And not because young people joke like that, many do it in all seriousness. Watch your hands: home is where your stability and place of peace are. And for many Japanese, this is why it is the place where the Emperor lives – a symbol of Japan’s inviolability. A loophole in Japanese law allows couples to be “flexible” in stating their origin. Which, seriously, has led to about 3,000 people declaring the Imperial Palace as their registered place of residence.



This is what the registration form looks like, all in Japanese....

And is it legal?

From a formal legal point of view – absolutely. That’s why some bureaucrats are tearing their hair out. In Japan, all families have a koseki family registry, I’ve already written about it. It registers the marriage and any children the couple may have. When two Japanese people marry, they create a new family registry. This is where they must each list their registered residence, or honseki. Foreigners can list their country of citizenship.





A bridge near the Imperial Palace

Most couples who marry list either their marital home or their current address. Naturalized citizens must also choose a registered residence as part of the naturalization process. By law, they can choose anywhere in Japan, with some exceptions, such as the Kuril Islands. But suddenly it turned out that this is not just a privilege granted to naturalized foreigners. Anyone can indicate an address anywhere in the country, with some exceptions. And so it began.

Where else do the Japanese "live"



The three thousandth Japanese who came up with an original way to write "Imperial Palace" in the registry

For example, one guy admitted that he indicated his place of work.

"I heard that the Imperial Palace is a popular home address, but I wanted to be different. That's why I chose my place of work, of course, I practically live here."

Also in the top places to live in Japan are Disneyland, Sapporo Clock Tower, Osaka Castle (I thought of it first, I would choose it!) and Koshien Baseball Stadium in Osaka. Some people also thought of indicating a subway station in Tokyo or the Maru building.



This is the Sapporo Clock Tower, the Japanese love it, but for me it’s nothing special

However, these jokes can go too far. Your registered place of residence is where your family registry is stored and maintained. That means the city of Chiyoda in Tokyo, home to the Imperial Palace, has to process all the family registries of anyone who thinks registering the emperor's address is a good joke. As a result, in this city of about 68,000, 213,000 people claim this as their registered place of residence. Those who simply wrote it down on a form get nothing, and the Chiyoda city hall is in over their heads. Officials say their staff is on edge trying to keep up with the requests. The city also has to field phone calls every day from people confirming that they have the correct address for the Imperial Palace.



This is Osaka Castle, the most samurai place in all of Japan!

You know how all this could be solved? Japan should already have normal government services. The koseki system is still conducted on paper, which sounds pretty crazy in the 21st century. All we need to do is digitalize old records so as not to lose family trees and lineages. And where would they register? I really like Osaka Castle!