Time Immortal

I wasn’t aware that the Japanese had a law requiring a child’s parents to be married in order for said child to obtain citizenship in Japan. And now it appears that said law is being struck down — evidently, it’s unfair to deny citizenship to children born out of wedlock.

And in what could possibly be considered “true to form” for the Japanese, the proposed solution: “Japanese fathers’ acknowledgement of paternity will be the sole requirement for children to obtain Japanese citizenship, removing the requirement for parents’ marital status from the provision.”

I don’t know about you, good Reader, but I get the strange sense that this change won’t really solve much of anything. If nothing else, it presents men with an interesting way to “get back” at a “baby mama” with whom they have had a falling out: her child could be permanently denied citizenship in Japan.

But then, perhaps I’m being too cynical — could it be that Japanese men have a more responsible attitude toward children they father out of wedlock than do North American men?

Update: Welcome, WebElf readers!