How to get birth certificate with photocopy?

I was born in Tokyo to non-Japanese parents and right now I need to obtain a certified copy of my birth certificate. I was told that I need to do this in order to prove my relationship with my parents so I can apply for another visa (not entirely related to this topic so I won't go into it).

I'm wondering if anyone knows if my parent/s and I need to be present for obtaining certified birth certificate in Japan?
Right now all we have is a photocopy, and as I understand I can get the certified copy from the ward which I was born in.

I have several friends in Tokyo who could do this for me given that my parent/s and I don't have to be there in person. It would save me a lot of hassle to not have to fly all the way to Japan just to do this, and that a third party could do it for us. Any information would be of great help! !

Thank you in advance!

You need a "letter of attorney" if someone obtain your "Koseki-tohon" as your attorney.

You need your own "Juki-card" to obtain your Koseki-tohon from copy machine. You must use your own juki-card, no one can use the card as your attorney. I don't think you have the card issued.

Just want to clarify (because it changes things), were you born in a Japanese hospital in Tokyo? Or were you born in an American base hospital (such as those located in Yokota, Yokosuka, etc.)? I assume it's the first from your post, but wanted to check.

if both of your parents are non-Japanese, there is no koseki record in Japan, because you are not Japanese.

Thank you for all of your responses! :)

Is there also a way to order it by mail by any chance?

In response to the replies:

Yes your assumption is right, I was born in a Japanese hospital, nothing related to the USAF. :)

I don't know enough to be talking about this really.. But I'm not entirely sure if what I'm wanting is a koseki-toho 戶籍勝本，all I want is birth certificate 出生証明書.
Although my parents are both non Japanese I definitely have a birth certificate from Japan.. Since I already have a photo copy of it, not sure about koseki-toho.

ask the hospital.
the hospital name is shown on the photocopy.

for your understanding,
in Japan, birth certificate is issued ONCE from the hospital, for registering a new baby to Koseki at city office. Once registered, the Koseki proves the birth and the nationality. this system work only for Japanese.
each country has different system. Is there a similar system to register a new baby in your country ?

Thank you for all of your responses! :)

Is there also a way to order it by mail by any chance?

In response to the replies:

Yes your assumption is right, I was born in a Japanese hospital, nothing related to the USAF. :)

I don't know enough to be talking about this really.. But I'm not entirely sure if what I'm wanting is a koseki-toho 戶籍勝本，all I want is birth certificate 出生証明書.
Although my parents are both non Japanese I definitely have a birth certificate from Japan.. Since I already have a photo copy of it, not sure about koseki-toho.

Karen; I found this question/answer on the US embassy FAQ, maybe this will help you:)

Question: I am a U.S. citizen born in Japan. How do I get a duplicate copy of my Birth Certificate (Consular Report of Birth )?

Answer: If you are a U.S. citizen born overseas, the “Birth Certificate” that was issued to you is called a “Consular Report of Birth Abroad” or FS-240. If you would like a duplicate/additional copy of your Birth Report, please visit the Department of State website to find the information needed to submit your request. The U.S. Embassies/Consulates around the world do not keep records of your Report of Birth and cannot issue duplicate/additional copies.

Karen; I maybe wrongly assumed that you are a US citizen (sorry).
But the same procedure after birth in Japan would apply to any nationality.

The photo copied birth record that you have from the hospital, would by a Japanese national be presented at the city or ward office for registration in the Koseki Tohon of the parents.

A foreign national would register the birth at the embassy or consulate of the parents country in order to obtain a passport for the child.

So if you are not a US citizen, I think you could contact the consular services of your country to ask far assistance in obtaining a "Birth Certificate".

Long story short, I think you should do what the Canadian suggests, which is to contact the consular services or the country of your nationality.

Just for reference, as Ken suggested, it's most unlikely for you to be having a koseki 戸籍 at all. It's also most unlikely that a Japanese city hall or ward office has your birth record to give out to you.

But again just for reference, most documents like 戸籍 copies can be postal-mailed to the person it was issued for, if (s)he follows the simple procedure to make that request. But again, I don't think those are the things you're looking for.

Sorry, I just want to clarify that my previous post is based on my assumption that the OP does not have a Japanese nationality. You can't obtain Japanese nationality just because you were born here in Japan. But if you're later adopted or have given up your original nationality to obtain a Japanese one, that's another story.

Karen
My daughter is born in Japan at a Japanese hospital to both Indian parent, so this is my understanding

1) Once new born information is provided to ward office, they issue something called as 出産届出済証明 (kanji maybe wrong but something like that) this is something like an information of birth. The original birth certificate given by hospital is taken by ward office. They don't return you original but they do give notarized copy if you want
You can have as many copies of 出産届出済証明 from ward office at any time, I think you can have them taken by someone else on your behalf or get posted- if you give some
Identify proof- just like a juminhou
I was told this certificate should be used as birth certificate, in any case it's all in Japanese so have to get it translated outside Japan

2) when I applied for Indian passport for my daughter - they Indian embassy gave me a birth certificate, in English. I suppose I will use that for all transactions outside Japan
If I need a copy of it, I am not sure Indian counselate can provide me another one- but I think Canadians will do a better job

I am wondering what do Japanese do if their birth certificate gets lost, do they ask for 出産届出済証明 or do they get copy of koseki or is their any other certificate

３ 　外国人に戸籍はありませんが，日本国内で出産したり，死亡した場合は，戸籍法の適用を受けますので，所在地の市区町村の戸籍届出窓口に，出生の届出又は死亡の届出をしなければなりません。この届出は，１０年間保存されます。
４ 　１及び３の婚姻や出生に関する証明書が必要な場合には，届出人は，出生届の受理証明書又は出生届書の記載事項証明書を，届出をした市区町村の窓口で請求することができます。
I made some mistakes.
corrected information :
there is no Koseki (permanent recording system) for foreigners.
when a foreigner's have a baby in Japan, she/he has to report the birth to city office (within 14 days). the report will be maintained for 10 years.
"the reporter" can get the official certificate from the city office.

the reporter is generally mother and/or father.
if OP is more than 10 years old, there may be no record at city office. (since OP is not the reporter, OP may not have a right to get the certificate.)

finally, there are two possibilities. OP has the photocopy of either the official certificate (issued by city office) or the birth certificate (written by the hospital).

from another site,
a foreigner who has a baby in Japan, has to get a baby passport and a residential status (within 30 days). she/he has to report the birth to her/his country's embassy in Japan with the certificate (issued by city office).
so, the embassy may have another official record.

Good to have information from someone with experience. Also, I wonder if the OP has tried contacting the city of Tokyo, if not the ward itself.
https://cgi.metro.tokyo.jp/cgibin/cgi-bin/fmail_input_disp.cgi?dep_id=...

I am wondering what do Japanese do if their birth certificate gets lost, do they ask for 出産届出済証明 or do they get copy of koseki or is their any other certificate

I don't think we keep it in the first place. At least I've given birth to a child and I don't have one, nor have I requested one ever since I had my child registered on our koseki. Most things can be done with a copy of the koseki or juuminhyo, and those can be obtained through postal mail. Or if the Japanese national lives outside Japan, the Japanese Embassy can take care of it. If there is anything more complicated, such as failing to be registered on a deserved koseki, court of domestic relations usually takes care of it, which can take a little bit more time and effort.

Wow this is great that you can live without a birth certificate in Japan
In India you need birth certificate for many things like getting admission in school, getting a passport. Basically it's a record of your age
Guess same is true in US, have seen people being asked for birth certificate for getting drivers license unless you have a passport

Wow this is great that you can live without a birth certificate in Japan

Well, it's not what you think, but it's off-topic anyway.