Getting koseki from abroad

Hi! I did search this in the forums but I’m still unclear about it and I need more assistance.

I messed up on the renewal date so we passed the deadline on renewing passport. So now I need to get that koseki.

The consulate said I could maybe contact them or hire someone to get it and send it.

1. What agencies do this type of thing? Then I will just let them deal with it and get it sent to me...

2. Does Taito ku have an email address or something that I can talk to them or send these requests? Then I can get info on how to mail payment and such... Dealing by phone will be tough for me, I’m out of practice and also the time zone differences.

3. Can I just send the request through mail directly to the taito ku mailing address without ever contacting them before hand? It would just be a letter with the reason for the request, with the fee, return postage and envelope... 🤷♀

ask your closest relatives who are living in Japan.
if you don't have, hire 弁護士 or 司法書士.
you can't ask your friends (living in Japan), because it is your personal information.

they don't make their email address to be open, because most of mails are spam or virus.
even when you know their mail address, your message is invalid, because you can't show that you are really that person.

It’s Taito-ku of Tokyo? There is a way to obtain “koseki shohon/tohon” (official copy of koseki) via post, even from outside Japan, but the description is all in Japanese. You need to enclose the fee in International Postal Money Order and also enclose a return envelope, in addition to the application form filled out and a copy your ID (to establish that you are eligible to obtain it).

https://www.city.taito.lg.jp/index/kurashi/todokede/koseki/kosekisyoum...

As long as you get the form and the postage right, it should be OK simply sending it out to them.

This is the form you need to fill out: can you deal with this?

https://www.city.taito.lg.jp/index/benri/download/koseki/kuyakusho.fil...

Section (1) is about the address of your “koseki” and which type of official copy you need, and how many you need

Section (2) is about you, who is requesting the “koseki”

Section (3) is the reason why, and the first answer is “for passport,” so I guess that’s what you would tick.

There is an online inquiry form:
https://www.city.taito.lg.jp/cgi-bin/formmail/formmail.cgi?d=040500

Which asks for:
1: Your full name
2: E-mail address
3: Your phone number (not mandatory)
4: Your address (not mandatory)
5: Title of your inquiry (maybe something like: obtaining "koseki tohon" from overseas)
6: Inquiry in text.

Your Japan Guide profile currently shows your nationality as United States.
Do you have also Japanese nationality?
If you don't, you have no koseki entry.
Japanese family register [koseki] is not made for non-Japanese residents.

On the supposition that you apply for your new Japanese passport:

Is any administrative restriction due to COVID-19
the main reason for your passing the deadline?
In that case, probably you don't have to submit a copy of your koseki.

- Announcement by Ministry of Foreign Affairs
regarding June 2020 revision of Regulation for Enforcement of the Passport Act
"「旅券法施行規則」の一部改正のお知らせ"
https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/ca/pss/page22_003359.html

For the situation where your koseki information is necessary:

Is it certain that Taitō City manages your koseki?

The municipality to which your are | were last registered as a Japanese resident
may not be the municipality who manages your family registry [koseki].

If you are not sure where your koseki is located
and you are currently not registered to any municipality in Japan,
it may be difficult to access your koseki while you are outside Japan.

That’s great! Thanks.. well I just emailed the consulate that article and I’m asking about if we can use this provision... everything was shut down anyway as far as I’m aware with stay at home. Stuff is only recently reopened.

I emailed taito ku through their website the other day... still awaiting a response.

And I will try to do that mail order things anyway...

(Passport is actually for my daughter)
Well taito ku has always been where there koseki Tohon is regardless of where they live or I live. They didn’t live in taito ku for decades so I don’t know what the attachment is to that place. Could be like a legacy thing.. if they moved it, I will have no idea where it is now.

I don’t know, don’t have a way to contact them. A couple of years ago I emailed and got no response. Could be defunct mail they don’t check anymore. Haven’t been in contact for most of the last decade. I know what ward they last lived but I don’t have the address (though it could be in emails somewhere from long, long ago.. )

So hypothetically, If everything was normal, what happens if she departed on a US passport and tried to enter japan on an expired passport? Would they let her in? Lol

That could have been a real scenario... I literally would not have checked the passport until we got to the gate if I thought it was valid. 😂
So then what, she enters as a tourist on the American one? Like literally it wouldn’t matter since we would go pick up the koseki and renew the Japanese one on site..

Did you write the email you sent in Japanese?

Yes I did.

I said something like this “I’m in the USA and I need the Family registry for passport renewal. I do not have anyone in Japan who can pick it up at the city office instead of me. What is the protocol to receive it by international mail.”