Though so-called international marriages continue to become more commonplace in Japan, the authorities still treat them as glaring exceptions that call for special treatment. If you’re not a Japanese national and you want to make sure you can stay in Japan in the event you divorce your Japanese spouse, you’d better have a permanent resident visa. If you’re pregnant and the father is Japanese, you must either marry him or make sure he legally acknowledges the baby before its born, otherwise you and the baby might find yourselves on the next plane home.
TV Tokyo’s “Sunday Big Variety” (Dec. 1, 7 p.m.) doesn’t delve into these legal nuances as it visits half a dozen foreign women who married Japanese men and are now living in Japan. However, it does explore the special problems that these women face in being accepted by their communities and in-laws.
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