A 76-year-old man who was born to a Japanese man and a Filipino woman in the Philippines before World War II and still lives there will soon acquire Japanese nationality because his Japanese ancestry has been confirmed through DNA analysis, a support group for him has said.
While 26 Japanese-Filipino men and women have been allowed to become Japanese by setting up family registries in Japan so far, it's the first time a DNA test has been used to get such permission, said the Philippine Nikkei-jin Legal Support Center. The case was based on a ruling Thursday by the Tokyo Family Court.
The court allowed the man's two brothers to register in Japan in March based on their baptismal and marriage certificates, which carry their Japanese father's name. But the man didn't own any documents proving his relationship to the father, and the DNA test, using blood samples, was conducted in the Philippines, the group said.