Japanese Genealogy
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Japanese Genealogy
Finding information on your Japanese roots may also be a bit harder. While Japanese public offices collect pertinent information for all people currently living in Japan, they may not have records from those past.
Depending on the location of your ancestors, you might be able to still find information. There is only one type of family registry in Japan, but the information can be stored or found in two different ways.
If you are looking for information for your Japanese genealogy research, try contacting the municipal office in the town, city or village in which your ancestor resided. They may or may not have this genealogical information, but in any case, it is worth looking.
Koseki Touhon: This means the information is stored as a copy, a transcript or a document. This would include the names of the relative's entire family registry including beyond the names of parents.
Koseki Shouhon: This more of a piece of the family registry, like an excerpt of the entire registry. It will give the names of one's parents and the birth dates of the immediate family but not the entire family registry.
If you are looking for information for your Japanese genealogy research, try contacting the municipal office in the town, city or village in which your ancestor resided. They may or may not have this genealogical information, but in any case, it is worth looking.
You may also want to search your ancestor's Buddhist temple for death records because many Japanese funerals use Buddhist rituals. If searching for a wedding record, try contacting a Shinto shrine as many Japanese weddings utilized the Shinto ritual for weddings.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |
