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I took a look at the JR Pass website, but it's not very specific when it comes to dual citizens. My child has Canadian and Japanese citizenship and both passports.

Current the child is under 6, so they don't need a JR Pass, but once the child is over 6, I'd need to get a child JR Pass.

From other questions, I've understood that you're supposed to use the Canadian passport at the airline (so it matches the ticket), and the Japanese passport at immigration points when entering and exiting Japan.

In the past when I've gotten a JR Pass for myself, I've had to show my Canadian passport with the stamp from immigration, but my child won't have that if they use the Japanese passport. This website seems to state that the dual citizen should use the non-Japanese passport, but I can't find anything on the official website, plus this goes against what I've heard for entering Japan.

I've seen the changes from 2017 that say Japanese nationals who have lived abroad over 10 years can use a Japanese passport, but as the child is under ten years old, I'm guessing this doesn't apply?

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  • Did they actually check the entry stamp last time?
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Jan 23, 2020 at 0:56
  • @JonathanReez it's been a couple years, but as long as you have a foreign passport, I haven't heard many issues. My friend who once worked at an exchange office said most of the problems are with people with Japanese passports.
    – lancedragons
    Jan 26, 2020 at 16:40

1 Answer 1

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The Eligibility requirements (PDF file) from this page states:

  • In regard to (1), if a single copy of your Overseas Residential Registration verifies that any family members living with you in the country have stayed for 10 consecutive years or more, such a document is valid for those family members.
  • Concerning children (under 12 years of age) whose stay in the country is less than 10 years at the time of purchase of an Exchange Order, if a single copy of the Overseas Residential Registration stated in (1) verifies that they live together with the applicant whose stay in the country is 10 consecutive years or more, and if they also use the JAPAN RAIL PASS together with that applicant, their eligibility requirements are satisfied.

There may be other allowances listed in this document, but this one seemed like it may be relevant to you.

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  • Thanks! It's still a bit unclear, as my wife hasn't met the 10 year requirement yet, and I'm a Canadian citizen, so I would qualify for the JR Pass without the 10 years stay. It seems like it would be a lot easier to use the Canadian passport, even if that's not strictly what the Japanese immigration would want.
    – lancedragons
    Jan 22, 2020 at 17:13
  • @lancedragons I think you're over thinking it. This isn't immigration, it's the Japanese railways. Present the Canada passports as I think this meets their criteria
    – Midavalo
    Jan 22, 2020 at 17:40
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    @Midavalo I think what OP tried to say us that it might be easier to pretend an immigrant and show the Canadian passport to the immigration in order to get the stamp. So that when they need to show the passport to anyone they can see they're legally in the country and when they arrived.
    – kiradotee
    Jan 22, 2020 at 18:33

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