Koseki
A or family register is a Japanese family registry. Japanese law requires all Japanese households (basically defined as married couples and their unmarried children) to make notifications of their vital records (such as births, adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces) to their local authority, which compiles such records encompassing all Japanese citizens within their jurisdiction. Marriages, divorces by mutual consent, acknowledgements of paternity of non-marital children and adoptions (among others) become legally effective only when such events are recorded in the koseki. Births and deaths become legally effective as they happen, but such events must be filed by family members or other persons as allowed by law. Loss of Japanese or foreign nationalities have to be recorded in the koseki, too. Format There are two main types of certified copies of koseki: the Comprehensive Copy of Koseki (戸籍謄本, koseki tōhon) and Selected Copy of Koseki (戸籍抄本, koseki shōhon). The comprehensive koseki is a record of all family members, while the selected koseki is the information for only one individual family member. A typical koseki has one page for the household's parents and their first two children: additional children are recorded on additional pages. Any changes to this information have to be