Can Ancestry help you to find your roots in Japan? The best way to find your roots in Japan.

More and more people are trying to find their roots, especially in Europe and the United States.Ancestry, AncestryDNA (DNA testing), Find a Grave, and other platforms for finding one’s roots are endless.However, there are no similar platforms in Japan.
This is because most Japanese people’s ancestors were born in Japan and they do not feel the need to know their roots.Therefore, Japanese descendent are not able to search for their roots on the web, which makes it very difficult for them to find their roots on their own. This article is written for those who have roots in Japan and want to find them.

Difficult to find your own roots in Japan.

There are several reasons why it is difficult to find one’s roots in Japan. The reasons are as follows.

Genealogy is not widely practiced in Japan.

Most Japanese do not feel the need to know their roots. Family history and genealogy are important topics in many cultures, but not in Japan. Most Japanese are not interested in tracing their family history. This is because most Japanese, including their ancestors, were born in Japan and there is no need to search for them. This lack of interest translates into fewer resources devoted to genealogical research and fewer people actively engaged in the process.

Language Barrier

Generally speaking, most of Japanese living in Japan are not able to speak any language other than Japanese. Therefore, it would be very difficult to communicate with the people if you were not speak Japanese. Language barriers make effective communication and access to information difficult for individuals trying to connect with family members or trace ancestors.

Strict laws to protect personal information

Japan has strict privacy laws that protect personal information, making it difficult to access records or search for individuals without their explicit consent.This emphasis on privacy limits access to information that is important to genealogical research.If you were to go to a government office and ask for help in finding your roots, they would most likely not cooperate.

Example of we found a Japanese-American client in her search for her roots.

Here is the story of a person who was able to find her roots through our research.

Tracy (pseudonym) is a third generation Japanese American. Her great-grandparents immigrated to the United States from Japan. Although she had been to Japan several times, she had no relatives that she kept in touch with and had given up trying to find her roots. They saw our Web site and asked us if we might be able to help them find their roots. The only information she had was her great-grandparents’ names and a family register that listed the address where they lived before emigrating. Although the information in the family register had changed, using our proprietary network and database information, we were able to determine the approximate location of her ancestors had lived before they emigrated. We sent a researcher to interview the people and were able to locate relatives who knew her grandfather. She was then able to visit Japan, walk the places of her roots, and meet her relatives.
She was then able to develop a better understanding of herself and a stronger sense of identity because she knew her roots.

Conclusion

Knowing one’s roots is a valuable experience to know self-understanding. However, since most Japanese people’s roots are in Japan, it is difficult to find one’s roots in Japan due to the lack of common services such as Ancestry and other services for finding one’s roots in Japan.

If you are trying to find your roots in Japan, please contact us. We will suggest a research plan that fits your situation.