Chapman / Sealing Japanese Identity TAMA-CHAN AND SEALING JAPANESE IDENTITY David Chapman ABSTRACT : On 22 February 2003 a group of foreign residents of Japan gathered in Yo- kohama’s Nishi Ward next to the Katabira River to protest the awarding of a resi- dency certificate (juminhyð) to a seal called Tama-chan. Tama-chan had frequented the river and as such was awarded the certificate because he was “more or less like a fellow resident.” The group of foreign residents criticized what they believed to be discrimination by the Japanese state because, whilst a seal is able to gain a residency certificate, foreign residents are legislatively excluded from obtaining one. The Tama-chan protest provides an opportunity for investigating not only the residency registration system, but also other population registries such as the Japanese family registration system and alien registration system. The author of this article argues that a deeper and more informed understanding of the processes of marginalization of foreign residents in Japan can be achieved through a comprehensive investiga- tion of Japan’s population registries and their respective histories. The author ex- plains how these population registries are sites of tension in which contained no- tions of Japanese citizenship and national identity are being contested by foreign resident populations with vested interests in Japan as home, thus revealing the inad- equacies, inconsistencies, and ambiguities of these registration systems. Introduction In 2002, a seal made frequent appearances in the polluted waters of the Kata- bira River in Yokohama’s Nishi Ward. Dubbed “Tama-chan,” the seal gathered considerable attention throughout 2002 and 2003 and became a media celeb- rity in Japan. Described as “cute” (kawaii), the popularity of Tama-chan grew with numerous fan clubs being formed and throngs of onlookers gathering whenever he appeared. Tama-chan (fig. 1) was so popular in fact that he was awarded a special residency certificate (tokubetsu jþminhyð), complete with the “seal” of approval in the form of an authorizing stamp (hanko) symboliz- Critical Asian Studies 40:3 (2008), 423–443 ISSN 1467-2715 print/1472-6033 online / 03 / 000443–21 ©2008 BCAS, Inc. DOI: 10.1080/14672710802274144