Abstract
There are people who criticize the modern system of nation-states since it is out of to uch with reality in the time of globalization. The majority of those people are Japan-born Korean citizens who are descendants of migrants from the former Japanese colony but have no Japanese nationality.
By asking to have voting rights for foreigners in municipal elections they are calling the notion of nation-states into question.
(1) definition of nationals:
Who should be regarded and included as nationals? Who should have rights and obligations in the nation-state?
(2) the principle that sovereignty resides in the nationals:
When nationals prevent foreign residents from having egual rights to theirs, nationality doesn't mean human rights but only privileges. Who can give it sufficient reason in the time of globalization?
In this paper I look back on the history of argument about social contract which foreign residents have made with Japan since the Japanese colonial era. I also compare it with Korean's another movement to refuse obtaining voting rights not to be ruled by Japanese nationalism.
Now many Japanese nationals think that foreign residents should be allowed to gain equal rights since they pay as much taxes as nationals. Japanese nationals also regard foreign residents as their companions after long living together. They realized that they had collaborative negotiation for long time already.
Through this argument I analyze the historical meaning of rights in Japan.
