When a subject’s Permanent Domicile (Honsekichi) is unknown, we must first locate the individual or their relatives to obtain the information of it.
Using the address you provide as a clue, we conduct investigations using Residential Maps, the Real Estate Registry, questionnaires sent to households with the same surname, and on-site graveyard searches.
Since these methods are largely analog and manual, the time required varies significantly depending on the situation.
1. Residential Map
Investigation Checking Residential Maps (Jutaku Chizu) involves visual inspection of detailed maps. If the area has undergone administrative changes (such as mergers or renaming) since the address was recorded, time is required to trace the history of these changes and identify the current location.
2. Real Estate Registry
Investigation If the exact “Lot Number” (Chiban) and owner’s name are known, this is quick. However, searching without these specific details consumes a large amount of time and money. Furthermore, even after spending time and money, if the subject was a renter (tenant), no information will be found in the registry.
3. Questionnaire Surveys to Same-Surname Households
The time required to prepare and send letters depends entirely on the number of people with the same surname in the area. As you can imagine, the preparation time for a rare surname with only a few dozen households is completely different from a major surname with over a million households. Additionally, due to the excessive privacy consciousness in Japan, response rates can be low. If the target is elderly, they may simply forget to reply, leading to a dead end.
4. Graveyard Investigation
This involves physically running around and searching on-site. Graves are not always located in large, organized cemeteries; they may be scattered in the mountains areas. Locating a specific grave in these conditions is an extremely time-consuming process.
5. Identifying the Correct Kanji Characters
Japanese names use Kanji characters, not the Roman alphabet. A single name in Romaji (e.g., “Hiroshi” or “Yoko”) can be written in dozens of different Kanji combinations. If you only provide the name in Romaji, we must deduce every possible Kanji variation and test them one by one against the records. This process of elimination is time-consuming and significantly increases the investigation workload compared to cases where the exact Kanji is known.
Ancient documents
Also, owners of ancient documents may have moved or transferred ownership, so finding them immediately is not always guaranteed.
Conclusion
Due to the circumstances mentioned above, it is not possible to predict the exact time required for the investigation.
