Hello everyone, I am new to this board.
OK, here's the deal. I live in Western Europe, but I have a Japanese passport, meaning I am a Japanese citizen. Recently my passport expired, and I was told at the embassy that I need to have a "koseki tohon" or "koseki shohon" (family register) in order to renew it. Problem is, though, that you can only get a "koseki tohon" in Japan, and I can't leave the country without a valid passport. Also, I don't have any close relatives left in Japan, so I don't really know who I can ask to send it to me via snail mail. I have some distant relatives, but to track them down poses some problems (I am not in contact with any of them, so I don't know their addresses let alone their phone numbers or email addresses).
What can I do? Can I ask any random person in Japan to get it for me and send it to me? I was told anybody can get the "koseki tohon" provided you know all the data (like full name, names of the parents, birthdate, etc).
Can somebody help me? I need my passport!