Japanese law requires each resident to report his or her current address to the local authorities who compile the information for tax, national health insurance and census purposes.
In February 2009, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced plans to amend the current jūminhyō system by 2012 to include non-Japanese residents, citing government efficiency for the change.
This prompted a group of non-Japanese residents to paint whiskers on their faces and stage a protest march to demand their own jūminhyō.
[7] Until July 9, 2012, only Japanese citizens were allowed to be listed on a jūminhyō; residents of other nationalities were recorded in a separate alien registration system.
After leaders of the Aum Shinrikyo sect were arrested for a Sarin gas attack, members of the group successfully complained that local authorities in several areas had refused to allow them to register, effectively preventing them from receiving government services, in order to discourage them from settling there.