Move would leave Japan’s fourth-largest city without consular services.

With a population of roughly 2.3 million people, Nagoya is the fourth-largest city in Japan. It also holds an extremely important position in Japanese industry and its connections to the global economy, by nature of being the closest major city to the head office of Toyota and many of the automakers factories and suppliers.

Nevertheless, the U.S. government is planning to close its consulate in Nagoya, according to a report from Reuters citing sources who spoke under condition of anonymity.

According to the report, the U.S. State Department has sent notices to multiple congressional committees informing them of its intent to close the Nagoya consulate, as well as the U.S. embassy in Granada, consulates in Canada (Winnipeg) and Indonesia (Medan), and an embassy branch office in Cameroon (Douala). The downsizing does not appear to be tied to any diplomatic disagreements and to instead be a cost-cutting move by the U.S. government.

Shutting down the Nagoya consulate would leave the full embassy in Tokyo and and the consulate in Osaka as the nearest alternatives, both of which are roughly and hour and a half away from Nagoya by Shinkansen, and even lengthier trips by more affordable modes of transportation.

Closing the Nagoya consulate would not likely have an immediate or significant impact on the lives of most American citizens living in the area, however. Passport renewal, the most commonly required government service by Americans living abroad, is already handled by mail, with no in-person, on-site renewal option available. Overseas voting for U.S. elections is also a by-mail only affair. As of last year, U.S. consulates and embassies in Japan no longer offer notarization services for “affidavits of competency to marry,” a form requested by the Japanese government when foreigners are getting married in Japan, and instead provides an online form that can be downloaded online stating that the U.S. government has no such certification system.

All of which is to say that many American expats can live in Japan for years, or even decades, without ever having to physically go to a consulate or embassy. Even for those who do need to visit a U.S. government office in-person, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Japan website already informs them that “The U.S. Consulate in Nagoya no longer provides American Citizens Services,” and directs them to the Osaka consulate instead.

As such, the Nagoya consulate’s role is more diplomatic liaison than service provider, facilitating cultural exchange and establishing ties with local educational, scientific, and business organizations.

▼ Recent posts from the U.S. consulate in Nagoya have highlighted chief consul Anna Wang visiting a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries facility in the city…

▼ …and a visit to Nagoya by an American youth baseball team as part an international sister cities program.

So no, closing the Nagoya consulate is unlikely to trigger an immediate crisis for American expats in terms of accessing government services, nor will it bring an immediate halt to international cultural exchange. That said, it’s not going to make those things easier either, and it’ll be a sad development if the consulate does end up being deemed an unacceptable expense.

Source: Reuters, U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Japan (1, 2, 3)
Top image: Pakutaso
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