A Japanese court on Wednesday ruled the country's nationality law that denies dual citizenship is constitutional, rejecting a lawsuit filed by a Japanese-born U.S. citizen.

Yuri Kondo, 76, who resides in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, said in the suit filed with the Fukuoka District Court that acquiring U.S. citizenship should not have automatically stripped her of her Japanese nationality.

Presiding Judge Fumitaka Hayashi said the denial of multiple nationality is "rational" as the law ensures the freedom of changing one's nationality.

Kondo suggested she would appeal the ruling, telling a press conference, "There are many people who face the same problem."

According to the ruling, Kondo, who was born in Japan, moved to the United States in 1971 to attend graduate school. She later began practicing law in Arizona.

After acquiring U.S. citizenship in 2004, she was able to renew her Japanese passport when she returned to Japan in 2008.

However, when she tried to renew it again in 2017, her application was rejected. She is currently staying in Japan on her U.S. passport.

Kondo claims that Article 11 of the nationality law violated her rights by taking away her nationality against her will. Article 11 stipulates that Japanese citizens automatically lose their nationality upon acquiring a foreign one.

Eight people residing in Europe also challenged the law's constitutionality, but they lost the case in the Supreme Court in September.

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