DIVORCE IN JAPAN – WHAT A MESS

By Arudou Debito, Sapporo, JapanExcerpted and adapted from upcoming book, “HANDBOOK FOR NEWCOMERS, MIGRANTS, AND IMMIGRANTS:  Setting Down Roots in Japan” (published March 2008).Published by Success Stories Japan, a newsletter for corporate executives, issue dated June 2006.(Referential Links for claims made within the article appear at the very bottom.)For many readers of Success Stories, understanding the demographics of […]

So you are thinking of marrying a Japanese…?

If you are thinking of marrying a Japanese citizen, congratulations!  But to protect against the unthinkable, you should consider the following now.  Should you decide to go ahead, you will hopefully be one of the happy international marriages out there.  But if it doesn’t last, it wont just be you who looses, it will be […]

WHAT TO DO IF…you want to get a divorce

Be careful when you marry a Japanese. Be sure the relationship will last. Divorce laws in Japan have not changed for over a hundred years, meaning they establish marriage as a more ironclad bond to keep families stable as a business. Divorce remains very difficult to achieve unilaterally unless one party has committed a crime […]

Child Abductions Issue: How Japan’s debate on defining “Domestic Violence”, the loophole in enforcing the Hague Treaty, is heading in the wrong direction

Hi Blog.  Here is a report from a Debito.org reader who translates how the debate on Domestic Violence in Japan (being cited as a reason to create loopholes in Japan’s enforcement of the upcoming signatory status with the Hague Treaty on Child Abductions) is being stretched to justify just about any negative behavior (including non-tactile […]

Solving parental child abduction problem no piece of cake

Carving out Hague caveats could halt the return of any kids snatched to Japan The Way of Cake is mysterious and paradoxical. A master of the Way can make his neighbors feel they have filled themselves with tasty cake without ever cutting off a piece. The Way allows its disciple to step outside the boundaries […]

Biased pamphlet bodes ill for left-behind foreign parents outside Japan

After years of pressure from foreign governments and enormous efforts by “left-behind” parents to have access to children abducted to and from Japan after marital separation or divorce, the Japanese government became a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in April. That is, of course, good news. Now […]

Child abductions down in year since Hague pact, but not all are happy

Since Japan belatedly joined the Hague Convention a year ago, the Foreign Ministry has hailed the pact as instrumental in reducing cross-border child abductions involving failed marriages, but there are still several issues that need improvement, parents say. The ministry, which oversees matters related to the 1980 treaty, said it has received 25 requests for […]

State of the reunion: Evaluating the Hague pact’s success

More than a year has passed since Japan officially adopted the Hague Convention on child abductions and while the number of reported cases has fallen over the past 12 months, the government is still finding its feet on this complex issue. As most parents know, there is nothing quite so life changing as having children. […]