Please, prime minister, just let me be a father
Dear Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, As a boy growing up in America, my mother and father would have frequent arguments. It was a stressful time for everyone, and eventually they got divorced when I was in 2nd grade in elementary school. During the divorce proceedings all of my family members went through an especially difficult […]
Hague Convention on child abduction may shape Japan’s family law — or vice versa
Giant Hello Kitty-emblazoned kudos to Japan for finally signing the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. Now comes the hard part: actually making it work. Mistakenly identified by some press accounts as an accomplishment of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s accession is probably more the fruit of prolonged slogging by anonymous public servants. In the […]
Japan’s Child Kidnapping Problem
Dozens of American children are abducted to Japan every year—not by strangers, but by parents after messy divorces. Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky and Jake Adelstein report Updated Jul. 11, 2017 7:19PM ET / Published May. 19, 2013 4:45AM ET Japan has a child-kidnapping problem. It’s not strangers snatching the kids on the playground or at the bus stop; the problem is that when […]
Case of International Parental Abduction – David Fleming
The Deep in Japan Podcast is completely independent, ad-free, and 100% crowd-funded. Please consider becoming a patron and making a pledge at the following: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=3864210 In this episode, I talk left-behind father, David Fleming, about the circumstances surrounding his then wife abducting their three children, and not allowing him access to them. Want to […]
Japan Times Colin Jones on anachronistic Koseki System, how lack of family laws affect J divorces
Hi Blog. In a breathtakingly excellent article that only the Japan Times can give us (where else are you going to find these avenues for academic research in journalistic format; not from the vanity sanitized English press of the Yomiuri, or the skeleton-staff of the IHT/Asahi offering scant domestic news), we have Colin P.A. Jones […]
Colin Jones and Daily Yomiuri on J judiciary’s usurpingly paternal attitudes re families post-divorce
Hi Blog. One more piece in the puzzle about why divorces with children in tow in Japan are so problematic. As we’ve discussed here before umpteen times, Japan does not allow joint custody (thanks to the Koseki Family Registry system etc.), nor does it guarantee visitation rights. Following below is another excellent article by Colin […]
Good news: GOJ signs Hague Child Abductions Treaty. Bad news: GOJ will probably caveat its way out of ever following it
Japan votes to adopt child abduction treaty 22 May 2013 BBC News Japan’s parliament voted unanimously to approve the treaty Related Stories Japan joins global custody pact Japan custody heartache for foreign fathers Japan pressured over child abductionWatch Japan’s parliament has voted to adopt an international treaty on child abductions, after years of pressure from […]
2014 MOFA pamphlet explaining Hague Treaty on Child Abductions to J citizens (full text with synopsis, including child-beating NJ father on cover & victimized J mothers throughout) UPDATE: With link to MOFA pdf and official E translation
Hello Blog. Japan, after years of pressure from overseas, is now a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, where children of international marriages are to be protected against psychologically-damaging abductions and severed contact with one parent after marriage dissolution and divorce. Debito.org has covered this issue extensively in the past. What […]
DEBITO.ORG SPECIAL EDITION NEWSLETTER HOW TO GET A DIVORCE IN JAPAN
By Arudou DebitoDecember 2, 2006 I originally wrote a preliminary research essay on divorce in Japan last July (blogged at http://www.debito.org/index.php/?p=9). I neglected to mention that I was currently going through a very messy one myself. Now that it is over with, it is time to give a more complete picture. This post is structured as […]
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 […]
