Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

A Tennessee man was arrested in Fukouka a few months ago for trying to “kidnap” his children. The arrest lead to international media attention. Christopher Savoie, was jailed for attempting to “snatch back his children from his estranged wife,” in September of 2009. (1) The case has put a human face on the problem of foreign nationals losing their rights to interact with their children after their estranged spouses return to Japan without the consent of the other parent.

The case attracted attention from both American and Japanese sources and left many parents involved in international marriages wondering what exactly their rights were. Japan has yet to sign a Hague Convention that would bring the country closer to respecting a child's right to have a relationship with both parents.

“The Hague Convention on international child abduction stipulates that if a parent from a broken international marriage takes a child out of his or her country of residence without the other's consent, the child must be returned to that country.”(2)

Japan has drawn fire from international groups, and diplomatic missions for the way it handles international child custody cases and as the government moves closer to signing the Hague Convention the result will make the process fair for both sides. Many of the disputes involve American and Japanese parents, and the Japanese Foreign Ministry is looking into signing the Convention. The ministry has convened a task force on the issue and are presently debating the merits of signing the agreement.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, 81 countries are currently signatories to the Convention which stems from 1980. Japan is now the only G7 member nation which still has not signed the agreement. (2) To say that the agreement should have been signed long ago, seems at this point a bit of an understatement.

Apparently, Japanese law-makers have been reluctant to sign on to the agreement fearing that abusive ex-spouses will jeopardize the children's safety, which is a legitimate concern in a small fraction of the growing number of cases involved. Japanese customs are also at stake. In Japan, when courts are deciding the future residences in custody cases, they almost aways grant custody to the spouse that can spend more time with the children, usually the woman.

The custody of children in cases of international divorce is a growing issue that needs to be addressed and dealt with according to international standards. In a globalized environment, states must act with good-will towards one another and provide assurances that international norms will be respected. Having said this, Japan needs to sign the Hague Convention without delay, and put an end to these lingering issues of custody and visitation.

According to the Assembly for French Overseas Nationals for Japan and other groups supporting divorced parents in Japan, roughly 10,000 duel citizenship children living in Japan are prevented from seeing their foreign parent. (3) This is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed. Recently US, Canadian, British and French diplomatic missions ave made the case to Tokyo.

Hopefully for the diplomatic well being of Japan, the newly elected Democratic Party of Japan will get behind the effort to push the issue through and get the Hague Convention signed. Current Foreign Minister, Katsuya Okada has implied that he is willing to study the manner. Michele Bond a consular affairs employee with the American Embassy in Tokyo said that she met officials at both the Foreign and Justice ministries who told her that the government is “very seriously and carefully considering signing” the Convention. (4) The previous statement however, dates back to May of 2009. At this point it looks like the government is drawing closer to signing, but the sooner the better, for many children and parents who are waiting to reunite.

(1) http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/15/japan.custody.battle/ind...
(2) http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY201001080120.html
(3) http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091010f1.html
(4) http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090522a4.html