In Japan, foreign parents lead charge against child 'abduction' A growing number of foreigners in Japan are speaking out against what they say is a little-known but entrenched system that allows one parent in a broken relationship to take away the children and block the other from visiting them. Reuters, 6 Jan 2020.
Japanese law revised to improve enforcement of child custody handovers The Diet enacted a legal revision Friday to enable a child to be handed over to a parent who has been awarded custody, even if the other parent refuses to abide by a court order to do so. Before the revision, the civil implementation law had no clear stipulation regarding child custody handovers. Japan Times, 10 May 2019.
Foreign parents fight in vain for custody of their children in Japan despite Hague Convention Although Japan has signed the Hague Convention, which is designed to prevent a parent from moving a child to another country and blocking access by the former partner, Tokyo demonstrates “a pattern of noncompliance” with the pact, according to the U.S. State Department. Japan Times, 25 Oct 2018.
Parental child abduction places Japan on blacklist Different views on family hamper compliance with Hague convention. Japan is facing criticism over noncompliance with an international treaty that sets rules for cross-border parental child abductions as the government is slow to enforce court orders on its own citizens who have taken their children to escape overseas custody battles. Nikkei Asian Review, 01 Sep , 2018.
Is Japan a haven for parents who kidnap their own children? Foreign parents who had children stolen by a spouse say nothing has changed because court orders to reunite families are not enforced. South China Morning Post, 15 Jul 2018.
U.S. cites Japan for noncompliance with Hague treaty on cross-border parental child abductions The U.S. State Department on Wednesday listed Japan as one of the countries showing a pattern of noncompliance with the so-called Hague treaty, which sets procedures to settle cross-border parental child abduction cases. Japan Times, 18 May, 2018
Three years after Japan signed Hague, parents who abduct still win This article looks at the impact of Japan signing the Hague Convention against child abduction on abduction cases in Japan and suggests that Japanese domestic law on custody of children has prevented effective implementation of the Convention. The article looks at two examples of child abduction in some detail. Japan Times, 1 May 2017.
Child abduction treaty gives hope to parents separated from their kids This article explains that the adoption of the treaty by Japan may make it easier to get access to children even for parents whose children were abducted before the Treaty came into effect in Japan and for both foreign parents whose children were abducted to Japan and Japanese parents whose children were taken from Japan. Asahi Shimbun, 4 Apr 2014.
The Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention) Explanation of the Convention and how the Japanese Government intends to apply it, from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Include a pamphlet in English on 'What is the Hague Convention?'
Japan Child Abduction A website with news stories and other information from IAPCR, The International Association for Parent Child Reunion, an incorporated not-for-profit legal entity in Japan dedicated to law supporting parent and child communication and interaction.
Japan votes to adopt child abduction treaty Japan's parliament has voted to adopt an international treaty on child abductions, after years of pressure from Western countries. The 1980 Hague Convention sets out procedures for handling cross-border child custody disputes. BBC News, 22 May 2013.
U.S. tells Japan to address child abductions but balks at sanctions The U.S. State Department called Thursday for Japan to take action on child abductions but rejected lawmakers’ calls to pose the threat of sanctions to force action on one of the allies’ few open disputes. Hundreds of non-Japanese parents, mostly men from the United States and elsewhere, have lost access to their children as their estranged partners whisked them away to Japan, where joint custody is never granted. Japan Times, May 11, 2013.
Editorial: Progress on Hague Convention The Noda administration on March 9 submitted a bill related to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Abduction to the Diet. This article explains what will happen in cases where a Japanese parent married to a foreigner removes the child from a foreign country and brings them to Japan, if the Convention take effect in Japan. Japan Times, April 25, 2012.
Analysis: Bills could render Hague toothless Japan may sign the Hague Convention, but if planned new laws for ratifying the treaty fail to compel family court judges to adhere to its principles, the whole exercise could be meaningless, legal experts and people whose children have been victims of parental abductions say. Japan Times, Feb 8, 2012.
Changing Japan as a safe haven for parental abductions This article focuses on issues of access to children and child abductions in Japanese families that have separated and on what effect the Hague Convention might have on Japan's tradition of granting custody of children to only one parent. Asahi Shimbun, 08 Jun, 2012.
The Children's Rights Council of Japan blog has an archive of news stories about issues of access, custody and abduction of children in Japan in both Japanese and international families.
Outline of the Hague Child Abduction Convention A summary explanation of the Convention from the Hague Conference.
Few options for left-behind parents even if Hague OK'd This article looks at group called Bring Abducted Children Home, formed in the US, and at what will happen to children who have already been taken to Japan if and when Japan signs the Hague Convention. Japan Times, Dec. 29, 2011.
Hague treaty seeks to balance rights of kids, parents This gives answers to a number of questions about the convention, why Japan has been opposed to it and why it is now considering joining, and what the impact and consequences of joining would be. Japan Times, June 7, 2011.
Japan signs up to global child custody pact The Japanese government has agreed to sign up to an international treaty that sets procedures for settling cross-border child custody disputes.Japan is the only one of the Group of Seven industrialised nations yet to join the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. BBC News, 20 May 2011.
Statement on Child Abduction to Japan "We, the Ambassadors to Japan of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United States, and the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Delegation of the European Union to Japan, the Deputy Heads of Mission of Spain, and the United Kingdom, and the Political Counselor of France, called on Japan’s Minister of Justice today to express our concerns over the increase of international parental abduction cases involving Japan that affect our nationals as well as Japanese citizens, and to urge Japan to ratify the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. United States Embassy in Japan, October 22, 2010.
Coming out of the shadows This is an article about Coming Out of the Shadows, a documentary film about the abduction of children to Japan and includes an interview with one of the filmmakers. Japan Times, Watch clips and find more information about Coming Out of the Shadow.
Little hope for Japan's forsaken fathers Focusing on the case of an Australian man, George Obiso, this article looks at the situation of foreign men married to Japanese women whose children are taken away from them. It also looks at problems caused for Japanese parents by the Japan's refusal to sign an international convention on child abduction and to recognise child abduction as a crime. Sydney Morning Herald, December 8, 2008.
'Institutional racism' lets Japan spouses abduct kids Japanese courts should give more support to foreigners seeking access to their children now living in Japan, according to a British father seeking the return of his two daughters to England. Shane Clarke said Japanese courts need to do more for the hundreds of foreign parents whose estranged Japanese spouses have taken children away from their home countries to Japan. Japan Times, Oct. 15, 2008.
Parents driven to 'kidnap' children: Kept out of court, estranged couples' custody battles go to extremes This article looks at the very rare case of Dutchman, Engel Nieman, who was arrested for kidnapping his daughter when he tried to take her with him to visit his dying father. And compares it with the difficulty foreign parents have getting access to their children in Japan after they are divorced. Japan Times, Dec. 13, 2000.
Canada, U.S. nudge Japan to join child abduction resolution framework Canadian and the U.S. government officials and a law expert Friday urged Japan to join an international legal framework to resolve cross-border cases of child abduction by parents and others. As the number of international marriages rises, there will be a corresponding rise in divorces among multinational couples. Japan Times, March 15, 2008.
Japan's allies urge government to sign Hague convention on child abduction The United States, Canada, France and the U.K. jointly urged the Japanese government Thursday to sign the Hague Convention on international child abduction, which is aimed at preventing parents from wrongfully keeping or taking their children to their countries before and after they divorce. Japan Times, May 22, 2009.
Japanese Federation of Bar Associations: Statement of Opinion on Recommended Measures to be taken on the Conclusion of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention)
Japan Children's Rights Network provides information to help change attitudes and laws in Japan in order to assure all children of direct, meaningful and continuing contact with both parents, regardless of citizenship, marital status or gender. We want to restore the rights of children in Japan with separated parents, such as in divorce, international parental abduction to Japan, parental kidnapping within Japan and birth out of wedlock. Includes a page on Parental Abduction in Japan
Japan Child Abduction - Japan is the black hole of international child abduction. An organization based in Germany campaigning for stricter action on child abduction to Japan.
The International Association for Parent Child Reunion (IACPR), an incorporated not-for-profit legal entity in Japan dedicated to law supporting parent and child communication and interaction.
Bring Abducted Children Home An organization for US parents of children taken to Japan by Japanese spouses.
International Association for Parent Child Reunion
International Parental Child Abduction page for Japan from the U.S. State Department
Fathers' Right in Japan This organization's "main goal is to create new laws that allow children living in Japan regular access to both parents."Most divorced fathers don't have access to their children. (This site hasn't been updated since about 2013 it seems)
Terasawa K. (2003). 'Labor law, civil law, immigration law and the reality of migrants and their children', in M. Douglass & G. S. Roberts (Eds). Japan and global migration: foreign workers and the advent of a multicultural society. London; New York: Routledge. Available from Chuo Library総合政策 325.252/J35 & Mike.