Japan Parental Child Abduction: News, Updates and Articles
Advisor
US Congress Identifies Japan As Engaging In A Pattern Of Noncompliance To The Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hage Convention on Abduction)
Tuesday, 14 June 2022
The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction is an international treaty which:
1) supports the prompt return of wrongly removed or retained children, and
2) calls for all participating parties to respect parental custody rights
The Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (HCCH 1980 Child Abduction Convention) is a multilateral treaty, which seeks to protect children from the harmful effects of wrongful removal and retention across international boundaries by providing a procedure to bring about their prompt return and ensuring the protection of rights of access. The "Child Abduction Section" provides information about the operation...
American Father Jack Stone Goes on Hunger Strike In Japan Outside Diet Building: hasn’t seen his children since October 2021
Saturday, 28 May 2022
On explaining the current system regarding parental child abduction in Japan, Japan’s lack of joint custody, family law, enforcement of child returns and a system that encourages a parent to abduct a child first. It is not just the children and left behind parent that are victims. Abducting parents are also victims of a system that encourages them to abduct first. “She (wife) is a victim of Japan’s sole custody system,” he says. “This abhorrent system causes fear and irrational behavior. For parents, there is the realization that if they don’t get awarded custody of their children, they might never have access to them again. That’s too great a burden for anyone.” Stone was keen to stress that...
The Japan News (by The Yomiuri Shimbun Newspaper) - Child abductions by parents creating a diplomatic headache
Monday, 3 January 2022
An increasing number of foreign nationals are claiming that their children have been abducted by their current or former Japanese spouse, following the breakdown of their marriage. Not allowing a child to see one of their parents is considered a criminal act in major European countries and the United States, leading to a diplomatic conflict in which Japan is being called on to revise its laws. ...
Original article (behind paywall)
https://the-japan-news.com/news/search
Article available to read on bachome.org
http://www.bachome.org/news/child-abductions-by-parents-creating-diplomatic-headache
Also reported via backhome.org on Twitter
https://twitter....
The Sydney Morning Herald: (article 1) - ‘Emotions are running high’: Japan and Australia face off over child abductions & (article 2) - Japan’s Ambassador to Australia defends child custody laws
Friday, 17 December 2021
News Article 1)
Australian parents banned from seeing their children in Japan are simply confused about the stark differences between the two nations’ custody laws, says Shingo Yamagami, the Ambassador to Australia, who concedes that “emotions are running high” over the issue.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed in August that up to 68 Australian-Japanese children have been caught up in parental abduction and child custody disputes between their Australian and Japanese parents. In some cases, children have been snatched while at school, others have been taken from their family home or sent on a holiday from Australia to Japan - never to be seen by their Australian parent...
The Sydney Morning Herald: Their children were taken. Now they fight Japanese laws to get them back
Saturday, 14 August 2021
Up to 68 Australian-Japanese children have been caught up in parental abduction involving and child custody disputes, according to Department of Foreign Affairs figures.
The issue of child abduction in Japan has now morphed into a full-blown diplomotic stand-off for Tokyo, not just with France, but Australia and the United Stated. French authorities estimate more than 100 children have been caught up in similar cimrcumstances to the confirmed 68 Australian children. The United States has 475 officially recogniesd cases of children parentally adbucted to or within Japan and facing the same custody disputes under Japan’s child abduction system.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/their-children-were-taken-now-they-fight-japanese-laws-to-get-them-back-20210727-p58dbk....
BBC News: A Parent's Plea In The Shadow Of The Olympics
Tuesday, 3 August 2021
In Tokyo a French father is drawing the world’s attention to what he says is the kidnapping of children by their own parents in Japan.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-58057432
Supporting Vincent Fichot
Monday, 12 July 2021
Raising awareness of the Japanese child abduction problem. The extraordinary length parent Vincent Fichot is prepared to go to, to find and reunite with his parentally abducted children in Japan.
A Background To Vincent’s Case:
https://twitter.com/fichotvincent/status/1416697349691166724?s=21
A YouTube Diary:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vincent+fichot+hunger+strike+day&sp=CAI%253D
Press Release:
https://www.fccj.or.jp/index.php/event/press-conference-hunger-strike-diplomatic-implications-vincent-fichot
Press Conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jithMFYFJfA
Press Reports:
https://www.ft.com/content/d43090eb-e005-4042-8b7a-13ab00ac08b3
Japanese Child Victims Of Parental Child Abductions Under Japan's Single Custody System File A Lawsuit Against The Japanese State For Not Protecting Them
Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Japanese child victims of Japan’s single custody law, parental alienation and forced estrangement by their abducting parent file a lawsuite against the Japanese state. Children that were prevented from meeting their left behind parent by their custodial parent have filed a lawsuit seeking compensation from the Japanese state, saying that the reason why they could not meet their parents who live apart after their divorce was becsue the country neglected to establish a law on “visitation exchange”. “If we had been able to have visitation so that we could see how the parents who live away from us were doing, we wouldn’t have suffered so much. I don’t want more children to have the same experience”....
The Washington Post: Article. In Japan, divorce can mean losing access to children. Many parents want that to change.
Tuesday, 20 October 2020
This Washington Post article briefly explains the far reaching problems of divorcing in Japan when children are involved. Covering the lack of rights for children in Japan, how Japan awards sole custody to an abducting parent, the struggle of left behind parents and their legal fight for access to their children, the actions of lawyers and polititians seeking a change to the Japanese system to acknowledge a joint custody system where childrens rights can be upheld and respected, and the importance of much needed combination of international foreign pressure and legal effort in Japan to help Japan change, this article is an essential read. ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japan-children-custody-divorce/2020/10/18/f7421d62-077f-11eb-8719-0df159d14794_story....
BREAKING NEWS: United States Senate Issues Official Warning and Complaint to Japanese Ambassador Shinsuke Sugiyama Regarding The Issue of International Parental Child abductions to Japan
Tuesday, 11 August 2020
Japan as a country actively encourages and allows parental child abductions and is not upholding its internationa treaty comitments to the Hague Convention which Japan became signatory to in 2014. As the number of international child abduction cases rise internationally and within America, the USA has issued stark warnings to Japanese ambassador Shinsuke Sugiyama that legislative measures will be considered if Japan does not improve on it’s child abduction record and returning children back to the countries they were abducted from. In the 2018 and 2016 State Department Annual Reports on international parental child abduction, Japan was cited for failing to make sufficient progress in enforcing...
BREAKING NEWS: E.U Parliament Passes Resolution on International and domestic parental abduction of EU children in Japan
Wednesday, 8 July 2020
Today, the E.U. Parliament has taken official action against Japan, launching an official complaint to Japan about the disturbing increasing number of parental child abductions both to and within Japan of European children. Japan became a member of the Hague Convention in 2014 but since joining little has changed. Due to Japan’s laws and lack of action on Hague Related cases there are no known cases of enforced Hague Convention returns of children back to their home country. Japan often uses loopholes when it comes to Hague Convention returns; even if a parent obtains a Hague Convention return order for their abducted child, Japan has a long history of not enforcing them. In Japan, even with...
The Sydney Morning Herald: The 'heartbreaking' international child abductions tearing families apart
Saturday, 22 February 2020
A partner flees back to Japan without warning taking your child. For them, it’s a strategic move. For the left behind parent, it’s a never-ending nightmare.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-heartbreaking-international-child-abductions-tearing-families-apart-20191223-p53mj7.html
E.U to Consider Suspending Visa Waiver for Japan as Sanctions on Child Kidnappings
Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Each year in Japan, an estimated 150,000 children are unlawfully abducted by one of their parents. Japan residents Vincent Fichot (a French citizen) and Tommaso Perina (Italian) presented a petition to the European Union's legislative assembly in Brussels, highlighting Japan’s bad faith surrounding child abductions and requesting sanctions as a countermeasure against cases of parental child abduction affecting Europeans living in Japan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyCQG2puUQ8
Japanese Government Research Document Details The Harmful Effects of Parental Abduction and Parental Alienation On The Child
Monday, 10 June 2019
Japanese government research examining some of the long-term effects of abduction as reported by the previously abducted child who is now an adult and consider the effects, and the harms, which they highlight both when they have been, and when they have not been, returned and contemplate the lack of after-care and support provided for those who have been through an abduction event, i.e. the child(ren) and the families involved, as this is closely linked to the issue of harm/effects experienced, including during reunification. ...
English Language Report Link
https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000495491.pdf
Japanese Language Report Link
https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/000495994....
Parental Alienation
Tuesday, 1 August 2017
Why is parental alienation allowed in Japan, and why is it so common?
Parental alienation is mental abuse. The negative effects of parental alienation upon children have life long impacts upon the child that can stay with them well into and throughout their adult life. Children of parental alienation often suffer from mental health problems, low self esteem, an inability to form meaningful relationships later on in life, a distorted view of the opposite sex, deep rooted unhappiness with who they are and what they look like, a tendency to involve themselves with destructive pursuits such as joining gangs, violene and drug use, many are suicidal.
Many parental child abduction cases...