Ted Talk
2016
Dr Jennifer Harman
Parental Alienation / Gender Stereotypes
Ted Talk
2020
Susan Shofer
When Your Ex Turns Your Child Against You
Parental Alienation
Cases of parental abduction to and within Japan in most situations are followed with a campeign of paretnal alienation by the abducting parent upon their own child.
Parental alienation describes a process through which a child becomes estranged from a parent as the result of psychological manipulation by the other parent. Most cases of parental child abduction to and within Japan involving parental alienation include false allegations of domestic violence. The child and the targeted alienated parent both become victims of the alienating parent. The effects upon the child are deeply harmful.
Unfortunately, parental alienation in Japan unlike in many other countries is not seen as a crime and is not investigated by family courts in Japan. The effects of parental alienation in Japan are severe and comlete. As the left behind parent has no means of access at all to their child, or for the Japanese law to enforce any access (it is left to the decision of the alienating parent) there is no way to limit, reduce or prevent the alienation from happening.
Alienating parents seem to have little regard to the extreme negative lifelong effects their actions have upon their own child. Parental alienation enflicts severe mental pain and trauma upon the child that is victim to this. Helping to understand parental alienation, why it happens, who does it and its effects - a number of Ted Talks and research notes on the wider issue (not Japan specific) are provided below.
Governments Around the World Need To Act
2012 Australian TV Documentary:
Harrowing and insightful documentay highlighting the issues in Japan of international parental child abductions, kidnapping and parental alienation to and within Japan.
Why is Japan allowing this to happen
Japan is doing little to solve this issue
Documentary made pre Japan signing the Hague Convention in 2014. Since signing the Hague Convention, little has changed. These same problems still exist. Japan has a poor record of stalling Hague Convention cases, not enforcing Hague Convention cases, processing Hague Cases as "resolved" when time has dropped the case off the system and the child has not been returned or reunited with their left behind parent.
The children in this documentary have still not been reunited with their parents.
Why is Japan allowing this to happen
Japan is doing little to solve this issue
International Pressure on Japan is needed. The governments of countries around the world need to act together to protect their children and citizens from being abducted to and within Japan.
Governments around the world need to make clear to Japan that this is not acceptable.
2013 Documentary:
Detailing the struggle of international parents and children that have become the victims of parental child abductions, kidnappings and parental alienation to and within Japan.
Why is Japan allowing this to happen
Japan is doing little to solve this issue
Documentary made pre Japan signing the Hague Convention in 2014. Since signing the Hague Convention, little has changed. These same problems still exist. Japan has a poor record of stalling Hague Convention cases, not enforcing Hague Convention cases, processing Hague Cases as "resolved" when time has dropped the case off the system and the child has not been returned or reunited with their left behind parent.
Despite the efforts of the USA Law Makers, Senate and Scretary of State at the time, Hillary Clinton becoming involved and raising the issue. Japan remains evasive.
Why is Japan allowing this to happen
Japan is doing little to solve this issue
International Pressure on Japan is needed. The governments of countries around the world need to act together to protect their children and citizens from being abducted to and within Japan.
Governments around the world need to make clear to Japan that this is not acceptable.
Sayonara Baby
From The Shadows
2020 YouTuber Documentary:
Japan based YouTube documentor "Nobita from Japan" outlines the pressing issues of parental child abductions, kidnapping and parental alienation of children both to and within Japan.
Why is Japan still allowing this to happen
Japan is still doing little to solve this issue
- Children are still suffering
- Children are not being reunited with their left behind parent
- Japan is not acting in good faith
- Japan is still encouraging parental abductions of children
- Japan does not recognise joint custody or the rights of the child and their left behind parent to have contact with eachother
- Japan is not fulfilling its responsibilities and comitments to United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which it became signatory to in 1994.
- Despite becoming signatory to the Hague Convention in 2014, little has changed. Abducted children to or within Japan are not being returned home
- The number and frequency of child abductions to and withing Japan is increasing year on year, this is an issue that will not be resolved until Japan changes its policies and stop allowing and facilitating abductions.
Japan's Child Abductions
INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE IS NEEDED TO SOLVE JAPAN'S CHILD ABDUCTION ISSUES AND POLICIES
Governments of countries around the world need to act together to protect their children from being abducted to and within Japan.
Governments around the world need to make it clear to Japan that this is not acceptable.
In June 2020, the E.U, issued a formal complaint to Japan on child abductions of its citizens.
In August 2020 the United States Senate issued a formal complaint to Japan on the number of child abductions of its citizens to and within Japan.
All countries who have not yet acted and have children / citizens victim of Japan's parental child abduction policy need to act.
Britain and other countries around the world must join with the E.U and America in protecting the rights of it's children and make it clear to Japan that child abductions are not acceptable and if necessary impose sanctions.
Testimony Of Two Left Behind Parents To E.U Council
February 2020:
Getting Europe to act. Japan residents Vincent Fichot (a French citizen) and Tommaso Perina (Italian) presented a petition to the European Union's legislative assembly in Brussels, requesting sanctions as a countermeasure against cases of parental child abduction affecting Europeans living in Japan.
Other governments around the world must also take this issue as seriouysly as the E.U to protect their children and citizens.
Britain especially, despite knowing about these issues for over 10 years has not yet acted.
Japan will not change without international pressure. Britain must act.
Britain and other countires must uphold the values of childrens rights and make it clear to Japan that their actions of allowing and facilitating child abductions, parental alienation is not acceptable.
Japan Child Abduction French TV Documentary (English Subtitles)
2019 French Documentary:
Documentary following and highlighting the struggles of a French parent with international joint custody rights trying to find their child after they were abducted to Japan
Battling to overcome the effects of parental alienation and trying to find their abducted child in Japan, this is an excellent documentary filled with emotion and frustration and uncovering in detail the problem of Japan's sole custody law, lack of family laws to protect children, Japan's abuse of internationally upheld laws and how Japan's current system allows, encourages and enforces international child abductions.
STOP Japan's Child Abductions
Britain Needs to Act
Europe & America Have Taken Action
May 5th Is Childrens Day In Japan
2020 YouTube Short by Japan Children Rights:
Touching and emotional YouTube short by Japan Children Rights highlighting the issue of Japan's parental child abduction issues.
Hitting home particularly is the scale of the problem of parental abductions and aliention in Japan - not just affecting internatrional parents and children but also the hundreds of thousands of Japanese parents and children who are suffering every day being denied a loving relationship with eachother under Japan's system of sole custody, poor family law, non upholding of the Hague Convention, circumventing the rights of children under UNCRC and allowing children to be abused by their abducting parent.
VIDEO MEDIA
ARTICLES & POSTS
CBC World News: Canadian fights to see son in Japan, where legal system leaves many parents behind
Japan Times: Divorced fathers fight for right to see children
Hanada News: Darkness of child abduction business
Hanada News: Darkness of child abduction business - Here are the "Villains" who killed the Hague Convention
BBC News: Japan custody heartache for foreign fathers
BBC News: Australian journalist freed in Japan after arrest for trying to see his children
BOOKS & PRINT MEDIA
Reuters: Perents' lawsuit accuses Japan of double standard on child abductions
BBC - The One Show Japan Child Abduction Segment 2009
2009 Featured Segment:
BBC - The One Show - Segment covering Japan Child Abduction and inerview with Shane Clarke, a British parent of two kidnapped and alienated children to Japan in 2008.
Filmed pre Japan signing the Hague Convention in 2014, the segment gives hope that things may change once Japan signs the Hague Convention. However, Since signing the Hague Convention in 2014, little has changed. These same problems still exist. Japan has a poor record of stalling Hague Convention cases, not enforcing Hague Convention cases, processing Hague Cases as "resolved" when time has dropped the case off the system and the child has not been returned or reunited with their left behind parent.
Despite the many years that have passed, Shane Clarke has still not been reunited with his children and is still fighting to be reunited with them.
Why is Japan allowing this to happen
Japan is doing little to solve this issue
International Pressure on Japan is needed. The governments of countries around the world need to act together to protect their children and citizens from being abducted to and within Japan.
Governments around the world need to make clear to Japan that this is not acceptable.
Guardian: Custody battle in Japan highlights loophole in child abduction cases
Canadian Symposium For Parental Alienation Syndrome
2016
Dr Amy Baker
Adult Children Of Parental Alienation Syndrome
"I have been alienated from my children for years".
"My empty house in Tokyo ... one day my girls will run up and down those stairs again, and burst in and out those rooms and sit warmly in that bath again. They will chase away the ghosts of that haunted place".
"The (Japanese) courts will do nothing for you. Courts are there to apply laws. There are no laws against your wife taking your children".
"The (Japanese) court takes an action of dragging on cases forever while always hinting that they will be able to help you so as to prevent you from doing anything desperate, ... knowing that months and years of separation will wear you down until you realize your children have forgotten you". ...
"I returned home, my wife had took my children ... The nightmare had truly begun. I was about to discover that in Japan, a Japanese person can abduct anyone they like, with the help of the police, the kids' school, all the neighbors, everyone in cahoots".
"I went to the (Japanese) police and reported that my wife had abducted our children with no court order, no divorce, no permission, no agreement in place. The desk sergent, when I told him my wife had run away with the children, laughed to his associate".
"I next went to the British embassy, whose official informed me that they were unable to do anything to help get my children back".
"Child abduction in Japan is notorious". ...
"I had no idea that a terrible nightmare was just about to begin ... the memories of this very moment will be etched into my mind forever ... I opened the door to the hotel room, my wife and two year old son were suddently no longer present, had disappeared, vanished into thin air ... I was paralyzed in a state of overwhelming panic and shock ... my wife had abducted our son".
"I found out that instead of arresting (abducting) criminals, Japanese police arrested the victimised parents trying to revover or reconnect with their children ... the Japanese government is supportive of crime and human rights abuse against innocent children. Pretending to resolve cases without taking meaningful action. Japanese lawyers counsel potential child abductors on how to make kidnappings successful. Japanese courts assist in these crimes and child abuse, by furnishing rulings which assist kidnapping criminals and forever separate parents and children"
"To observers viewing the nicely polished surface, it would no doubt appear that Japan was Hague Abduction Convention compliant. In reality the convention made no difference ... It was easy to conclude that Japan was non-compliant with the Hague Abduction Convention". ...
The Washinton Post: In Japan, divorce can mean loosing access to children. Many parents want to change this
GaijinPot Blog: Divorce with Kids in Japan - Part.1 - Her Mother Kidnapped Her
GaijinPot Blog: Divorce with Kids in Japan - Part.2 - The Stress of No Joint Child Custody
Japan Times: Three years after Japan signed Hague, parents who abduct still win
Spectator: Why doesn't Japan take child abduction seriously
Released November 2020. Japanese Manga / Book - Kidnapping Your Own Child: The Child Abduction Problem. Describing the current situation of child abduction in Japan and why Japan has come to be known by the rest of the world as the "Child Abduction Kingdom" is becoming a best seller in book stores within Japan.
Earning 5 star reviews and dealing expertly with topics of how and why parental abductions take place to / within Japan, the false accusations of domestic violence that accompany many parental child abductions, parental alienation, and the role the Japanese state and legal professions play legalising parental child abduction in Japan. An excellent book that will hopefully be read by potential child abductors and those who have abducted, it highlights the harm that is caused upon their own children by doing this.
(Japanese language publication only at the moment - hopefully translations into other languages will follow)
European Parliament Hearing On International Child Abduction Of European Children To And Within Japan
February 2020 - Full Video of E.U Parliamentary Hearing on Japan Child Abduction:
Full hearing & testimony to E.U concil by European parents who's children have been parentally abducted to or within Japan. Their testimony not only describes their own cases but highlights the issue and reality that left behind parents and child victims parentally abducted children to or within Japan face. Japan's non compliance with international law, child return treaties, UNCRC, Vienna Convention, as well as the Japanese state's own complicity in facilitating parental child abduction.
Press Conference In Japan Demanding Joint Custody
June 2021 - Left Behind Parents Discuss The Child Abduction Situation In Japan
Five Left Behind Parents present their case and situation of how their children were abducted in Japan along with their efforts to regain contact with their children. They outline their experience with Japan's legal system and how it serves to not only facilitate but also encourages child abduction. The parents call for much needed change in Japan to help prevent children falling victim to abduction. An audicence Q&A session is also included towards at end of the conference.
The Times: Japan child abduction. I married the Branston Pickle Heiress - then it all went wrong.
The Japan Times: French father goes on hunger strike for kids abducted by Japanese wife.
The Washington Post: Frenchman starts hunger strike by Tokyo Olympic Stadium in desperate bid to see his kids.
BBC News Report
August 2021 - Tokyo 2020: A Parent's Plea In The Shadow Of The Olympics
A BBC News report on the issue of parental child abduction in Japan, following the Hunger Strike of a left behind French parent. The report not only highlights this parents actions over many years to try to gain access to their children after they were abducted in Japan, but also highlights the wider situation in Japan of parental child abductions and forced seperation among not only international Japanese children and parents but also of children born to both Japanese parents.
BBC News: A parent's plea in the shadow of the Olympics
The Sydney Morning Herald: Their children were taken. Now they fight Japanese laws to get them back.
US Congress' Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission The Rights of Parents & Children: How to Better Implement The Goldman Act on Child Abduction
September 2021 - US Congress Discusses International Parental Child Abductions:
US Congressional hearing involving left behind parents testimonies of child parental abduction victims to Japan. With a focus on Japan's lack of compliance, US senator Smith urges the State Department to take bolder action to help bring home American children abducted overseas and implement stronger tools - including sanctions to help resolve the child abduction issues in Japan and reunify left behind parents with their children.
article link: https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=409670
BREAKING NEWS
US Congress Foreign Relations Comittee Chairman
September 2021 - US Congress' Foreign Relations Comittee Chairman, Mr Mendez Informs New US Ambassador To Japan, Mr Emmanuel, On Japan's Child Abduction Issue & To Make Solving This Issue A Priority.
Official cases highlight more than 475 US children have been kidnapped to Japan and the US has named Japan a top-three worst offender of international parental child abduction.
article link: http://www.bachome.org/news
The Sydney Morning Herald (2): Japan's Ambassador to Australia defends child custody laws
The Sydney Morning Herald (1): 'Emotions are running high': Japan and Australia face off over child abductions
The Japan News (Yomiuri Newspaper): Child abductions by parents creating diplomatic headache
The Telegraph: My nephews were abducted to Japan - but I'm determined to reunite our family
The Mail: Novelist Douglas Gilbraith's wife abducted their sons from Scotland and fled to Japan in 2003
Released 2012. What do you do when your wife abducts your children? This book is a painful, unsettling and moving account of Scottish left behind parent and author Douglas Gilbraith and his childrens abduction from the UK to Japan by their Japanese parent.
Reviews:
"This books is a howl of pain, beautifully written by a man wounded beyond endurance" - Sunday Telegraph
"Profoundly affecting ... accomplished ... a great, unsettling book" - Glasgow Herald
"An unsettling and moving true story" - Big Issue in the North
Tokyo Weekender: American father of two children goes on hunger strike in Japan: hasn't seen children since 2021
Two Left Behind Parents Go On Hunger Strike In Japan To End Child Abductions
May 2022 - An American & Japanese Parent On Hunger Strike Outside Japan's Diet Building In Tokyo
Hundreds of left behind parents and supporters continue to show up to show support and solidarity that Japan needs to change it's current system that leads to and perpetuates parental child abductions and child victims unable to be reunited with their left behind parent, and to highlight to the world that action needs to be taken politically to help Japan change. Candle lit vigils and live music have been attended by parents, children, students and those seeking much needed change Japan's system and by left behind parents as a way to show and send their love and heart felt messages to their abducted children.
January 2022 - Press Conference
May 2022 - Press Conference
May 2022 - Hunger Strike
American seeks sanctions against Japan if children aren't returned under the Hague Convention
"Seeking the return of children" Jack Stone and Hiroki Koike
US Congress: Japan identified as engaging in a pattern of noncompliance with Hague Convention on Abduction
BBC News: France issues arrest warrant over Japan 'parental kidnap'
2022 Australian TV Documentary:
Australian award-winning international documentary series, Dateline, investigates Japan's controversial sole custody system that's snared 82 officially recognised cases of Australian children in parental abduction and custody cases.
Over 10 years on since "Sayonara Baby" documentry, little has changed. Our governments must put pressure on Japan to change and recognise the rights of our children.
Abducted In Japan:
Japan's Controversial Sole Custoday System
