Britain to press Japan on foreign fathers' rights to access children

Friday 16th October, 11:56 AM JST

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ensnaturae at 09:27 PM JST - 17th October

Sorry folks, correction of my post - "unloving twerps" is very wrong. I think almost everyone tries to get it right for the children, but rage and hate, plus a multitude of human errors, in these emotional circumstances, are sure to surface sometimes.
Patrick Smash at 10:38 PM JST - 17th October

It is incredible that someone who uses the name of his own country in his handle, a country that bases much of its foreign policy on forcing its views on other countries, thinks that other countries do not have the write to criticize Japan's medieval views on parental rights.

MrUSA, if your child were kidnapped by a country that refused you any form of access, you would have a very different opinion. You really believe that no other country has the right to ever criticize any other country on any issue? That's quite amazing.
Patrick Smash at 10:47 PM JST - 17th October

Klein2, this thread is about parental kidnapping. This is not a Japan-only issue, it's a multi-national one. That's why there are international treaties, which only one so-called civilised nation won't sign up to. Guess which one.

That is the issue here, and Britain has every right to raise this subject and try to apply some pressure. I hope other countries join the bandwagon because parents and children should have rights whether you think so or not. Kidnapping kids and taking them back to racist courts that prevent them from knowing loving parents is not what most of the world believes in.
nipponreddog at 10:48 PM JST - 17th October

The Japanese system in granting exclusive custody to one parent, almost always the mother, is not in place to protect Japanese women married to NJ men. My Japanese ex-brother-in law was distraught when the Japanese family court granted custody of his daughters to his Japanese wife, and he was literally banned from ever seeing them again.
lifehappiness at 01:01 PM JST - 18th October

Another comment from the peanut gallery. Japan's divorce laws were made for the Japanese people. Usually the mother get a lump sum payment and the father is not seen anymore, usually mutual. The father does not come back for visitation. Remember the prime minister Koizumi? He had this arrangement. It has worked fine until more and more international marriages have taken place. Should America change it's laws and ways based on another countries law? Not saying Japan has a good system and not saying it's bad, it's their system and while international issues all play a role in making changes. Where is it written that America has the best and only way to do things? We Americans are all over the world using the military and the military is promoting international marriages. One way to approach this and reduce the number of children affected is by education, not propaganda that America or western ideas are the way to go for the rest of the world. Sure these countries take our aid, wouldn't you if you had nothing and someone was offering you help? Japan is not a poor country but if America is giving stuff away, why not take it. If I was in situation in a country where by marrying a military person I could get myself a better way of living, I would most likely take it to better myself and not have to want to spend the rest of my life married to the military person. It’s done in America now by Americans, marrying to improve life and once it is, goodbye to the marriage. Americans do it all the time. There are lonely young men in the military that get attention from local girls/women because the locals want that chance for a better life. Our military should not be promoting this type of get together, but it is. On military TV and in printed information available. The military was setup in Japan after the war and decisions were made based partly/wholly on conventional warfare with the China/Korea problems. Also to help set it up again, like we are doing in Iraq, now. We have the equipment to put the military any where in the world in hours now and we certainly are not going to invade Korea or China with troops. We are in a big hole now with spending, why not call it a day in Japan and find another country to populate or bring the military home and let the resources serve a better cause, our own country.
Patrick Smash at 03:39 PM JST - 18th October

lifehappiness, that is not what Koizumi did. He kept his 2 elder sons, and denied his wife acccess to them. She was left with the youngest of the 3 only because Koizumi decided this was not his child, because the birth took place after the divorce ruling. Hardly fine for his wife, or the youngest child, who has never been allowed to meet his own father and was not even allowed to go to his own grandmother's funeral. Not my idea of functional.
tkoind2 at 01:30 PM JST - 19th October

Keeping kids from their parents, with the exception of abuse cases, is wrong. Let me repeat. It is WRONG. Kids need to have the love and care of both parents and should have their rights protected if the parent is not mature enough to relize this important fact.

Japan needs up update the laws here and join the 21st century.
marushka at 12:58 AM JST - 20th October

Patrick Smash: really? did he do it? i am shocked, thought people of this level are more civilized...
griff at 05:55 AM JST - 20th October

Keeping kids from their parents, with the exception of abuse cases, is wrong. Let me repeat. It is WRONG. Kids need to have the love and care of both parents and should have their rights protected if the parent is not mature enough to relize this important fact.

children certainly need love and attention. whether or not input from their biological parents is essential is a matter for debate in my opinion. certainly you have to question whether this attention is worth imposing the complications of parents' relationships upon children who are too young to understand

just my 10p
bdiego at 07:23 AM JST - 20th October

Really great article! I will say that bringing it up in diplomatic channels is really the best shot, more than even domestic pressure or protests. Be diplomatic and don't give up. Even many Japanese agree, but like any government the beaurocracy means there's a hill or mountain you have to climb before progress is made.
bdiego at 07:33 AM JST - 20th October

Children don't have to be raised by biological parents, but that's 100% irrelevant to anything said here. Which is that routinely taking children from their parents and breaking off all contact is wrong. Nothing to do with biology.
igotchu at 09:29 AM JST - 20th October

If a woman wants to raise a child w/o the biological father then she should go to a sperm bank!! If Japanese wanted to raise the child alone then let them use a surrogate!
Patrick Smash at 08:04 PM JST - 20th October

marushka, read all about it:

http://www.tomcoyner.com/divorcejapanesestyle.htm

There are so many victims of Japan's refusal to allow joint custody, and Yoshinaga Miyamoto, Koizumi's third son, is one of the statistics. It's mainly the Japanese that are negatively affected, but any change relies on pressure from overseas. Japan won't give in on this issue anytime soon though, especially when gaijin start trying to tell them waht to do.
bdiego at 07:33 AM JST - 21st October

Exactly, and it's not a question of "did he really do it?" this is pretty normal in Japan. It's like asking "Did this woman really divorce her husband but still expect him to pay her money for the rest of her life". Yeah, it's called alimony and it's also pretty normal in most industrialized nations. Divorce can be extremely cruel. Moreso in Japan and many third world countries.
Mexicanish at 10:15 PM JST - 21st October

"London is to put fresh pressure on Tokyo to improve the rights of its nationals seeking access to their children living in Japan with estranged partners."

Good.