Nebraska court rules Japan has jurisdiction in child custody case

Saturday 06th December, 04:40 AM JST

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yokohamabacon at 01:58 PM JST - 6th December

Interesting that the article says that the mother has American and Japanese citizenship? I thought that was illegal under Japanese law unless you were a minor?
bushlover at 02:14 PM JST - 6th December

Well he could look at the bright side: at least she is now financially responsible for the kid. I'd say without visitation rights for him should mean that they don't need any child support.
dijapan at 02:28 PM JST - 6th December

poor father, I would hate to see his legal bill, especially if he comes back to japan to fight this.
igotchu at 02:58 PM JST - 6th December

He has to pay about 20,000 USD in legal bills. If anyone care to read the judges ruling go to the link below.

http://www.militarytimes.com/static/projects/childcustody.pdf
clayton88 at 05:59 PM JST - 6th December

divorce is a sad case and worse for the kid no matter how it ends
timorborder at 06:18 PM JST - 6th December

And if the shoe was on the other foot, do you think that a Japanese court would side with the foreign (non-national) party or hand the case over to a foreign court to decide? I would not hold my breath. By default, this interpretation of the law by the court in Nebraska seems to resonate in Japan.
neverknow2 at 06:25 PM JST - 6th December

Nahoko Hata Carter holds U.S. and Japanese citizenship.

Really? I guess there's a first time for everything. Same old story again. Look after your interests before you commit. Learn the lesson from so many before you.
noborito at 06:26 PM JST - 6th December

Kawasaki has a huge plant in Japan. Nebraska like most places favors mothers over fathers. Sad story. Wonder how the woman is staying in Japan. Hasn't she over stayed her visa yet? Time to deport her. That is what Japan would do to him.

As for who would be a better parent, not really sure, but have you seen any of the American hunter women there (women in yokosuka) lately. They are more slutty than even Roppongi girls. Most are too strange for Japanese men so they hunt out Americans for a husbands. I think this is a no win, no win situation for the child.
sharky1 at 07:26 PM JST - 6th December

Sounds to me like they should use a mediator and settle this in a way that allows them to maintain a relationship the puts them both in a positive relationship with their children.
igotchu at 08:46 PM JST - 6th December

Mediaition is failing miserably in Japan. The Japanese parent simply waits out the mediation process and the japanese courts rule in their favor. It could be worth a try if the japanese party is trustworthy, reasonable, and level headed. Mediation, as it currently stands in Japan is a waste of time and money unless the Japanese courts start to rule in favor of foreign parents in some of these cases and enforce visitation rights. A favourable ruling on behalf of a foreign parent would awaken the mindset of Japanese parents who deny foreign parents access to their child then they would see the value in mediating a respectful settlement. But as it currently stands the only thing that works in the mediation process is money, if the gaijin has it, and the Japanese parent does not then they will try to settle.
northlondon at 10:08 PM JST - 6th December

A lot of pro-American husband opinions here, but at the end of the day this guy made a huge mistake by taking his son home with him without the consent of his wife and without agreed legal custody of the child. The court in Nebraska are totally in the right. As I said before, our courts of law (the US/ UK etc) protect parents against child abduction such as this (and as such it backfired on this father), but the Japanese courts do nothing when Japanese parents do the same thing. By law, neither parent should be allowed to take a child to their home country without custody or consent and that's what this guy did wrong.
Alphaape at 01:28 AM JST - 7th December

Hate to say this, but there is probably a reason why the mother wants the son. Depending on the divorce decree she would loose her ID card. That means no base access for her over here. However, the son, being still a dependent of the dad will have an ID card. The mother will be able to use that being that she is the guardian of the child for base access. Sounds too far fetched, well I have seen a few cases of that here in Yokosuka. Not sure what the allure of being able to go the Exchange and Commissary is, but I know of at least two cases similar to the scenario I have just explained.

Not sure how the mother can have both citizenship status. I would argue that she is probably a legal alien resident, and not a full US citizen. Able to get both sides of governmental support (i.e. Social Security both in US and Japan).

A lot of scheming done on her part, but the child is in the middle.
RakishGadfly at 06:25 AM JST - 7th December

Sorry, this guy basically kidnapped his child and took him overseas. No winners in it, but he was the one in the wrong.
pointofview at 10:20 AM JST - 8th December

Northlondon and bamboohat,

The Judge should have been more aware of the potential for the father to never set eyes on his child again. Right or wrong for his actions, there should have been stipulations that would give the father Supreme Court protection against his wife leaving with the boy if she plans to disappear with him forever. Wheres the pressure from the officials and media for Japan to act in the same fair fashion as the Nebraska court did? That wont happen and as a result the case should have been looked at more closely. In the end these custody issues with Japan and other countries will never go away because people just don`t care enough...
Nebraskawoman at 11:35 PM JST - 23rd January

Northlondon- you seem to be the only person with a brain reading this story. I read the whole paper regarding the Supreme Court decision. I bet most of the people posting comments are brain washed military people that sides with the American father despite his actions. Can you imagine going to a day care and your child is gone? He knew what he was doing was wrong and that is why he only told her when he was already in the airplane. WHAT A PSYCO! He has to pay 20,000 USD in legal bills? That is nothing close to what he did. What about her bills? A foreign fighting for her son custody in the United States? I bet she has over $100,000 in attorney fees herself. One day this child will grow up and tell the whole world his story. Not from the American or Japanese point of view but from his own experience. How traumatic! I PRAISE THE MOTHER’S ACTION FOR FIGHTING UNTIL THE VERY END! MAY GOD KEEP HER AND HER CHILD SAFE!