JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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To be healthy, live in the big city
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Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
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3
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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4
Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
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5
From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
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- English Instructor (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe)
- Berlitz Japan, Inc. (ベルリッツ・ジャパン株式会社), Kansai
- Salary: ¥125,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month
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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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Cicada
You people have little patience. No wonder you are all frustrated to the point where you jump at the chance to complain about what people say in conversation.
Look closely at the question. It says " when you hear them repeatedly used". I think any word or expression used repeatedly is annoying, so this question is stupid.
You doubt me? Then think of the words and expressions you love most. If you heard them repeatedly all day in conversation would you love them, or would you be annoyed?
Posted in: Which words or expressions annoy you the most when you hear them repeatedly used by other people in conversation?
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hollywood1:
BBleo:
It is time for you people to realize that kitchen knives do not kill people, it is people that kill people. Even if you ban kitchen knives, people will use box cutters or even their fingernails. Whatever it takes.
The solution is to follow the example of America, and make gun ownership legal, if not mandatory. If everyone owns guns, these kitchen knife incidents will be a thing of the past. How often do you hear about kitchen knives in the American news? I rest my case.
Posted in: Man arrested for stabbing friend with kitchen knife in Mie
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DwightVanWinkle:
I agree, but what is there from preventing this from happening again and again? The more publicized the story, the more sly people will see ways to set a trap for their Japanese spouse like Chris did.
How can you be sure? Have you looked at all the other cases? I wonder if many of the other 100 so-called abductions were not similar to this case.
Perhaps Hague Convention rules need to be modified to encourage Japan's signing.
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife
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DwightVanWinkle:
Well, if you are right this time, that's too bad, because it (Japan not considered home state in this case) is an indication of serious flaws with the Hague Convention.
I'd say the bigger this story becomes, the more resistance there will be to signing the Hague Convention. People like Chris could freely abuse the system by trapping spouses in foreign divorces.
I agree, and yet the bigger the story becomes, and the louder Chris and Amy wail, the more the case will be seen as representative. What a shame.
Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help
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techall:
Why do you like to repeat the homewrecker's tall tales? Read the documents instead. The "condition" for remaining in Tennessee was alimony, monthly payments, and education money. All of which Noriko chose to forfeit.
You misguided Chris Savoie supporters cannot even get this straight.
Yeah, sure. She uproots the kids from Japan to live in a foreign country because she wants to live near her husband's lover, so that they can conspire to gain custody of her children. Perfectly easy for anyone to understand!
JoeBigs:
That's right. Chris Savoie shows no signs whatsoever of loving his kids. He does show signs of wanting to own them, wanting them to love him, and wanting the world to think he is a super-dad. And how funny that some people believe that.
Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help
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LFRAgain:
Sometimes you claim it is "abduction" and sometimes "kidnapping". Why not post for us the exact wording of the court determination so that you can settle on which term is best?
It's not magic, it is fact. The violation would not have occurred had she been back in time for the children to attend school. So any determination of "kidnapping" or whatever is based upon her not bringing the children to the school in time for the first class, as she was required to do.
An important distinction to make here is that the brutal forcible abduction carried out by Chris and his 4 henchmen was a violent crime taking place at a specific location and a specific time.
You do not seem to grasp the idea that Noriko did not abduct the children from Amy's home, as Amy claimed to the media. Nor did she abduct them on their way to school. Her "abduction" was a failure to bring them to the school on time.
It's time to stop playing with semantics, acting like the violent crime perpetrated by Chris is in any way comparable to Noriko's decision to stay in Japan, where the kids had always been.
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife
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amerijap:
Indeed, I agree it is quite a "strategy" for Noriko to show kindness, dignity, patience and graciousness as opposed to the attitudes of arrogance, hostility, contempt and disrespect shown by Chris and Amy.
Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help
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timorborder:
I agree. There needs to be a case where the mother was clearly being unreasonable in all respects. Is it that hard to find such a case?
That should be easy enough. Noriko Savoie was caring for the children in Japan from birth. Chris Savoie left them in Japan to be with a lover in America. When divorced, the American court gave Noriko custody and Chris only got 2 weekends per month visitation rights.
womanforwomen:
I agree with you. Especially Johnshiomi's comments about most of these troubles arising from within the heart. The courts should only be used as a last resort. Those cases make the news and people discuss them avidly. But the real model cases are the ones where people did not need the courts at all, or only to help settle complicated issues that both wanted to have settled in arbitration.
Not all parents who divorce fight over the kids. Many parents realize that the spouse was good with the kids and want them to have visitation. But these cases will never make it to the headlines.
Posted in: Divorced, separated Japanese fathers also fight to see children
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DwightVanWinkle:
I'm aware of this, but the point is that she left for Japan before school had begun. Had she come back to Tennessee in time for school, there would have been no violation. Therefore, her violation of the American court order occurred in Japan.
I'm making this distinction because Amy's crafty version for the media would have people believe that Noriko "abducted" the children from Chris and Amy's home, which is nonsense. When Noriko took the children from that home(presumably after their New England vacation), it was Noriko who had custody of the children. No violation or abduction occurred there.
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife
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frontandcentre
The difference in guilt is quite large. In America, Noriko had custody of the children and had permission to be in Japan during summer vacation. Her "abduction" consisted of a decision not to board a plane and go back to America. Therefore, her (non-violent) violation of the American court order did not even occur in America; it occurred in Japan. As the judge had explained to her, by so doing she would lose alimony and monthly payments.
Christopher, in contrast, committed a violent crime of abduction in Japan. He enlisted the help of "friends" and together they forcibly took the children from the mother while she was walking with them to school.
The children resisted, and so did the mother. This was a forcible kidnap, a violent crime, that would have direct traumatic impact upon the children. Clearly, Chris knew he could not force the kids into a car by himself, and so he brought along accomplices.
Why does the Western media fail to mention the role of accomplices?
Noriko violated an American court order while she was in Japan (where this court order does not even apply) and Christopher committed a violent crime while he was in Japan.
How could you possibly think that these are at all equal?
It will be interesting to see if the accomplices are arrested. Meanwhile, Chris Savoie sits in jail where he belongs, and Noriko has been forced to hide from the American media, which has been misrepresenting the story to the American public.
Hopefully, Chris will be severely punished and Noriko will be left alone to recuperate from the traumas afflicted upon her by Chris and that homewrecking loud-mouth Amy.
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife
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amerijap:
Hard to prove perjury when she merely expressed her "intention". Her intention at that time was to stay in America.
Yes, but her actual decision not to go back to America was made in Japan. Therefore, her violation of the American court order occurred while she was in Japan.
The only divorce condition tied to her remaining in America is monthly payments, alimony, and education money. The judge explained this to her. Yes, she did forfeit that money by not going back to America. Other than that, there is no reason why she can not live in her own country, for goodness sake.
And that is why this case supports an argument against signing the Hague Convention. The divorce jurisdiction never should have been Tennessee in the first place. But that is not Noriko's fault.
Actually, the American court had no business turning over custody to Chris just because Noriko wants to live in her own country where the children have been since birth. It would have been wiser for the American court to allow her to retain the initial custody, in hopes that Chris could negotiate visitation on his trips to Japan.
However, Chris and Amy had been aiming to obtain full custody from the start, and they wrongly thought it is a good thing that the American court gave them custody after Noriko did not come back. They can yell and scream to the media about custody. But those court decisions make it harder for Noriko to allow Chris visitation. (And of course after his violent abduction of the children, it would be near impossible for her to do so).
It's not possible to sympathize with Chris at all. The only sympathy he has gotten is based on inaccurate portrayals of what happened -- provided to the media by him and his loud mouth lover. That will backfire for them too, as has everything else, because the bigger the attention garnered by the story, the more reporters will look into the facts for themselves and see that Noriko was deeply wronged throughout.
Chris and Amy already do not get that much sympathy even in the American news forums. The limited sympathy they are getting will evaporate when the true circumstances are told.
Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help
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amerijap:
She did not "run away", "flee", "abduct", etc. She returned to Japan during summer vacation (as permitted by the court). Her violation is that she did not come back. That wise decision (not to go back to America) was made in Japan.
Considering that the children had never been to America, and only went there in order that Chris could initiate a divorce in Tennesse, where Noriko had never been before, it is not surprising that Noriko decided the best place for them to be was home.
Contrary to Amy's lies, Noriko did allow phone calls from America, and was even talking on the phone to Amy. We know this because news reports show transcripts based on recordings made by Amy!
(Incidentally, the recordings that Amy made of phone calls while both parties were in America are probably illegal. Yet she also turned those over to media in hopes of making Chris look good and Noriko look bad). Amy can probably be prosecuted or sued for that.)
There was no indication from Noriko that she would refuse visitation by Chris in Japan. Yet Chris decided to, with the help of friends like Shannon Higgins, kidnap the children forcibly.
There is just no comparison between the actions of Noriko and Chris, except that probably Noriko is smart enough not to visit America, even though she never committed any crime there. Chris, on the other hand, was stupid enough to perpetrate a violent crime in Japan. He did this without regard to the welfare of the children, Noriko, or even himself. Likely his business interests will suffer if he stays in jail or is banned from ever entering Japan again.
He chose to snatch the kids and run to the American Consulate, even though he has Japanese citizenship, as do the kids. Is that smart or stupid?
If I were in that situation, I would have simply joined the mother on the walk to school, asking her to a cafe afterwards to apologize for my horrid behavior and to beg her to allow visitation in Japan, assuring her that I would no longer allow that nasty wicked shrew Amy and her 3 kids into Noriko's life.
But I wonder how much free time Chris has, that he is going to spend lots of time with his new 3 children, and then do so with his own 2 children? Hence his plan was to efficiently get them all together and have 5 children, while dumping Noriko into an abyss of misery.
For someone very smart with PhD and stuff, Chris Savoie is just incredibly stupid, with no ethical scruples whatsoever. If he wants to throw away his happiness, fine, but he has no right to continue his abusive behavior toward Noriko and those 2 children.
I'm hoping he is stripped of Japanese citizenship and barred from entering Japan again, after he serves a year or two in prison.
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife
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BuddhismTech
Exactly. But she is going at it full throttle:
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/30/crimesider/entry5353444.shtml
She lies to the media and they repeat what she says, because Noriko "is not available for comment" and because they are too lazy to check the facts themselves:
She's always making it look like Chris had custody but the fact is that Chris lost the "custody battle", not Noriko. Noriko was granted custody by the American court, and maintained it all the way until she did not return from Japan. This is what bothered Amy and Chris so much: they lost the custody battle -- and so they then resorted to various other means, tormenting Noriko, hoping to win the battle another way.
No mention that Chris did not act alone, but kidnapped the children with the help of "friends".
And yet she herself has recordings of phone calls allowed by Noriko -- herself talking to Noriko and the kids talking to Chris. She used the latter to show reporters that Chris is a great dad because he and the kids were laughing on the phone. She used the former to denigrate Noriko, who is heard saying that "America is not a nice country" (context shows that she only means America was not a good place to raise the kids, who have lived all their life in Japan).
She revealed that she has been recording phone calls all along, even while in America, "because it was a contentious divorce".
So maybe Amy would like to produce the full set of recordings with her ex-husband during her divorce?
Odds are the Amy-Chris marriage won't last that long. Hopefully she will be ready with her tape recorder for that divorce too.
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife
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Cicada
This case is a very bad one to rally around for the Hague Convention.
The Hague Convention would not even apply in this case.
The "habitual residence" of the children (8 and 6) was not America. They spent their whole life in Japan and only half a year in America. In fact, the only reason they were taken to America was so that Chris could have them live near him (and he chose the place so that he could be living with his then-mistress now wife who has 3 kids by another marriage).
Meanwhile, he began plotting to obtain full custody after the primary custody (to his chagrin) was given to Noriko. He tried to get the judge recused, but that was rejected. He used the lack of Hague Convention in Japan as an excuse to obtain custody, but that was rejected. Next he started accusing Noriko of ignoring parent coordinators, etc to which she successfully answered the court in May.
And all along, Chris and his new wife Amy waged a public campaign (including posting to a local Internet Forum) deriding Noriko and they used the media to attack her as well.
You can even hear Amy bad-mouthing Noriko on CNN news, reporting Noriko's words in a phone call to Chris that Amy was listening in on. Chris abused his visitation rights by bringing along new wife Amy to Noriko's residence, allowing Amy to show her contempt and hostility in front of the kids.
Chris's outrageous abusiveness after the divorce knows no bounds. How many of you would tolerate such a situation?
It is no wonder that Noriko decided to forfeit alimony, monthly payments and education money (as had been explained to her by the judge) by returning to Japan, protecting the children from a pair of monsters.
The Hague Convention will now be seen by Japanese as dangerous if it would mean that people like Noriko would be trapped like that, eventually losing custody of the children in a foreign country where they had never been before (as was Chris and Amy's plan).
Wake up, people, and go find a more appropriate case to rally around and tout the benefits of Hague Convention.
Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help
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Cicada
I think the answer may be because the Convention does not adequately define "habitual residence".
For example, a child who lived his whole life in Japan, then went overseas for a couple of months during which time his parents divorce and battle over custody, and the mother returns to Japan with the child against the father's wishes. To most Japanese people, clearly that overseas residence was not the "habitual residence" and yet there will be anxiety that it will nonetheless be ruled as "habitual residence".
From Wikipedia article.
Posted in: Why do you think successive Japanese governments have refused to sign the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, which seeks to ensure that the rights of access of both parents are protected?
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Cicada
LFRGain,
I appreciate that, but I deserved a smack or two for injecting sarcasm into my earlier post, which sometimes invites misunderstanding.
I agree with you that the issue of ownership or control "has very little bearing on the ground-level troops that do the actual teaching in Eikaiwas."
Speculation about Yakuza control of Gaijin jobs interests me not only for the contrast with education sector politics, but also for the similarity to overall control of Gaijin population inflow and outflow.
By this latter, I'm referring to the recruitment of laborers, housekeepers, massage parlor girls, etc. which is of course controlled by Yakuza. No one disputes that, but it is not too much stretch of imagination to realize that likely most Westerners teaching English in Japan have in effect been recruited by Yakuza.
And certainly it is not something that would give any optimism for improving conditions for foreigners.
Posted in: What is your impression of the English-teaching industry in Japan? Have things improved since Nova's collapse or are there still bad apples in the barrel?
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noborito
Not true. The $800,000 was splitting of assets. Alimony and education money was, however, tied to her staying in America and the transcripts show the judge explained that if she returned to Japan she would lose that money.
Not true. She wanted to divorce in Japan, but the husband refused.
Might be true in many cases, but not this one. Noriko had been living in Japan, as had the kids. She went to America at the request of the husband.
The CNN story is biased and inaccurate. Examples:
True, she was allowed to take them to Japan for vacations but she agreed to live in Franklin to be close to her ex-husband, who shortly thereafter re-married.
The context of this is missed. Noriko is responding to complaints by Chris, and this is happening in May, long before any summer vacation in which she is allowed to bring the children to Japan. At this same time, Chris and Amy were waging a public campaign to discredit Noriko and obtain custody of the children.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/29/japan.father.abduction/index.html
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife
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Blue Tiger
I'm not blind to that because I've looked at the documents. The judge warned Noriko that she would lose alimony and education payments if she went back to Japan, and she acknowledged this.
So by returning to Japan, she has decided it was worth it to forfeit that money.
I find myself virtually in total agreement with michaelqtodd on this issue. Many are saying that we should not judge who is at fault in a divorce, but what I am looking at primarily is the behavior of Chris and Amy after the divorce.
That reprehensible behavior was insensitive and abusive, and clearly designed to create misery and distress for Noriko, in hopes of winning full custody from her.Note that Chris and Amy took this divorce public on Internet forums before Noriko returned to Japan.
One would have expected the opposite: that they bend over backwards to make life comfortable in America for Noriko, so that she could care for the children there.
But instead they managed a situation where she was essentially trapped in a place where Amy and Chris enjoyed all the advantages, and where she could look forward to nothing but abuse heaped upon her by them.
Under those circumstances, it is not surprising that she made a decision to forfeit alimony by returning to Japan to lead a life free from the disgraceful and treacherous machinations of Chris and Amy.
But, yes, as for circumstances leading up to the divorce, we need not judge.
As for Chris and Amy, any bets on how long that marriage will last? Statistically, second marriages do not do well, and when they are consummated after illicit affairs, the failure rate is well above 90%. Good luck to them, because after a few more divorces, if their attitude remains unchanged, the future custody issues may involve dozens of ex-spouses.
Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help
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featherhead:
This case brings all kinds of questions to mind. If, in Japan, they are still married and if it turns out that the divorce jurisdiction should have been Japan, and not America, then --huh?-- does the divorce get annulled?
If the divorce is annulled, then of course Chris's subsequent marriage to Amy would be annulled.
Also I believe it was required by Japan for him to renounce US citizenship in agreement to become a Japanese citizen. If he did not do that renouncing, he could be stripped of Japanese citizenship or forced to make renouncement.
On other forums there were allegations of drugging the children to subdue them while taking them from the mother. If that is substantiated, the man could be facing serious charges of abuse, rather than abduction. That would count against him in the (second) divorce proceeding.
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife
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Simon Foston:
Yes, and moreover, if they do stay longer, they will then become ineligible for many jobs, because the hiring practice involves eschewing Japan residents and directly hiring from overseas.
You can see this right here in the JT classified section, where some jobs are restricted to those who are not living in Japan (I believe those were GABA ads, but it is typical for AEON and other NOVA-like enterprises).
And this policy often is implemented in the "education" sector as well, although the expected time period is often longer than the usual 1-3 years of the "industry" sector.
The hiring practices of NOVA-like enterprises are in reality an extension of Japanese immigration policy. This is the same idea as the JET program, which was originally an immigration initiative, not an education one. The big Eikaiwa chains are almost like designated immigration authorities helping regulate the inflow and outflow of foreign residents. So (if one believes the Yakuza influence) the people in charge of hiring foreigners for temporary Eikaiwa work in Japan are the most anti-foreigner faction possible.
Posted in: What is your impression of the English-teaching industry in Japan? Have things improved since Nova's collapse or are there still bad apples in the barrel?