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Gov't OKs bill to introduce joint custody after divorce

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Finally, I hope the best for the one guy who use to frequent this comment section and could not see his children.

16 ( +16 / -0 )

This is great news. It will make for healthier relationships for post divorce families. The current practice of entirely separating a family upon divorce is not healthy for the children.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

A choice of joint custody is a step in the right direction, but couples divorcing in Japan many years ago could willingly choose to co-parent. One parent would receive full custody and simply allow the other parent to remain involved in the child’s life. Some parents would choose that route. 

A problem remains, however, when a distressed divorcing parent desires to remove the other parent from the child’s life. That distressed parent is not going to choose joint custody and can resort to a false claim of domestic violence, which can easily be done in Japan, where no evidence is required to file a domestic violence claim and enter a government-run shelter for several weeks.

A distressed parent will often use the children as a tool to injure their spouse’s heart — which, in itself, is a form of child abuse, but perhaps not one recognized in Japan unfortunately.

Your spouse disappearing into a shelter with your children most certainly would not be desirable if you’re an innocent left-behind parent who loves the children deeply and has dedicated a lot of time and energy to their growth.

I have no problem with adults who feel a need for the safety of a shelter. But, all too often in Japan, a parent will enter a shelter with children and use the shelter to separate the kids from the other parent. Then, after years of separation from the other parent during required mediation or a family court case, judges will grant legal custody to the parent who has physical custody so as not to disrupt the life of the child. In Japan, those who have physical custody secure legal custody, and the shelters can be used to get that initial physical custody.

In 2011, Time magazine published an article titled “Japan is a Haven for International Child Abduction.” In the decade since, Japan has ratified the Hague treaty (2014) and will soon be offering a choice of joint custody (2024). However, in practice, Japan apparently remains a haven for child abduction — domestically and internationally — for those willing to make false, fabricated claims to achieve their desired outcome.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Watch the bill fall apart in a week because some politicians will come and say this will destroy the foundations of Japanese families and culture, or that is not proven that joined custody is a good thing, or some other nonsense. Just like keeping your surname after marriage, indoor smoking and other issues keeping Japan in the samurai times.

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

A problem remains, however, when a distressed divorcing parent desires to remove the other parent from the child’s life. That distressed parent is not going to choose joint custody and can resort to a false claim of domestic violence, which can easily be done in Japan, where no evidence is required to file a domestic violence claim and enter a government-run shelter for several weeks.

This is the kind of thing that can be cleared up in joint custody hearings.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Japan - always slow to change.

Finally something positive!

Let's hope some old LDP conservative fool doesn't ruin it by stating some out of touch negative comment on traditional Japanese family values or some other nonsense.

-5 ( +6 / -11 )

This is the kind of thing that can be cleared up in joint custody hearings.

No family court officer is going to encourage any distressed parent asserting domestic violence, real or false, to choose joint custody. And rightly so.

If you’re the left-behind parent facing an unverified accusation, I doubt you would consider the matter to be “cleared up.”

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Hopefully this will also help many women who divorce their husbands, become single mothers with little or no support and live a life of poverty. If the husband shares custody he will also share the burden of cost of raising the child.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

I think a lot of people are also thinking about the related issue of Japanese abductions of children in international marriages. Cases like Vincent Fichot's who had his child abducted from their home in France by his Japanese ex-wife.

Japan is a signatory to the Hague Convention of International Child Abduction but a lack of joint custody provisions in Japan's domestic laws meant that the Convention was effectively useless and parents like Fichot had no legal recourse to access their children.

Hopefully, this changes that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_child_abduction_in_Japan

4 ( +4 / -0 )

but in an urgent situation where a consensus cannot be reached in time, one of the parents can decide on their own,

If there is suspicion of child abuse or domestic violence by one of the parents,

Still there's a catch, someone can fill fake complain.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

@capuchin

There are so many divorcee of Japan and foreign couple, however in recent years there are more cases that are being on public. If one of those divorcee/separated parent want to meet their children, they can be thrown to jail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ScottMcIntyre%28journalist%29

https://apnews.com/article/6cd01a6b19b835d8712fc6559d0df5bd

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

2024 is a good year by the look of it !! It's about time, Congratulations Japan.

Finally someone put the interests and the well being of the children ahead of their so called Mother or Parent.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Now you need to educate the corrupted judges who sentence parents to “3 letters a year” as visitation right.

The step is in the right direction but the way is still long for Japan to become a decent country.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Read the first statement carefully:

The Japanese government on Friday approved a bill to allow joint custody after divorce 

The Japanese government also allows and even encourages businesses to raises wages and look how that turned out. This bill is likely little more than window dressing to stave off criticism. I recently went through a divorce that took three years to settle. In order to maintain the relationship with my child, I had to lose my house, ¥25,000,000 in savings, pay another ¥15,000,000 until said child becomes an adult and pay all court costs that amounted to over ¥3,000,000. Despite this, I still have to see my child on the sly but am grateful that our relationship is intact. During this process, I often to spoke to police officers, lawyers and even a judge who were sympathetic to my situation and they all said the same thing: in a custody battle between a foreigner (especially a man) and an ethnic Japanese citizen (the “ethnic” point is important because I do have Japanese citizenship) the foreigner’s chances of winning a court order and having it enforced exist in theory alone. I hope this bill passes and I hope it is enforced but I am not optimistic.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

@Sam Watters

Immense sympathy. I can’t imagine what type of soul would down-vote your post/story.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

One can only hope that this achieves something.

The situation as it stands is ripe for abuse and is all-too-frequently used in that way by vindictive parents to deny their ex-partners their rights. Any children raised in this way will be denied the love of the other parent and likely be exposed to a distorted version of the truth, which may affect them mentally well into adulthood.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Immense sympathy. I can’t imagine what type of soul would down-vote your post/story.

Thank you.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

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