Japanabducts comments

LaWren, Please remember your history. The "mother/child" relationship as you call it was imposed by General MacArthur after WW2. Before that, women were the property of men, and in traditional Japanese culture men ALWAYS got custody of children in a divorce, because women had no rights, so what you refer to as traditional Japanese culture of the "mother/child relationship" is really 1940's era America-imposed values that Japan adopted after WW2. Japan has not yet caught up to the rest of the world in understanding that the best thing for a child in a divorce is to maintain a relationship with both parents, so your arguments for traditional Japanese values is really an argument for 1940's era American values vs. 2000s American values.

Japan refuses to even discuss resolution of the more than 400 adbuctions from the United States to Japan during the last 18 years. This clearly indicates their insincerety and lack of concern for children, and demonstrates that they are only signing the Hague due to political pressure.

Number of days since the Japanese Government's May 2011 annnouncement that it would sign the Hague = 653 days. Number of kidnapped children Japanese Government has helped return since that announcement = ZERO Children Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. Enough said.

Miamum, Yes, you are correct that many divorces end amicably, and do not require a court. If both parents are in agreement, things in Japan can work well. HOWEVER, the problem arises when both parents do NOT agree, which happens in many divorces throughout the world. In Japan, there is NO RULE OF LAW to deal with the situation. Compliance with family law is voluntary and there is no mechanism to enforce the law. Therefore, the Japanese legal system affords ABSOLUTELY NO PROTECTION to allow left-behind parents to maintain contact with their children. Whoever abducts the child first wins custody, and any access to the child provided to the Left-Behind parent is completely left up to the abducting parent. Japanese Family Law is therefore an abysmal failure and fails to protect the rights of parents to maintain contact with their children and the rights of children to maintain contact with both of their parents. One parent can unilaterally decide out of spite or malice to completely wipe the other parent out of the children's lives entirely. That is the tragedy that needs to be fixed in Japan.

Unlike many foreign parents who are not aware of this problem with Japanese family law, Chris Savoie was familiar with Japan and knew this, so he did everything he could to obtain a divorce in Japan, where his rights to know and love his children would be protected. If the Japanese family law system was capable of protecting those rights, Chris would have been happy to obtain a divorce in Japan, but the fact is that his rights, and the rights of thousands of other parents, are not protected by the Japanese Family Law system.

Miamum, Here are a few quotes for you:

"Typical is the statement of a Tokyo divorce lawyer that: "It's the Japanese general understanding that if they divorce, the noncustodial parent won't be able to see the kid again. It's as if the child loses a parent in an accident, as if that parent just dies." (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 2, 2001).

"A charitable view of the Japanese system of divorce is that it favors a "clean break" so that the divorced parties have little or nothing more to do with each other after the divorce. A less generous interpretation is that it permits the spouse with economic assets (usually the husband) to keep most of his assets, avoid payment of alimony and provide little or no child support, but the price he pays is the abandonment of any relationship with his children, while the other spouse is punished economically, but keeps her children. A "clean break" in the form that it is manifested in Japan can be extremely injurious." Jeremy Morely, International Divorce Lawyer.

To Truestory, Sorry, but you are wrong, wrong and wrong. Christopher was the one who truly thought of the kids first. He knew that the US family law system is governed by the rule of law and the Japanese system is not. He knew his only hope of protecting his children's right to know and love BOTH parents was to obtain a divorce in the United States. Sure, he could have done the typical Japanese thing and filed for divorce in Japan, deserted his children and kept his money. But instead, he put his children first. He knew that in the US system his children’s rights to know and love both parents would be protected, but he also knew he would have to pay a sizeable amount of his money to Noriko. He gladly did this, giving her $700,000, while ensuring that his children’s rights to know and love both parents were protected. Noriko happily and greedily came to the United States to collect her $700,000 and then flagrantly violated US law and kidnapped the children to Japan, in the end taking both the children AND the money. Finally, today, some small amount of justice was served.

Complete justice would be for the children to be returned to their lawful and law-abiding parent, Chris, but at least he has some consolation.

Additionally, this sets great precedent for all those who have their children currently abducted. This once again puts Japan in the spotlight as an outlaw country that flagrantly thumbs their nose at international norms and international law. Suing Noriko was a great tactic by Chris, because if he now goes to Japan to try to enforce this, and Japan refuses, then it will receive press converage and demonstrate once again what an outlaw country Japan is in regard to family law.

"I think the first duty of society is justice." Alexander Hamilton

Society did its duty today and provided some justice to Chris.

Savoie's motivation was entire driven by Japan's record on child abduction. Because of Mr. Savoie's expertise in Japan, he knew how dangerous the situation was to both he and his children. He did the ONLY thing ANY loving parent could do. He insisted on getting the divorce in the ONLY country that offers legal protection enabling his children to grow up knowing and loving both parents. Since the establishment of a sovereign post war Japanese government in 1952, Japan has NEVER returned a child to any country. Japan is quite literally a black hole from which no child has EVER returned.

Mr. Savoie would have certainly gotten a better financial deal in Japan, but instead he gave up his entire fortune in the divorce in order to hold the divorce in the United States. He did this because he put the best interest of his children over money. Unfortunately, due to this judges negligent actions, even that was not enough, and Rebecca and Isaac were lost as another Japan abduction like the hundreds who went before them.

Sorry all, I didn't have any time to write anything today. I was TOO BUSY WATCHING THE US CONGRESS CONDEMN JAPAN FOR CHILD ABDUCTION AND WATCHING CHRISTOPHER SAVOIE SPEAK SIDE BY SIDE WITH NUMEROUS CONGRESSMAN AT A CAPITOL HILL PRESS CONFERENCE. What a great day to witness.

Chris Savoie ensured a divorce in the only country that could protect the human rights of his children and in the only country with an existing enforcement mechanism to guarantee his children the right to know and love both of their parents. Noriko Savoie willingly flew to the United States for the divorce, knowing she would get a handsome sum of money for doing so. Noriko Savoie was granted a most generous amount of $700,000 by Chris in the divorce settlement. Chris gave up most of his fortune to be able to guarantee that he would have access to his children and that they would be guaranteed the right to know and love both of their parents. Noriko Savoie BROKE THE LAW and kidnapped the children and is now a wanted fellon criminal. Chris is now left without his money and without his children, while his felon ex-wife is taking refuge in the world's biggest haven for child kidnapping with his money AND his children. Those are the facts and they are indisputable. What a true human rights tragedy.

No sir. Your premise is based on the fact that Noriko would not give visitation rights if Chris remained in Japan which is simply not true.

Wrong, my premise is based on the fact that Noriko, or ANYBODY, Could simply decide to do that in Japan. Japan offers no legal protections to ANY CHILD or ANY PARENT.

What kind of 'arbitrary decision'? Are you trying to suggest that an American parent would be prevented by law from moving with the children to a foreign country to live with the other parent.

NO, I am suggesting that ANY parent be prevented from moving to Japan because Japan offers no legal protections. An American parent could not arbitrarily decide to move to another state and withhold access from another parent. They would end up in Jail because our society protects children's human rights.

I know of one parent who is the only living parent of his child, and the child has been kidnapped by the Japanese Grandmother. Both the US State Department AND the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs have asked to visit his daughter to check on her health and well-being, but the abductor said "No". In Japan, where compliance is voluntary and no legal mechanisms exist to enforce family law, all the State Department and Ministry of Foreign Affairs can say is "Sorry, we tried, there's nothing else we can do." This is exactly the problem I am talking about in Japan. Christopher knew this about Japan and did what he had to do to legally protect his children's human rights.

What makes you so sure that Noriko wouldn't grant visitation if Chris stayed in Japan considering the fact that Noriko agreed to bring her kids half way across the globe to be close with Chris?

Thank you for making my point. The whole POINT and the entire problem is she could even have the ability to make this choice in Japan. In the United States, where our children's rights are protected by the rule of law, a parent COULD NOT be allowed to simply make that kind of arbitrary decisin.

In Japan, these children may or may not be allowed to exercise their human right to know and love both parents, and that decison can simply be arbitrarily made by one parent, no matter how unstable that parent is, and there are no provisions in law or no enforcement mechanisms to protect the other parent or to protect the children from having their human rights stripped away based on the whim of an unstable parent.

In the United States, those protections are in place. We, as a society, have determined that one parent should not be allowed to simply strip children away from their other parent. We have rules of evidence, enforcement and protections in place to protect our most innocent citizens, our children, from having this happen to them. Japan does not have these protections in place.

Unfortunately, until legal protections are in place in Japan, no Japanese citizen who is married to an American (or any foreigner) should ever be allowed to travel back to Japan. This is a terrible price to pay for Japanese citizens, but the finger of blame for this can only be pointed back at the Japanese government. Until Japan puts into place a family law system with enforcement mechanisms that can protect a child's human rights to know and love both parents, Japanese citizens traveling overseas will continue to suffer. IT'S HIGH TIME FOR JAPAN TO GET OUT OF THE 19th CENTURY AND ENTER THE 21st CENTURY and ENACT FAMILY LAWS THAT PROTECT CHILDREN AND PARENTS!!!

If this dude Chris was serious about having a relationship with his kids it is perfectly possible for him to come here to Japan and do it

I feel like I'm repeating myself over again. Read the string. Japan, #1 child abducting nation in the world. Hello?! Also, I had posed here a simple question which nobody could address. In Japan, where compliance with family law is completely voluntary and no enforcement mechanism exists, what legal protections are afforded to Mr. Savoie or his children to protect them if Noriko chooses to not let him see the children. What are his legal recourses? Nobdody can seem to answer that.

Bottom Line: Chris Savoie went to great lengths to protect the human rights of his children to be able to know and love both parents, and he is making every effort and doing everything he possibly can to recover his kidnapped children and Noriko Savoie is in hiding as a wanted felon for kidnapping.

he could have declined divorcing

Noriko had been asking for the divorce for years and they had been separated for years. He just wanted to ensure his divorce included legal protections. So I am assuming from your answer and from Nigelboy's answer that you both agree that Japan offers no legal protections. Sounds like Chris took the only possible action that could protect his children's human rights to know and love both their parents.

do everything to make sure the divorce is amicable.

Funny how nobody can answer the question I posed. If she doesn't wish to be amicable, what legal protections are afforded to him in Japan, where family law has no enforcement mechanisms, and compliance is completely voluntary?

Stay in Japan and work out an amicable visitation schedule with your ex-spouse.

And if she doesn't wish to be amicable, what legal protections are afforded to him in Japan, where family law has no enforcement mechanisms, and compliance is completely voluntary.

its my understanding she went to the USA knowing shud wud be paid, if thats true she pulled a real scam

Absolutely true. She wanted the divorce in Japan, he wanted it in America. They both knew they were getting divorced. There were no "Tricks" here. They had been separated for four years prior to the divorce. Noriko knew she could come to the US for the divorce, get all his money in the divorce (because Chris was willing to give it all up to ensure he could have a life with his children) and then she could run and abduct the children and get the best of both worlds. She could get all his money via the US divorce AND get complete and total access to the children via the kidnapping to Japan. Noriko got it all and Chris got screwed, and all he wanted was to be able to have a life with his children.

For those of you who critize him, I ask, what would you do? Get a divorce in a Japan where you would likely never be able to see your children again, but you would get to keep most if not all your money, or get a divorce in the United States, where you would have to give up most of your fortune, but you could be guaranteed a loving life with your children. Answer that honestly and you will have no room to criticize Chris Savoie, because he clearly demonstrated parental love first and foremost and love of his children before money.

Sorry bud. If he was thinking about the best interest if his children, he would of stayed in Japan, a recognized habitual residence of the children. Instead, it was he who left them in Jan of 2008 and shacked up with his current wife while pretending to Noriko that they wanted to work things out in TN.

Sorry to you bud. Sure, he could have gotten a divorce in Japan where a judge has absolutely no power of enforcement. He could have taken the very “Japanese” way out and divorced, provided no money to his ex, and walked away forever from his children. Instead, he moved back to the United States, where parental and children’s rights are respected and enforced. He knew that by getting divorced in the US, he would have the legal protections to guarantee a life with his children. To do this, he had to pay an exorbitant and obscene amount to Noriko (I believe I saw in the newspapers that it was over $700,000). He paid this because his concern was first and foremost being able to have a life with his children. He could have gotten his divorce in Japan, kept his $700,000, and walked away from his children like so many Japanese fathers do, but he truly loved his children and sacrificed his life savings so he could guarantee his children the gift of being able to know and love both of their parents. Noriko, unfortunately, had her cake and ate it too. She voluntarily and happily came to the US for the divorce where she gladly took the huge sum of money, and then promptly kidnapped the children to the world’s #1 nation for child abduction, Japan, where she remains as a wanted criminal. The worst part is that this Tennessee judge let it happen. What a tragedy.

There seems to be a lot of misperceptions on this board, so let me help clarify:

Citizenship – yes, he is a dual citizen of Japan and the US. The US allows dual citizenship, so being a Japanese citizen has no effect on his US citizenship whatsoever.

Breaking the law – The only person who ever broke any laws was Noriko Savoie. Mr. Savoie did not break any laws in Japan. When he traveled to Japan to recover his kidnapped children, his custody order from the United States was the only legal order in existence, and by default, he was the only legally recognized custodian in both the US and Japan. Japan made a knee-jerk arrest and released Mr. Savoie without pressing any charges, because there were no crimes to charge him with.

US vs. Japanese courts - Because of Mr. Savoie's expertise in Japan, he knew how dangerous the situation was to both he and his children. He did the ONLY thing ANY loving parent could do. He insisted on getting the divorce in the ONLY country that offers legal protection enabling his children to grow up knowing and loving both parents. Japan is the #1 world leader in International Child Abduction. In the past decade, 231 children have been abducted to Japan and NONE have ever been returned. Since the establishment of a sovereign post war Japanese government in 1952, Japan has NEVER returned a child to any country. Japan is quite literally a black hole from which no child has EVER returned.

Mr. Savoie would have certainly gotten a better financial deal in Japan, but instead he gave up his entire fortune in the divorce in order to hold the divorce in the United States. He did this because he put the best interest of his children over money. Unfortunately, due to this judges negligent actions, even that was not enough, and Rebecca and Isaac were lost as another Japan abduction like the hundreds who went before them.