Info for US military personnel

<Under construction>

Please send information for this page to the "webmaster" email of this website.  Your email will fail, but read the contents of the message that comes back for a new email address to use.

A military gives father 30 days off after a birth to bond with child.  Gives him time to realize what has happened and to help take care of the child and mother.  But a Japanese mother will often want to be at home with her parents before and after the birth.

There is a military pre-martial seminar 5 day class for those about to get married overseas, and JRC has a briefing for single members coming to the island. Superiors sometimes bring in guys who have had bad experiences or friends who have had their wife take their kids, but there if no formal information on problems with Japanese family law or the risks involved with marrying and having children with a Japanese citizen in either of these seminars.

Japanese employees tell Japanese spouses what they can get from the military if they divorce their husbands, which may encourage the spouse to get a divorce.  (Especially true if they have already gotten US citizenship, although this is less of an issue for Japanese than spouses from other Asian countries.)  One person reports that the Family Service Center (an equivalent to the welfare office in outside world) is aggressive in providing this information also.

The following unsubstantiated information was found in the media.  It is unclear how this would play out for a service person who had recovered their abducted child and headed back to a military base.

The Status of U.S. Armed Forces in Japan agreement between the two governments stipulates that a serviceman accused of a civilian criminal offense shall be dealt with by the Japanese police and courts.

But the agreement also says: “The custody of an accused member … shall, if he is in the hands of the U.S., remain with the US until he is charged by Japan.” This means, in effect, U.S. military authorities can restrict civilian police access to military suspects.

Be sure to read the essay on the US military Parent Successfully Avoids Japan Family Law by leaving Japan for further information.

Essays

• US military Parent Successfully Avoids Japan Family Law by leaving Japan - Facing a stay behind abduction, a US military father escaped from Japan with his children and found that US judges do always not have to apply the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) to cases from Japan.

Resources

• American Bar Association section on the military
• North Carolina State Bar Legal Assistance for Military Personnel website - lots of good pages