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Family Law In Japan: Experiences In Parents' Own Words
See also: Success Stories
These essays are either written by parents or written based on published reports of an actual case, and each documents the bitter experiences of a real individual with family law
in Japan. Contact information for the authors is available if you are a member of the press, government representative, or
other qualified individual who could help us raise awareness of these issues or could help us enact change. If you are
a left-behind parent, please send your own personal story to webmaster47256 ( at] crnjapan.com for inclusion on this page.
In some cases, these stories contain actual names of a Japanese parent. They may also contain names of friends,
relatives, co-workers, workplaces, etc. This website is well indexed by search engines in both Japanese and English. So
this helps to bring attention to these otherwise silent crimes by applying pressure thru a person's workplace and social
circles. In Japan, peer and internal corporate pressure can often be an effective way to encourage someone to address a
problem they would rather hide from. We believe this pressure is necessary in order to get the offending Japanese
parent constructively involved rather than having them hide away with the child.
The names in a story will only be removed when the case is resolved satisfactorily. Unfortunately, in Japan, legal
resolution can take many many years. So we encourage people who would like to have their names removed to get
counseling with their partner and resolve the issues out of court. If you are not the offending Japanese parent, please
encourage that person to constructively resolve the problems in the story.
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She took the kids to Japan. I got the $20,000 bond. What a horrible deal; After posting a bond, Sachi Obiso took sons Anthony and brother Jorge to Japan, supposedly for
their uncle’s
wedding and were supposed to return on February 6, 2005. They didn't. There is a court order requiring them to
return by February 13, 2005. Father George now has full legal custody and
recovery orders have been issued for the children.
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Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan Police, and a court system gang up to
discriminate against a foreign parent. A US lawyer tried unsuccessfully to serve court documents on the
abducting Japanese parent. According to a note on the returned documents, it could not be delivered because "...the
sender is considered to be a dangerous person, the Metropolitan Police Department has intervened and a temporary injunction
and refusal of delivery have been issued by a Court...."
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Murray Wood tried to be a responsible father by agreeing to let his ex-wife, Ayako
Maniwa Wood, take their children to visit their sick grandfather in Japan. She never brought them back. The
Saitama family court recognized the valid Canadian custody orders, but decided to "kidnapped
jurisdiction" and give custody to the Japanese mother.
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"Etsuko has ignored all orders of the Court since October 2001...and now the United States
government and the state of Utah are pursing criminal charges against both Mr. and Mrs. Allred." The Japanese
police know where they are, but won't arrest them. Read more about Michael Gulbraa's fight to
get his children returned from Japan.
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"...the Osaka Family Court rendered a mandatory visitation schedule: since I was the
custodial father, I am entitled to see my son once a year for 3 hours." Samuel Lui's custody of his son was affirmed by
the Supreme Court of Japan, yet the Japanese legal system was not able to physically remove his son from his ex-wife.
Read more...
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A Japanese father traveled to Cuba to abduct their 2 year old daughter to Japan where
he can hide her from her Chilean-Cuban mother who had legal custody. After a divorce in Japan using allegedly forged
signatures, the mother is still being denied all contact. The story is here... (Español)(日本語)
(Update: It turns out the Tsugunari Yamada, the father has remarried, so may now be a bigamist if he is convicted of
forgery in the ongoing trial.)
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A Japanese wife kidnapped their child Isabelle, and abandoned her in a children's home.
After, Frans Pau, her French-Danish father found her and got her into a school in Japan, the mother took her away
again. The mother has now been sentenced to jail by a French court and is wanted by Interpol. A Japanese court
allowed the mother to change Isabelle's name to Maki despite the fact that Frans had legal custody, even in Japan.
After that, a Japanese court inexplicably gave custody back to the mother. Read more
...
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"On November 15th 2003, two days before the death of their mother from breast cancer,
my twin 5-year old children, Karsten Stouffer and Maple Stouffer were abducted by their Japanese Grandfather, Fumihiko
Miyazaki and are now in Sapporo Japan." Read more...
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Melissa Braden - Missing Without a Trace. As reported on two episodes of television program Missing Without a Trace, although Patrick Braden had been able to get a court
order against travel and a request to turn over passports, mother Ryoko Uchiyama abducted their daughter Melissa to Japan almost immediately. Read more....
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Ken Massey had lived in Japan for 17 years and been married to a Japanese women for 10
years. After their divorce, he was working at a steady job and making regular child support
payments until immigration refused to issue him a visa and eventually deported him weeks before his first hearing in a human rights lawsuit against Immigration.
He wonders what happened to his children's right to be near their father, which is guaranteed by the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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What Happens When You Marry A Japanese Have Children and It Doesn't Work Out is a new
book about the train wreck that a Japanese divorce can be. This is the authors
personal story.
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A Japanese mother with a history of attempted suicide and time in multiple psychiatric
hospitals goes to Japanese Family Court mediation with the father. There "...the mediators supported her to
the end, even above what my son wanted and what was best for him. They virtually acted as her lawyer..." Despite the wife
also repeatedly denying visitation to the father, "the mediators became very pro-wife saying stuff like, "Your son
visiting you makes her nervous, kawaiso!." ... There were no consequences for her withholding his
Saturday visitation rights." Read More...
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After moving to Omuta-shi in Fukuoka-ken so that his wife could be get support from her
parents when the baby was born, the relationship ended in divorce. The wife subsequently
denied all contact between daughter Amy and her father.
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"Leave me alone. Alexander will see you when he is 18. " -Misako Ueshima who is now
wanted by the Royal Canadian Police for international child abduction. Read more...
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A Japanese mother living in Germany with her daughter decides
that joint custody means she can take her child back to Japan without telling the father, Stefan. A German
court disagrees. Read more...
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Kayoko Miyamoto, ex-wife of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his estranged son,
Yoshinaga Miyamoto. All available information about Koizumi's ex-wife and children is collected in this
article. There are references to many other articles and websites discussing this. Read
more...
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Father is summoned by a Japanese court for divorce by Japanese wife and custody of
their child. He was granted a visa to Japan by the embassy, but refused entry by Japanese
Immigration. Twice. Is Immigration complicit in another legalized
parental abduction in Japan?
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Japanese judge keeps American father in jail for 20 days waiting for a medical report the
Prosecuting Attorney had on the second day.... Read more including details about inner
workings of the Japanese court system.
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Japanese wife, Sachi Nagai, denies visitation and then runs away with son to Egypt with
Mike Kidd. Read more....
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"When I arrived home Keiko had moved, taking with her our daughters...." The
story of Alisa and Ikumi Yamada who have been kept from their father for 13 years is ongoing.
Look back here soon....
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"I begged the family court repeatedly to involve psychological experts to deal with my
borderline wife but they refused to do so." Read more...
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"After 4 years together in Japan, Yomiko only lasted 2 months before she went home.
I really think it is cowardly. Especially as my wife or family aren't prepared even to speak to me. I want to be able
to face my son in 20 years time and say 'I didn't abandon you'." Read More...
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"Having agreed upon visitation rights last year at the Chiba Family Court (I was to
visit once every two weeks) - my wife strangely would not be home on the scheduled days. I complained to the Family Court
about this, but they were unconcerned with me, and suggested it might be my own fault that this is happening."
He is subsequently ignored by the Japanese Family Court. Read the ongoing story...
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Travis Lear's daughter Layla, the beautiful princess, was his life.
The princess was taken away by her Japanese mother, a like a fairy tale gone horribly wrong, being kept from all contact
with her ex-Navy father.
Found in Court Documents
There are many unreported cases where the left behind parent does not have the financial resources to pursue the abducting parent to Japan, does not wish to press criminal charges or does not actively publicize their case. By their nature,
these are nearly impossible to find out about, but they may turn up in court or other public documents.
- Jonathan D. Mu vs. Noriko Ikeda - In what could easily have been planned from the beginning, several months after filing a DV claim in 2003 and getting a restraining order, the Japanese
mother takes all belongings from their home and abducts the four children, Christopher K. Mu, Lilliane A. Mu, Marianne A. Mu , and Julianne A. Mu to Japan. Unsurprisingly, she never pursues the charges. The father apparently does not
have an extra hundred or two thousand dollars to pursue her.
Reported In The Press
The following names and stories have appeared in the indicated press article. If you know how to contact anyone
listed here, please tell them that we would like to post a more detailed story on this website.
Steve Christie
Chris Kenyon
- Part 1 of 4: Frustrated Fathers of
Abducted Children Turn to Public for Support; (By Kirsten Brown Scripps Howard Foundation Wire) Washington,
December 15, 2006. Four fathers quietly filed into a theater to watch "Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story," a
documentary about North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. If the names Walter Benda, Patrick
Braden, Chris Kenyon and Paul Toland don't sound Japanese, it's because they're not. But their children are half-Japanese,
and these fathers say Japan has committed the same crime against them that Japan accuses North Korea of committing.
Paul Toland
The Dana Pretzer Radio Show: Interview with CDR Paul Toland; February 15th, 2007. (MP3
download) - Interview starts at the beginning of the show. MSC, USN , Resource Programming Manager, Medical Readiness Platforms, Chief of Naval Operations. (Topic Pauls daughter was parentally kidnapped in Japan) At about 18:45 in the MP3 recording, Dana reads an excerpt from an
email letter from Paul's Japanese attorney which openly admits the widespread discrimination in Japanese courts:
"As you point out, we are challenged by racism and discrimination of Japanese court every day, since we usually represent foreigners. But I know judges become furious if I point out his racism or discrimination. Racism is firmly
rooted in Japanese society and even intelligent people refuses to see their own racism. Almost all Japanese believe foreigners are deteriorating the security of Japanese society, which is wrong according to our crime statistics. ...[he concludes
his email by saying] ... Please understand your case is not a piece of case because of the racism and irrationalism of Japan. It may be something like defending Taliban in the US.”
- Part 1 of 4: Frustrated Fathers of
Abducted Children Turn to Public for Support; (By Kirsten Brown Scripps Howard Foundation Wire) Washington,
December 15, 2006. Four fathers quietly filed into a theater to watch "Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story," a
documentary about North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. If the names Walter Benda, Patrick
Braden, Chris Kenyon and Paul Toland don't sound Japanese, it's because they're not. But their children are half-Japanese,
and these fathers say Japan has committed the same crime against them that Japan accuses North Korea of committing.
Mike Hebb
- Crime and Punishment; Metropolis Letter to the editor;
early 2006. Mike writes in about his daughter being abducted from Manitoba by her Japanese mother.
Alan Kaneda
Walter Benda.
The Dana Pretzer Radio Show: Interview with Walter Benda; March 6, 2007.
(MP3 download) Interview starts at about 49 min into the show.
Part 1 of 4: Frustrated Fathers of
Abducted Children Turn to Public for Support; (By Kirsten Brown Scripps Howard Foundation Wire) Washington,
December 15, 2006. Four fathers quietly filed into a theater to watch "Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story," a
documentary about North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. If the names Walter Benda, Patrick
Braden, Chris Kenyon and Paul Toland don't sound Japanese, it's because they're not. But their children are half-Japanese,
and these fathers say Japan has committed the same crime against them that Japan accuses North Korea of committing. - Imperfect Alliance U.S., Japan at
odds about child abductions; Newsday.com; July 17, 2003.
- Statement by Walter Benda, co-founder of CRC Japan, on
March 1, 2000, to the US Senate Judiciary Committee on the similarity of the Elian Gonzalez case and his daughters
being illegally retained in Japan. (cached copy)
- Parents in International Custody Battles Fear Impact;
Washington Post; February 3, 2003. Information on various worldwide parental abduction cases in the light of the Elian
Gonzalez incident in the US. Included is Walter Benda's well known Japan case. (cached
copy)
- Testimony to Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Congress on October 1,
1998. A scary description of encounters with the Japanese legal system as well as the system in the United
States in 1998.
- Lost In A Loophole: Foreigners Who Are on the Losing
End of a Custody Battle in Japan Don't Have Much Recourse; Los Angeles Times, September 19, 1996.
David Brian Thomas (co-founder of CRC Japan) David has not seen his son since his Japanese wife
and her parents locked him out of their house in 1992. The divorce was overturned by the court on grounds that his wife
doctored papers and forged his seal, but Thomas has been unable to see his son, Graham Hajime, who is now 13.
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Divorced From Their Children In Japan, Foreign Fathers Have Few Custody Options; Washington Post; July 17, 2003;
Page A09. (日本語版/ Japanese)
(cached copy)
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Frozen
out, frustrated father refuses to give up; Asashi Shinbun; January 27, 2002. (cached
copy)
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Parents driven to 'kidnap' children; The Japan Times; December 13, 2000. Discusses Engle Nieman's case as
well as David Brian Thomas. (cached copy)
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The best
parents are both parents; Japan Times; February 6, 2000. David Brian Thomas' story in detail. (cached
copy)
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Lost In A
Loophole: Foreigners Who Are on the Losing End of a Custody Battle in Japan Don't Have Much Recourse; Los Angeles
Times, September 19, 1996.
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The
Japanese said I no longer had a child; The Independent, July 10, 1996. Very detailed story about David Brian
Thomas's loss of his son to his Japanese spouse Mikako Takezawa and her father Hajime Takezawa. (cached
copy)
Sean Reedy. His Japanese wife took his sons into hiding that day, preempting custody of the boys by simple
possession. Even as a tenured professor and taxpayer in Japan, Reedy found he could get no assistance from the Japanese
courts in getting his children back -- or even seeing them regularly.
Das Pradip. gets to meet his two children once a month, for 30 minutes, at a Roy Rogers restaurant -- when his
ex-wife bothers to bring them. She left her husband three years ago with the children, then 5 and 8, for a Japanese man.
Engle Nieman. "My wife is now hiding somewhere with my daughter. She doesn't show up for
court. My lawyer doesn't know what to do," he said. "On schooldays, I go around to the various kindergartens in Tokyo to see
if I can find them. It's terrible."
Dale Martin. His wife, Tamie Kakuta kidnapped their 4-year-old daughter in 1992, but despite hard-won visitation
agreement signed in family courts in December 1994, he has recently (according to the articles) been unable to see his
six-year-old daughter because his Japanese wife refuses to allow it. He continues to make telephone calls and write letters.
Charles Talley. Wife Yumi, and daughter, Lea Talley, disappeared from their Palmdale (Los Angeles) apartment in
1993.
Margaret Leyman. This American journalist living in Tokyo, says that her Japanese former husband prohibits
her son from meeting with her. "My son, who is 12 now [in 1998], lives with my mother-in-law after the family court decided I
was, as a working woman and foreigner, not a responsible mother,''
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Tales from Japan's Abandoned Foreign
Parents; The Japan Observer; November 2003. Mostly the story of Frans Pau, a French-Danish national whose wife is
kidnapped their child Isabelle, abandoned her in a children's home, took her again after Frans got her into a school in
Japan. The mother has been sentenced to jail by a French court and is wanted by Interpol. A Japanese court allowed
the mother to change Isabelle's name to Maki despite the fact that Frans had legal custody, even in Japan. After
that, a Japanese court inexplicably gave custody back to the mother. (cached
copy)
- Foreign Spouses In Japan Seek Easier Child Custody Laws;
www.oneworld.net web site; March 22, 1998. (cached copy)
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