Press Releases and Coverage

If there is any way we can help you with a story related to children's rights in Japan, please do not hesitate to contact us at prinfo ( A T] crnjapan.com.  We have both Japanese and non-Japanese parents of abducted children available for interviews, as well as both Japanese and non-Japanese lawyers.

March 5, 2007.  Terrie Lloyd mentioned Japan CRN in a recent Terrie's Take (Japan, Inc. magazine) newsletter where he describes a recent an article in the Daily Yomiuri where a lawyer advises a mother that the child doesn't need to see her Dad (who is one of the minority of fathers in Japan who really wants contact after the divorce) if "she has started to become emotionally unstable because of the burden [of seeing him]."   Yet the mother should still expect to collect child support from this father, despite the fact that 80% of Japanese Dads find a way not to pay.  A very interesting article in a consistently informative newsletter with a subscriber base of 25,000.  (cached copy)

January 15, 2007.  Another mention of Japan CRN in the Nilda Franchesca Mangual Torres case.

Japanese court grants conditional freedom to young mother; JAPON EN ESPAÑOL; January 15, 2007. (Spanish) A judge has released Nilda Franchesca Mangual Torres, the mother of abducted son Shinta Nemoto with a 6 month suspended sentence, on 3 years of probation.  She has still not seen her son since he was abducted in July of 2006. (cached copy)

November 2, 2006.  Japan CRN was mentioned in this article concerning the case of Nilda Franchesca Mangual Torres.

Legal que el padre secuestre a su hijo; Mal panorama para boricua presa en Japón (Spanish) PRIMERA HORA; November 2, 2006. Twenty-five year old mother from Puerto Rico,  Nilda Franchesca Mangual Torres, is currently being held in Jail in Japan on a weapons charge and a disturbing the peace charge . She reached an overload point of emotional despair over her inability to see her child, and the Japanese police and government's unwillingness to help her do so. So she went to the front door of the courthouse in Japan and said she was going to commit suicide if they did not help her. She apparently held a knife to her stomach. She was arrested and has been in the jail now for 2 months. There is a huge public outrage in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican communities in New York and Florida in the United States. (cached copy) 

July 18, 2006.

• 'It's a heartless country that would separate loved ones'; The Japan Times; July 18, 2006; Article by Mark Smith of Japan CRN discussing 4 cases of parental abduction by Japanese citizens and illustrating support by the Japanese government, despite claims to the contrary by the Japanese Ambassador to Canada, Sadaaki Numata.  (cached copy)

December 31, 2005. Japan remains safe haven for parental abductions; Japan Times; December 31, 2005. Discusses Murray Woods' case and includes a quote from Japan CRN's Mark Smith.  (cached copy)

December 3, 2005.  Daily Yomiuri article entitled "Fighting for justice in the court of public opinion" about the Japan CRN fight for change, the website and an interview with Mark Smith.  Since you are reading this website, no need to say more.  (cached copy)  This was accompanied by When parents turn kidnappers, an excellent rebuttal to the recent focus in the Japanese press of "female victims of deadbeat dads."  (cached copy)

March 15, 2005.  Japan CRN is referenced and Mark Smith is quoted in "Why we’re powerless to get back abducted children", an article from the Vancouver Sun which discusses the kidnapping of Takara and Manami Wood, by their mother Ayako Maniwa Wood.  The article contains good quotes from a University of BC law professor, the international case director for the Missing Children Society of Canada, and a Japanese Supreme Court judge.

January 29, 2005.  Japan CRN is quoted in this translation of the December 4, 2004 AERA article, "IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Kids held `hostage' after international marriages fail" which appeared in the International Herald Tribune. (cached copy)

December 4, 2004.  AERA, a Japanese language weekly Newsweek-like magazine, interviewed four left-behind parents arranged by Japan CRN for an article about Japanese citizens wanted for arrest on charges of parental kidnapping in other countries.  But unfortunately, the editor reportedly, did not end up liking this topic very much, so it turned into an article about international marriage. Although undeniably intended for a readership of Japanese women, this article does illustrate child related problems in international marriages.  CRN is mentioned at the end along with some estimates of  the number of Japanese who are wanted for arrest in other countries.  (page 1, page 2, page 3)

June 4, 2004.  Eye-Ai, Eye On Society article "When Children Get Caught Up In Separation" with information supplied and publication coordinated by Japan CRN organizer while part of CRC Japan, mentioned in the article.

March 11, 2004.  Father's Website, CRC Japan and Mark Smith of Japan CRN held a joint press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo to explain and illustrate the Japanese phenomenon of Legal De-facto Child Abduction.  This occurs because custodial parents are allowed by Japanese courts and Japanese laws to completely prevent a child from contact with, and from establishing meaningful relationships with the non-custodial parent.  Additionally, this press conference examined the disturbing similarities between the actions of the Japanese government and those of the North Korean government in supporting international kidnapping. The following materials were presented and distributed to journalists.  The presentations are available in multiple formats:

Document MS Word PDF CRCJ speech English English FWS speech English / Japanese English / Japanese FWS Speech Summary and Cases English / Japanese English / Japanese Comparison of Abductions by Japan and by North Korea English English Overview of Convention on the Rights of the Child Bilingual Bilingual Overview of Hague Convention English English Yamila Case NA English Additional Info and pictures

January 26, 2004.  Coalition Report to United Nations Criticizes Japan’s Record on Children’s Rights.  A Coalition of Japanese and non-Japanese parents’ groups submitted a report to the United Nations criticizing in detail Japan’s record in protecting the rights of children of divorce and other forms of parental separation. The occasion is the 35th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, convening in Geneva Switzerland on January 12 - 30, 2004. On January 28, the Committee will consider Japan’s Second (five yearly) Periodic Report regarding its implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.  (Full Press Release: Word Format   PDF Format  HTML Format )

December, 2003.  Japan - A Haven for International Child Abduction?  Hiragana Times; December, 2003.  CRN Japan worked closely with the writer to produce this bilingual article in the Hiragana Times magazine.  It is one of, if not *the* first Japanese language articles published in Japan on the subject, and features quotes from two Japan CRC participants.  (cached copy)