“The winner takes it all”: Japan's controversial sole custody system.
The Association of Doctors for Joint Custody, Japan
Japan is unusual among developed countries in maintaining a sole custody system. This means that "when parents divorce, only one parent may be given parental authority over their child to the complete exclusion of the other parent”. As a result, parent-child disconnection and excessive restrictions on interaction after divorce are taken for granted.
“Around 70% of parents and children in Japan do not have visitation after divorce. Of the approximately 30% who do have visitation, the most frequent type of visitation is day visits of a few hours once a month.”
Around 90% of women are the sole custodians after divorce and most men are non-custodians. Around 70% of parents and children in Japan do not have visitation after divorce. Of the approximately 30% who do have visitation, the most frequent type of visitation is day visits of a few hours once a month.
The general frequency of parent-child interaction indicated by Japanese family courts is only a few hours once a month, which has not changed since 1964. Considering that in the UK, a country with joint custody, more than 70% of divorced people interact with each other more than twice a month after divorce, Japan's view of the post-divorce family is very different from that of other developed countries. “Parental Child Abduction (PCA)” is legal in practice in Japan, as it has been decided that sole custody of the child is to be granted after divorce. Not only that, but in some cases, lawyers direct PCA due to the legal principle that custody is more likely to pass to the party living with the child at the time of divorce. PCA is not a crime in Japan, while re-abduction is punished.
In some cases, people commit suicide because they suffer the painful situation of suddenly not being able to see their loved ones due to the removal of their children by the other parent, potentially for the rest of their lives. Suicides are reported not only of Japanese nationals, but also of non-Japanese nationals who were internationally married to Japanese nationals. As a fellow Japanese, I am truly sorry that they have to suffer such misery as a result of their love for Japanese people.
“one lawyer specialising in divorce cases states that 'if the other party in the divorce case [described in the blog as the morally harassed husband] committed suicide, then the divorce issue is solved once and for all'.”
When a Parental Child Abduction occurs, the suddenly separated parent (often the father) will apply for visitation mediation in order to see the child. The quality of Japanese mediators is not guaranteed, as anyone over the age of 40 can become a mediator in Japan. Japanese mediations are not allowed to be recorded, and separated parents in Japan are often treated in a discriminatory manner. Therefore, when a person suddenly cannot see his or her child and goes to visitation mediation, a common question from the mediator is: "Why do you want to see your child?" Not only do they suffer from parent-child disconnection, but also discriminatory treatment that denies parents genuine love for their children.
As a result of visitation mediation, it takes an average of six months for parents and children to resume their parent-child relationship after a sudden separation. If a child is reunited with you after a long time and their attitude has changed dramatically from being loving to hostile, if you are separated from them forever because of this, and no one around you understands how you feel.
The situation surrounding divorce in Japan is considered dire. An article on President Online states that the correlation between suicide and divorce rates in Japan over the period 1968-2019 was high for men, with a correlation coefficient of 0.91, while there was virtually no correlation at all for women, with a correlation coefficient of 0.03. This means that suicide among Japanese men increases as divorce increases, while suicide among Japanese women is unrelated to divorce. The official data on suicide is the 2021 White Paper on Suicide Prevention published by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, shows the suicide rate by marital relationship: the suicide rate for married men is 16.8 per 100,000, while the suicide rate for divorced men is 101.0 per 100,000. For women, the married suicide rate is 7.3 per 100,000 and the divorce suicide rate is 24.9 per 100,000).
“If child is abused by ex-spouse or ex-spouse's partner and there is an incident, this is not communicated to the non-custodial parent, and he might only find out about it in front of the TV.”
As mentioned earlier, in Japan, approximately 90% of women have sole custody after divorce, and approximately 70% of children and non-custodial parents have parent-child disconnection after divorce. It is not difficult to imagine that parents who are separated from their children choose to commit suicide after suffering so much. Despite many tragic incidents in Japan, there is a cold eye towards those who commit suicide because they can no longer see their children after divorce. A blog by one lawyer specialising in divorce cases states that 'if the other party in the divorce case [described in the blog as the morally harassed husband] committed suicide, then the divorce issue is solved once and for all'. This lawyer opposes joint custody legislation and has been invited to appear on television debate programmes on family law.
The fact that a lawyer who has written a blog with such discriminatory content has been invited to participate in a TV special on family law gives a glimpse into Japan's awareness of human rights. Most countries except Japan have a joint custody system. According to a survey by the Japanese Ministry of Justice, only Japan in the G7 and Japan, India and Turkey in the G20 still have sole custody systems. Developed countries also originally had sole custody systems, but after the ratification of “the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)” in the 1990s, more countries changed their laws to joint custody systems.
“In 2019, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Japan should introduce a shared custody system"
In Japan, where parent-child disconnection and limited interaction is the norm, there is no way to help if one's own child is being abused after divorce. If child is abused by ex-spouse or ex-spouse's partner and there is an incident, this is not communicated to the non-custodial parent, and he might only find out about it in front of the TV. In Japan, tragic cases of child abuse by single parents and their partners are reported daily. It is a disheartening feeling to imagine some parents grieving in front of the TV, thinking that frequent interaction, including overnight stays, could have helped them.
In 2019, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Japan should introduce a "shared custody system" to guarantee the "right of the child" to maintain parent-child relationships and direct exchanges between separated parents and children.
In 2020, an EU Parliament resolution was adopted by 686 votes in favour and one against, calling on the Japanese Government to take measures to prohibit the unilateral removal of children from EU Member States to Japan, in view of the high number of Parental Child Abduction by Japanese parents. In addition, the UK Government's website has a warning about child abduction by Japanese parents, and in Australia, a special programme on child abduction by Japanese parents was broadcast during prime time. Despite this strong domestic and international criticism, the Tokyo High Court, in a case challenging the unconstitutionality of the removal of children by their parents in September 2023, stated that it had "no strong criticism of current family court practice".
The Legislative Council of the Ministry of Justice was set up in March 2021, and after discussions, a draft outline for the amendment of the law was issued in August 2023. However, there are concerns that the proposed amendments may be a sham. The bill could separate parental and custodial rights and allow only narrowly defined parental rights (property management and legal representation) to be joint, and if this passes, parent-child disconnection after divorce, excessive restrictions on interaction and removal of children by their parents are expected to continue.
External pressure may be the only way for the country of Japan to change properly. We hope that this issue will be widely known and disseminated to everyone who sees this in order to resolve the issue of sole custody in Japan, which can be seen as a violation of human rights.
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Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, legal advice, or other professional opinion. Never disregard such advice because of this article or anything else you have read from the Centre for Male Psychology. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of, or are endorsed by, The Centre for Male Psychology, and we cannot be held responsible for these views. Read our full disclaimer here.
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