SNA (Toronto) — Japan’s questionable single custody system continues to come under fire, with particular attention devoted to the recent hunger strike of Vincent Fichot, a Frenchman who had his children taken from him by his Japanese wife. Less attention, however, has been given to the fact that his campaign resonated with many mothers in Japan as well.

Fichot sat in the shade of the Olympic National Stadium without eating in a desperate bid to regain access to his two young children, who were abducted by their mother three years ago. In an update video on the fourth day of his hunger strike, he stated how some onlookers had been referencing his gender and nationality as reasons for why his wife may have taken his children from him.

“Some people told me there might have been some reasons why my wife abducted the kids and mentioned reasons that were not very nice. So today, I would like to inform you that it also happens to women in Japan,” he responded.

The video featured three Japanese mothers who also had their children taken from them by their spouses.

“I have not been able to see [my children] for three years and four months. Although I have been asking to see them during this time, I have not been able to see either child because of Japan’s [single custody] law,” one of the mothers said.

“I have not seen my children for four and a half years since my husband abducted them. Although I have been asking him to see my children, he only continues to send me photos along with nasty comments,” another mother related.

“Seven years ago, my ex-husband and his family abducted my two boys. I’ve asked to see them many times. I want to see them. I want to hear their voices. Even if I can’t see them, I want to at least give them gifts. I shared my feelings but none of my wishes came true. I believe that it is completely wrong that I cannot even see the children that I gave birth to,” added the third.

On the ninth day of his hunger strike he was visited by over twenty mothers of five different nationalities, all victims of child abduction by their spouses. Each of them stated the number of years they had been forcibly separated from their children, and not a single one of them had been able to regain custody.

One mother who was able to see her children after their abduction could only do so under certain conditions, stating, “I was separated from my children two years ago. I am only allowed to see them only once a month for one hour. Only if it doesn’t rain.”

This is only a small chapter in Japan’s long history of enabling child abduction through its single custody system.

International family law attorney Jeremy Morley told the Shingetsu News Agency recently that one of his clients, a mother from Kyoto, had her twin children taken from her by her father even while she was in the hospital recovering from giving birth.

She is now only able to see her children in a lawyer’s office, in the presence of a lawyer, for two hours once a month.

Morley has also worked with clients in international marriages, and he says that Westerners may have additional difficulty coping with the Japanese custody system. Although Westerners face the same treatment as Japanese natives, “it’s also hard for a Westerner to be understood” in court,  he says.“ The way that Westerners approach these problems is different, and Japanese judges don’t get it.”

To Morley, it is because of such cultural differences that the single custody system seems so much more outrageous through an international lens.

In the event of divorce in Japan, one parent will be awarded full custody of all of their children. This allows for a parent to effectively abduct their own children from the other, making it impossible for the other parent to reverse the situation. Furthermore, there is no system in place to enforce visitation rights, making Japan non-compliant with the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The single custody law is not a part of some ancient Japanese tradition, but instead it is a more recent innovation of the Meiji Era, related to the notion that people belong to a single household.

There is also a reluctance within the Japanese legal system to “interfere” with family life, thus the lack of enforcement of visitation rights.

Co-parenting is considered to be unusual by many Japanese, with some even believing that interacting with a divorced parent is considered detrimental to a child’s upbringing.

In Morley’s view, the system “is not a plot by the Japanese government to abduct children. This is a result of cultural factors, historical factors, and fear [for the child’s well-being].”

Morley believes that the Hague Convention, joined by Japan in 2014, seems to be working in terms of deterring future abductions abroad, but it still has no influence on existing cases, access to visitation, or abductions within Japan.

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