Another American father denied access to his child

[reppu]

I know a lot of people have heard about the Savoie story lately, the American father who went to Japan and "kidnapped" his own children after his Japanese wife took off with them. Now whether you agree with Savoie or not (I have my own reservations about the man, especially as new details come out), but I think most of us can admit that this is a bad situation all around for those kids, and both parents need to work it out for the betterment of their children's lives.

Recently, a friend of mine named Craig was featured in a CNN news story with the same kind of problem. The Japanese government doesn't allow joint custody and won't enforce differently, even if both parents still retain their original citizenship. I'm a little sad that CNN puts my friend in the same boat as Savoie, since Savoie has some major personality faults, but I guess it's another way to get people to watch without having to do all the background explaining.

Embedded video from CNN Video

My friend also has a website here. All of this makes me so sad, because Craig's a good guy, and he just wants to see his kid. I can't imagine fighting through every available means and still being denied access to your own child. It's totally crazy and really heartbreaking.

Comments

[justsonya.livejournal.com]

I'm finishing up a website for a client of mine. http://www.bringerikahome.com.

He's in Japan right now trying to get his daughter back.

[reppu.livejournal.com]

Maybe other fathers are feeling empowered by Savoie's story? It's so sad that so many fathers are losing custody of their children and the Japanese government isn't doing a thing about it. What they do with their own citizens is their own business, but they should at least work with foreigners and foreign laws about joint custody. That's one of the things I hate about Japan; they never make any quick changes, and if they don't have to change at all, they sure as heck aren't going to be proactive. >__>

Erika is adorable, and for her to grow up her whole life without her father is just so sad. Has he seen her at all? What could the grandmother be telling that child?

[bistrot.livejournal.com]

this is actually a HUGE HUGE problem in Japan (and I really hate how the Japanese media has turned this type of article in the past...aka Japanese = good and doing nothing wrong Foreigner = bad and the children don't deserve to go back because of abuse or whatever which def is not always the case). Because the child isn't JUST a child of the Japanese partner, it is a child of the "foreign" partner as well. :(((

it is the one reservation I have about getting married and having kids here. people in divorces are denied access too (rarely is the other granted the right to see/shared custody etc even if they are perfectly capable of having it).