Over the last decade,there have been more than 100 children with a parent who is a Japanese citizen who have been taken from the Australian parent. That Australia has failed to resolve this is shameful.
I last saw my daughter Hinata (9) and son Harugo (7) on May 15,2019,when they were abducted from our home in Tokyo by their mother without notice or explanation. I have no idea if they are alive or dead,where they are living or if they are attending school as all this information – the right to which is safeguarded under the Japanese constitution and legal codes – has been denied to me by the Japanese police,Family Court and local government.
Japan stands almost alone among developed nations in having sole custody after divorce and the official approach here has long been whoever takes physical possession of a child will be awarded custody.
In what other nation would the widespread abduction of Australian children lead to the Prime Minister lauding the relationship between the two nations as one of"like-minded"partners,as Scott Morrison did this week in Tokyo upon meeting the new Japanese Prime Minister,Yoshihide Suga?
My story is,unfortunately,just one of the thousands that impact foreigners from across the
world who have had a child with a Japanese citizen.
For more than 500 days,I have pleaded with Japanese authorities to provide any form of information as to the whereabouts of my children,over whom I have joint legal and physical custody and with no court-ordered ban preventing me from seeing them. Nobody will tell me where my children are,simply saying their mother does not want me to know and that there is nothing that can be done to stop that.