After more than three decades and a lot of pressure from Western Governments, Japan has finally adopted the international treaty to prevent parental child abductions during messy divorce cases.  Both houses of Parliament approved it, and it will take another year for Japan to fully ratify the treaty.

Japan is the last Group of Eight (G8) nation to approve the 1980 treaty that sets out procedures for handling international child custody disputes.  Parents who have had their children abducted and taken to Japan by ex-spouses have long complained they cannot get fair treatment from Japan, calling it the country a “legal black hole” into which their children disappear.

One high profile case involves US Navy Commander Paul Toland, who lost custody of his daughter Erika after his marriage with his Japanese wife broke down.  Toland says he was greeted with derision when he went to a Japanese Family Court to seek visitation rights:  “When I said I wanted to see Erika on weekends, the judge and the attorneys in the room laughed.”

Toland was unable to regain custody even after his ex-wife committed suicide.  Their daughter now lives with her maternal grandmother who is refusing to allow access.