Parental child abduction is a serious issue of course, but children are abducted by a person who are well familiarized and often trusted by children and are brought to a relatively open and liberal country in many cases. While in the case of North Korea, people are sometimes suddenly attacked by unknown persons and sent to an unknown country with no diplomatic relations with their home country, and then they are often forced to live under a dictatorship with a very little chance to escape from there by their own will.

Anything worth comparing?

(I wrote another comment, but it hasn’t come out yet)

those details do not detract from the hypocrisy in play here on Japan’s part.

But I recognize that the troll quality – let’s call it trollism – is largely in the eye of the beholder. . So you are of course free to define it if you wish as “anyone who disagrees with LB pointedly”.

I am entertained that you consider recruiting Jesus to your idea crusade. I am pretty sure Jesus would use a mac, though. FYI.

However, leitmotiv, knowing your recurring, monotonous theme is just playing the troll (and may I complement you on how well you do it, sir…..) I don’t think you’d get it even if it was laid out for you in a powerpoint presentation by Jesus himself. So I won’t waste any more electrons trying to make it clear for you.

Sorry you think the comparison is completely unreasonable and invalid. Anyone else? Or is it just ponta and LB?

. Perhaps Campbells suggestion to fix problem is the correct one.

Johnson　might say that’s typical colonial attitude, leitmotiv.
And you seem to be very sympathetic to American deadbeat dads
In any case, I don’t think 1) is related to 2) in a meaningful way any more than 1)(or 2)) is related to 3).I cited it to show your analogy fails.

2) Parent is torn away from child – wants to have their child returned.

3) Parent abandons their child – mother and child presumably want the parent to return.

Pretty big difference if you ask me. Either way, the child in all of the situations is going to be pretty screwed up.

I am sorry that the US opted not to help Okinakwa with its education budget shortfalls in the specific way that Ota proposed. Perhaps Campbells suggestion to fix problem in Tokyo is the correct one. Some effective political action could perhap allocate a little less graft money to buy 6 lane highways to abandonded weed-choked resorts or other mal-investments of Japanese pension funds and taxes, and a bit more on education infrastructure in Okinawa. Anyway, I would assume you would be pleased with Campbells insistence on not using US schools to educate Japanese citizens, given Japans well known animosity towards non-Japanese basic education. In effect he perhaps did Ota a favor by helping uphold Japans societal norms in that area.

When wading chest-deep through icky international child custody laws with a country that does not follow international norm, try to avoid abruptly re-abducting your children into an unknown car and speeding to the nearest embassy.

At first I felt so sorry for this guy, but now I know how the initial CNN report was one sided.

Any analogy can be apt at a certain level of abstraction, but lose its value at an unhelpful level of detail.

That’s true and your analogy also lose its value, or it has as little value as an analogy with the hypocrisy where the separation story about mixed parentage described by Ota unfolds, with no legal remedy as late as 2009, nor reasonable international cooperation by the U.S. while urging Japan to sign the convention.

There are an estimated ten thousand children of mixed parentage—offspring of unknown or long-gone American fathers and Okinawan mothers—whom the prefecture is obliged to support and educate.
During his 1998 visit to Washington, Governer Ota indicated to Kurt Campbell, deputy assistance secretary of defence for East Asia and the Pacific, that ” we have a situation in Okinawa where children with dual citizenship and one parent who is American are not receiving an adequate education” He asked that they be allowed to attend schools on the bases free of charge. Cambell, ….fobbed off the seventy-three-year-old Ota with a standard response that disguises the nature of the de facto American colonialism in Okinawa;he urged the governor to take up such issues with the government in Tokyo.

(page 57 Blowback,Chalmers Johnson )

I actually do not understand why a divorced couple must stay in the town where their marriage was ruined to raise their children. Why do US courts routinely decide where the children must live after a divorce? I do not think it their business.

The distance may get longer, but the non-custodial parent can travel to see the children when s/he wanted.

わが子『奪還』の米人元夫　略取容疑、日本で逮捕

　テネシー州の地元テレビによれば、元妻は夏休みに子どもたちを連れて里帰りすることを求め、同州の裁判所は一時帰国に同意。しかし元妻は一度はテネシーに戻ったものの、再び子ども二人を連れて帰国し、日本に残留。裁判所はサボイ容疑者に二人の養育権を認め、地元警察は二人が誘拐されたとして元妻の逮捕状を取った。

　国際離婚した親の片方が一方的に子どもを居住国から連れ出すことは、ハーグ条約（一九八三年発効、八十一カ国が締結）で不法とされているが、日本は締結していない。

連れ去り：離婚した元妻から、通学の２人　容疑者逮捕－－福岡・柳川

　容疑は同日午前７時４５分ごろ、同県柳川市内で、離婚した日本人の元妻と一緒に通学していた小学３年の男児（８）と同１年の女児（６）を無理やり抱きかかえて、自ら運転してきた乗用車に乗せ、連れ去ったとしている。

　元妻が１１０番通報。同日午前９時４０分ごろ、サボイ容疑者が子供を連れ福岡市中央区の米国領事館前に現れ、警戒中の警察官が職務質問し、子供２人を保護した。サボイ容疑者と元妻は３年前に、米国で協議離婚し、親権は元妻にあるという。サボイ容疑者は「子どもに会いたかった」と供述している。

This quote from a Tennessee broadcaster might give some insight into why this all started in the first place:

“I am on the edge of a cliff,” she had written. “I am having more difficulty staying here. It’s very hard to watch [the] kids becoming American and losing [their] Japanese identity.”

Ex-Wife Abducts Two Children, Disappears to Japan

I’m kind of curious to find out what Noriko’s lawyer in the US has to say about all this. He apparently didn’t like Christopher very much, but no other details were given.

I wonder if they are really referring to the permanent resident visa.

Many suspects are forced to sign a confession of guilt,

There are cases of coerced confession in Japan as well as, for instance, in the U.S.

innocent project understand the cause
http://www.innocenceproject.org/understand/Government-Misconduct.php

So what’s your ground for your assertion that Japan is definitely more totalitarian than other 1st world countries?

Since there’s no plea bargaining in Japan and confessions obtained under duress are viewed as infallible evidence

Plea bargaining has its own problem.

Thrown into a jail cell with three other women, Dee is stunned to learn she is being charged not for the hundreds of dollars in parking tickets that she owes but with distributing narcotics in a school zone. Although she is not carrying drugs and none are found in her home, the prosecution claims to have a witness.
Dee’s court-appointed lawyer urges her to take a plea bargain and agree to a 10-year suspended sentence with a small fine, rather than risk serving a 16- to 25-year prison term. When Dee hotly refuses, even her mother thinks she is a fool.

“American Violet,” which is based on real events that took place in late 2000, has the quasi-documentary feel of a well-made television drama

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/movies/17viol.html?_r=2&bl&ex=1240113600&en=d6ec50b20db7579f&ei=5087

And confessions obtained under duress are viewed as void, that’s why people your articles cited were found not guilty.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/30/japan.savoie.children/

The father, Christopher Savoie, apparently became a naturalized Japanese citizen four years ago, listing a permanent address in Tokyo, they said.

Also, the two children at the center of the case hold Japanese passports, they said.

As for a situation in which foreign divorced parent was put,

But most often it’s impossible for people living overseas to get a job at the same level because their qualifications may be based on qualifications that work at home but not in other countries.
（More countries are making it increasingly difficult for custodial or majority care parents to return home with their children after a divorce.
Divorce increases with globalization but the after affects can be bleak for expats.
Author: Divorce Anthropologist | Subject: Self Help Legal Room

http://www.divorce.co.nz/divorce/article/dsp_articledetail.php?article_id=106

So we have stories from two sides, inter-cultural issue, and physical distance of two countries where ex-partners are from.
Someone calling others as “backward nation” without considering such issues must lack either brain or heart. Sorry, but no wonder that, someone, who can’t understand delicate issues of their own (ex-)partner and instead screaming how right he is, ends up in divorce.
I happen to not to believe that parent with such short sighted mind can raise their children well.

I’ve lived in Japan for about 6 years, and though Ajapa exaggerates a bit by calling Japan a “totalitarian police state”, it is definitely more so than other 1st world countries. Many suspects are forced to sign a confession of guilt, for example, see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/world/asia/07iht-japan.1.5596308.html or http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7063316.stm. Since there’s no plea bargaining in Japan and confessions obtained under duress are viewed as infallible evidence, how is this any different than a policeman playing judge, jury and executioner?

Neither did you answer the BBC report criticism about the death penalty in Japan. I doubt anyone thinks Mr. Savoie will get the death penalty, but for those that do, the conditions are questionable at best and of course Japan won’t let anyone investigate the conditions.

At least you claimed that Japan is somehow “unusual” (奇妙) and that Westerners can’t understand it. Perhaps you should actually try to understand the criticism of Japan before playing the nihonjinron card and ignoring it.

Anpontan さんのブログでのコメントを見てみてください。
See his comment on Anpontan

http://ampontan.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/more-from-the-mailbag/#comment-20160

また、同じ場所で、Nigelboyさんが、その問題について、巧みに論じております。
And Nigelboy discussed it ingeniously on the same place.

http://ampontan.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/more-from-the-mailbag/#comment-20144

検察が起訴する率は６０％台とかなり低く、検察があらかじめかなりの司法判断を行っているという事は承知しています（これは問題でもある）。また、逮捕から送検の過程においても様々な判断が入るのでしょうね。

Akirakia, It’s just a joke. I am sure that Japan is not a totalitarian police state. I will summarize Akirakia’s comment by myself below:

1. It is true that criminal trials have a 99% conviction rate in Japan. But this fact, an extraordinary higher rate, is there due to the fact that public prosecutors do not prosecute so often, they tend to prosecute only when they are very confident of victory. So the 99% conviction rate does not imply that 99% of arrested people are given a judgment of guilty at all.

2. In this incident, Christopher Savoie will not be prosecuted since his attempt just failed, and even more, his motive, reason, and attempt for bringing back his children are considered mostly as a matter of civil affair, not a criminal one.

3. For death penalty in Japan, it is true that more than half of Japanese citizen support that. But it can never happen that a suspected person involved in abduction only is sentenced to death penalty. He, Christopher Savoie, will not even go to the court and soon will be released without being prosecuted.

There may be strange things in the Japanese judicial system compared to the western one. But please try to comprehend it properly without having any prejudice. Japan is not a totalitarian nor a police state.
—–

I (Ajapa here) am sorry for introducing confusion.

I can only assume this worked because of a gender bias. “Mothers are the parent that counts” yadda yadda. The same kind of thing happens in the states (though I hear it is changing recently), and it’s a ridiculously sexist approach to custody determination. But it seems to have trumped the gaijin card in this case. Doesn’t make it right, it’s just something that happened.

Other than that, no, I can’t think of any instances where

On the comment made by U.S. Embassy in Tokyo:

“…Parental child abduction is not considered a crime in Japan.”

This is misleading. It is true that the Japanese often talks a comedic story of a miserable husband, who are alienated from his wife, and a stubborn wife, who goes back to her parent’s home along with their children without husband’s consent, are finally reconciled with a pitiful surrender of the husband. The story may bring a suit for divorce but in this case it may not be considered as a comedy but taken seriously. In this sense, “Parental Child Abduction” is often not considered a crime, as long as the family is well-functioning or having enough chance to function properly. Such incident happens for already divorced couples or couples under a divorce suit is completely different matter. If there are conflict between ex-husband and ex-wife, parental child abduction can be treated as a criminal case highly plausibly.

‥というのも、Ajapaさんが、日本の司法制度に対して、あまりにも大きな
誤解をしておられるので、一人の日本人として、コメントしないわけにはいかなかったのです。

どなたか親切な方、すみませんが私のコメントを英訳していただけると助かります。

日本では約99%が裁判で有罪になるのは事実です。しかし、それは、
多くの事件で、容疑者が起訴されないケースが多いからです。
決して「逮捕された容疑者の99%が有罪になる」という意味ではありません。

今回の事件でも、逮捕されたアメリカ人は、恐らく、起訴されないでしょう。
誘拐容疑とは言っても、未遂に終わっている上に、誘拐に至った理由が、
民事上の理由を多数抱えているからです。

また、死刑制度についてですが、日本人の過半数は、確かに死刑制度の
存続を支持していますが、日本の法律では、誘拐を犯した犯人が
死刑になることは決してありません。刑法224条の「未成年に対する誘拐罪」が
適用されたとしても、最大で７年の懲役刑です。
しかも、この事件では未遂に終わっているため、恐らくアメリカ人容疑者は、
裁判にかけられることはなく、不起訴処分として釈放されることでしょう。

どうか、日本の司法制度について、偏見を持たず、正しく理解してもらえるよう
Ajapaさんにお願いします。確かに西洋の司法制度から見れば、奇妙なところも
あるかもしれませんが、日本は決して警察国家でも、全体主義国家でもありません。

どなたか親切な方、すみませんが私のコメントを英訳していただけると助かります。

Being someone’s parent isn’t something that is based on nationality. Speaking of nationality, those two kids are Americans by birth, and presumably by place of birth.

Any analogy can be apt at a certain level of abstraction, but lose its value at an unhelpful level of detail. Yes, the nork abductions are disgusting outrages and yes they were apparently carried out violently by the govt of the repellent “lil kim”. But those details do not detract from the hypocrisy in play here on Japan’s part. The hypocrisy where the abduction story described above unfolds, with no legal remedy as late as 2009, nor reasonable international cooperation by GoJ, while simultaneously Japan badgers the US for its muscle on nork abduction issue and continually tries to link what is essentially an unsolved crime of 12 or so abductions to discussions of tangible and current regional concern, particularly to Japan (i.e., nork nukes – often to the irritation of serious players at the table, like US, Korea, China).

Side note: Japan’s bungling of the DNA evidence, apparently in its zeal to generate sympathetic PR for the nork abductions (which should have been a slam dunk for technically advanced Japan), didn’t win it much sympathy, I am afraid. Japan could win itself more leverage through cooperation and harmonization with RoW on some obvious issues, rather than to tend towards “go-it-alone”.

Here is a video of some other “clueless morons”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko_o6Qm98QM

I think “a foreign woman” means mostlikely an Asian woman from other country, also means non-White, with some exceptions.
You know they usually means Whites, White lookng Hispanics or North American Blacks when Japanese say “Gaijin.” Others are usally reffered as “Gaikokujin.”

“Of the remaining 20% (foreign husband, Japanese woman), less than 1/3 involved a non-Asian partner.”

So does this mean that more than 2/3 of Japanese women who got married with foreign men are involed with Asian partners?
I wonder where they are.
How many j-girls do you know, who got married with other Asian? And how many of them do you know, who got married with White?
A manga about Japanese woman married with a White guy became a huge hit and even became a movie because many j-girls were fascinated with the idea.

Here in New York, very obviously most common interracial couples are White guys – Asian girls. Because of their racial issues, many Asian women try to date with White men even though interracial dating is not encouraged in this society. I do not say it is a White guy’s fault, of course not. I am just telling the reality of the society which people do not talk about.
And I do not know any j-girl who got married with other Asian men in NY, but I know plenty of them who got marrid with White guys.

In Japan, where criminal trials have a 99% conviction rate, the death penalty has wide public support.

Japan is obvious totalitarian police state as I mentioned before somewhere. So, Americans are afraid of Christopher Savoie being sentenced to death penalty with 99% of possibility. Then again, Bill Clinton will be sent to Far East to rescue him. What is the compensation to the Japanese? Turtles?

I think “a foreign woman” means mostlikely an Asian woman from other countries, also means non-White, with some exceptions.
You know they usually means Whites, White lookng Hispanics or North American Blacks when Japanese say “Gaijin.” Others are usally reffered as “Gaikokujin.”

“Of the remaining 20% (foreign husband, Japanese woman), less than 1/3 involved a non-Asian partner.”

So does this mean that more than 2/3 are involed with Asian partners?
How many j-girls do you know, who got married with other Asian? And how many of them do you know, who got married with White?
A manga about Japanese woman married with a White guy became a huge hit and even became a movie because many j-girls are fascinated with the idea.

Here in New York, very obviously most common interracial couples are White guys – Asian girls. Because of their racial issues, many Asian women try to date with White men even though interracial dating is not encouraged in this society. I do not say it is a White guy’s fault, of course not. I am just telling the reality of the society which people do not talk about.

As far as the citizenship I am pretty sure that is her choice. Since her children are American citizens she could easily stay in the US as long as she wanted to. Other than paper work I don’t see how she faced any major obstacles. And from the ages of those kids it looks like she would have already been living there for 7 or 8 years at least.

So yea, stay in the US, abide by the law and maybe be less happy than you want to be for the sake of your kids. Unless there are factors we don’t know that are not in the article it would be an easy decision for me.