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Kyung Lah interviews Christopher Savoie

CNN’s Kyung Lah was able to interview Christopher Savoie, a Japanese citizen (an American passport holder?) who was arrested earlier this week for “abducting” his children and trying to take them back to America, where a court has stripped his Japanese ex-wife of their custody:

Savoie chose his words carefully, lest police Officer Toshihiro Tanaka cut short the rare interview Savoie was granted with CNN on Thursday. There were so many rules: No recording devices. No tough questions. Speak only in Japanese.

“I want Americans to know what’s happening to me,” Savoie continued in Japanese. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Children have the right to see both parents. It’s very important for my children to know both parents.”

Both the news video and Kyung Lah’s article about the interview were posted on the CNN website a few hours ago. Remarkably, she fails to mention key details that Mainichi and the Associated Press have been reporting for some time now, most notably the fact that the children has spent almost all of their lives in Japan.

A new Associated Press article has interviewed a friend of Christopher’s ex-wife to get her side of the story:

Noriko Savoie did not have court permission to bring the children to the country where they had spent most of their lives, and Christopher Savoie says he didn’t do anything wrong when he tried to get them back.

Court records and conversations with a friend, Miiko Crafton, make it clear that Noriko Savoie was hurt and angry from the divorce and chafing at the cultural differences.

She had no income when she moved to the U.S. in June 2008, divorce court filings show, and appears to have been totally dependent on Christopher Savoie, who was still legally her husband but was involved with another woman.

Crafton, a native of Japan who befriended Noriko Savoie during her short time in Tennessee, said her friend tried to get a divorce while the couple still lived in Japan, but her husband had refused and later persuaded her to move to the U.S. with the children.

“Everything was provided so she could begin a new lifestyle, but right after that he gave her divorce papers,” Crafton said. “So basically she was trapped.”

Although financially stable — she was awarded close to $800,000 in cash as well as other support in the divorce — Noriko Savoie was not free to return to Japan. She was given primary custody of the children, but her ex-husband was also awarded time with them.

She felt mistreated by the courts and emotionally abused by her ex-husband, Crafton said.

We appear to have a mess on our hands. I had originally believed it was a good thing that American media outlets had decided to give some major attention to the issue of child abductions and Japan’s non-membership in the Hague Convention, but it now looks like they made a big mistake in placing most of their focus on the complicated Savoie case. I fear that this could damage the chances of winning Japanese sympathy for this issue, something that won’t help the many other foreign parents who are seeking policy change from Japan.

Note: Kyung Lah has joined Twitter, apparently as a means of spreading the word about her exclusive interview with Savoie. This should make her more accessible to readers, and perhaps even make her aware of some of the problems with her reporting style.

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121 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - October 2, 2009 at 9:13 am

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags: child abduction, Christopher Savoie, CNN, Kyung Lah

HamachiMan

When it comes to anything Japan related, never let the facts get in the way of a good story putting the country and its people in a very bad light. Really, any “journalist” doesn’t have to do much when it comes to making Japan/Japanese feel bad. The world audience automatically assumes that the “Japan/Japanese side” is always the wrong one. Because, as we all know, the country is so corrupt and xenophobic and behind the times.
- leitmotiv
  
  Really, any “journalist” doesn’t have to do much when it comes to making Japan/Japanese feel bad.
  
  Is Japan as a whole so thin-skinned? Can you be a little bit more condescending towards Japanese people? Your sarcasm implies that there are obviously other countries that dont suffer such a foreign media conspiracy. Which ones are those?
  - Stereo
    
    CNN lacks ethics.
    Why do they not report the fact that these kids are raised in JAPAN until June 2008 and that the divorce proceedings were filed on the day after they and their mother arrived at the US?
    
    http://wtvf.images.worldnow.com/images/incoming/Investigates/savoie2.pdf
    page 121 line 17
    Judge “The papers were filed on June the 16th, 2008 . I don’t know that you can glean it from the file, but I believe that that was, in fact, the day after she got here.”
    - leitmotiv
      
      CNN lacks ethics.
      
      You say that like it just occurred to you this week. Did you somehow miss US news coverage of that Iraq invasion thingy? The 2008 election? Global mortgage crisis?
      
      Maybe whatever you wish to say would be more clear if you mention the news organizations that are ethical, at least to your personal standards – whatever they are.
    - Stereo
      
      Stupid argument. When I say spade a spade, do I also need to say something that is not a spade?
    - leitmotiv
      
      No, you just ought to be reasonably clear so people might understand what you are trying to say. Thus far you have failed. Your comment is only tangentially related to what I said originally. What I suggest above is an attempt to help you. Good luck with those simmering hostilities, OK?
  - Ajapa
    
    I can’t get your point but let me say some.
    
    Nearly all of the world media are more or less corrupt. English-language, especially some of British and American, media are hugely influencial to the world. Language-minority peoples often are irritated and complain about those world-influencial mainstream media’s report being biased, misleading, misinforming, or full of prejudice, despite of the fact that they rarely have a way to show their opinion and to tell the truth. They, those world-influencial mainstream media, often pretend or claim that they are fighting for social justice and are eliminating prejudice.
    
    Harsh attack toward such a media like CNN might be allowed due to their large world influence.
    - leitmotiv
      
      Are you suggesting that Japan unfairly does not have a voice internationally via media etc? If so, I dont buy it.
    - Ajapa
      
      What? Are you going to confuse me again? Or just asking me more clarification?
      
      Are you suggesting that Japan unfairly does not have a voice internationally via media etc? If so, I dont buy it.
      
      Japan could have a voice internationally via media etc, fairly enough. But it does not necessarily mean that everyone check Japanese media or voices of some Japanese cited by foreign media (which might have been already biased) to keep their opinion unbiased. The majority of the audience are (a little) lazy, lazy enough to never make an effort to check every facts and keep their opinion unbiased. Some of them just want to be entertained by sensational and scandalous news stories.
      
      Aside that, your responce is completely irrelevant as I am talking about ordinary people, not media persons, academics, politicians, nor diplomats who might (often wrongly) be considered as representatives of a group of people, suffering from biased and often stereotypical reports made by foreign (to them) media. It can hardly be believed that they, language minorities who can’t use English, can have a voice internationally via media etc. A brave woman may send a letter written in terribly poor English or in her mother tongue repeatedly to show her opinion. Do you assume that editors or director of media are mostly kind persons, kindly enough to take her claim (from a bunch of other claims) seriously and then pay every effort to publish an opinion viewed from her side? The equality of opportunity and the lack of balance, balance in many aspect, are some of my point.
      
      Are you suggesting that everyone all over the world fairly do have a voice internationally via media etc? If so, I dont buy it.
http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

So she consents to move to the U.S. and is awarded almost a million dollars, cash, in a divorce settlement yet feels mistreated by the courts. Because, apparently, making sure she doesn’t flee the country to ensure both parents have access to their kids constitutes mistreatment.

IHMO that you keep banging the drum about the fact that the case is “complicated” and therefore doesn’t merit the attention it’s garnered is absurd. Do you somehow think there’s a single divorce or child abduction case not fraught with complications, different perspectives and emotional baggage?
- http://www.japanprobe.com James
  
  Do you somehow think there’s a single divorce or child abduction case not fraught with complications, different perspectives and emotional baggage?
  
  Certainly not, but I do think this particular case is a bad example to put forward as the focus of the child abduction issue.
  
  I believe so because:
  
  1) The children in this case only moved to the United States last year, after having grown up in Japan.
  
  2) Both parents are Japanese citizens.
  
  3) At the time Christopher convinced Noriko and the children to move to America, he was apparently already intending to divorce his wife. (At the very least, their marriage appears to have been in serious trouble.)
  
  Child custody disputes are never simple, but picking this case as the most newsworthy example of a Japanese child abduction was a bad idea.
  
  They could have picked one of the many other child abduction cases that involved:
  
  1) Children who had actually spent most of their lives living in the United States.
  
  2) Parents who both lived in the United States for years before any divorce took place
  
  3) A foreign parent (not a foreign parent that is also a Japanese citizen and lists a permanent address in Tokyo)
  - steve
    
    And another to your list of reasons this case is so whacked:
    
    4) 2-year provisional green card. I am only assuming she received permanent residency because is hard to imagine her living in the US without it. But unless the laws have been change recently, when a spouse first applies from permanent residency, he/she receives only a temporary green card that must be renewed in 2 years (for another 10) with proof that the couple is still married
    
    So how was this supposed to fly?
    - hudsucker
      
      No, that ain’t right. If you move to the U.S. with/to be with your spouse, you get a sticker in your passport that acts as a green card and then when you hit the border, they start the process to send you the card which is good for two years. Unless it differs country by country.
    - steve
      
      That is what I said.
      
      You get a green card that is good for only 2 years. I didn’t see the need to go into all the specifics, as the only relevant part is that after 2 years you need a new green card and to get this new green card you have to prove you are still married.
      
      What varies by country is what you have to do to prove you are still married.
      
      You are correct about what happens when the spouse first lands at US customs.
    - hl
      
      I wonder how you get that sticker when your spouse is a foreign citizen as well?
  - http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob
    
    Wife goes to America. Gets divorce. Abides by divorce decree in taking almost a million dollars. Violates divorce decree and custodial rights granted by illegally fleeing back to her home country.
    
    Everything else “complicated” is projection, conjecture and Monday morning cornerbacking.
- Ty
  
  “Because, apparently, making sure she doesn’t flee the country to ensure both parents have access to their kids constitutes mistreatment.”
  
  He’s JAPANESE.
  
  Don’t you get it?
  - Mr. USA
    
    “He’s JAPANESE.
    
    Don’t you get it?”
    
    Even if you say it a million times, there are some idiots out there who won’t hear it.
- ningen
  
  They were married for 14 years, and he apparently had lots of money made in Japan after his doctorate studies in Japan, probably funded by the Japanese government. Jurisdiction for child custody issues is a separate issue, because the children lived in Japan until a day or two before the Tennessee divorce started. Yes, Japanese law on joint parenting following a divorce needs serious reform, but the father is the one that wanted a divorce so he could remarry. Yes, I understand his desire to get a court that would ensure he could see the children. However, the Tennessee court’s jurisdiction to handle child custody issues is very questionable. She may have agreed to that jurisdiction, but did she have any real choice?
  
  I think that in essence, he bought a favorable court to force his ex-wife and kids to live in Tennessee for the convenience of him and his new wife. And now, the Tennessee court is using, as one of its reasons for granting full custody to the father, the ex-wife’s reaction to all this as supposed evidence of “mental instability.”
  
  I think an argument can be made that the Tennessee court overstepped its jurisdiction and essentially abducted the children from their home state and habitual environment. This is the very harm the Hague Convention is designed to prevent.
ponta

“I want Americans to know what’s happening to me,” Savoie continued in Japanese. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Children have the right to see both parents. It’s very important for my children to know both parents.”

But Japanese authorities disagree

It sometimes happens America won’t guarantee visitation after Divorce

WHY I’M WRITING THIS UP
BECAUSE EVEN AMERICA WON’T GUARANTEE VISITATION AFTER DIVORCE
Debito Arudou・・・・・
America, unlike Japan, guarantees nice things post-divorce such as joint custody and visitation rights. So I assumed that I would have more rights in America than Japan.

Perhaps I do. But as Ontario County Sheriff’s Officer Jaus advised me (he was very friendly, constructive, and thorough, not to mention sympathetic to my plight; he had never seen a case like this before, and said he would forever remember it), I need an attorney to have my rights enforced. ・・・・
In sum, I needed a judge’s decision specifically granting me access to Amy in the United States. Short of that, he said, his hands were tied. He would have to follow Amy’s wishes even as a minor, as represented in Herb and Bernadine’s judgment.

debito.org/homecoming2007.html

But it is misleading to say a parent has no visitation right in Japan.
A parent has a visitation right granted by the court in Japan.
司法統計に見る面接交渉権の実態
http://www.102.jimusho.jp/0507.htm#04
hudsucker

Kyung Lah… Kyung Lah… Kyung Lah… Eeeeeh? Where have I heard that name before. Her linkedin site says “she hopes to tell accurate, meaningful and important stories.”

Oh, I got it now. She told the story about the racist Japanese depicting a monkey as Obama, raising the ire of black people who said the Japanese should have figured out the derogatory association between African-Americans and monkeys, even though it is an association many even from other English speaking countries saturated with wouldn’t make.

http://www.clipser.com/watch_video/398349

That was meaningful and important. An incisive look into Japanese racism. It must be those feelings of inferiority Japanese men have because their wives want to hang out with foreigners. Japanese men are disgusting. Everybody knows that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eit_AI2efNs

Meaningful and important. Meaningful and important. What’s next? An incisive, accurate and meaningful look at U.S.-Japan relations?

http://video.baamboo.com/watch/2/video/698698

And here you are thinking that Japanese hated both black people and themselves. What gave you that idea?

I sense a sort of pattern here. It is called sensationalism based on stereotypes that need to be searched for or implied by journalists in Japan. I could go on about the suicide forest, etc, but I won’t.

I’m in favour of Japan signing the Hague Treaty, but sensationalising stories by leaving key facts out so that you sympathise with a “side” is not the way to pressure them to do it.
- ponta
  
  Another example in which she is not accurate.
  
  Brazilians paid to leave 2:41
  Japan pays out of work Brazilians to leave the country, in an effort to curb unemployment. CNN’s Kyung Lah reports.
  June 22, 2009
  
  Catch: It’s one way ticket, They can’t come back
  
  But the program has been amended to allow for re-entry after three years,and it was reported in Japanese media as early as May 11th.
  
  日系人の帰国支援事業　再入国制限は原則３年間
  
  2009年5月11日21時12分（朝日）
- straydog16
  
  OK, sensationalism and stereotypes figuring prominently in Western stories about Japan? Definitely, but I think Kyung Lah takes this stuff to a new level. We have CNN on in our office all day (I’m a journalist) and every time one of her reports from Japan comes on, you can bet it’s going to focus on the ridiculous or the shocking, and she’s going to put her anti-Japan bias is going to show front and center.
hudsucker

“saturated with American culture”
Simon

Apparently Mr Savoie is in the “two wrongs make a right” camp.

1. My ex-wife took my kids. BAD!
2. I’ll go and do the same thing. Also BAD, right? Well, not when (1) was a bad thing.
3. MYTH BUSTED!
Tensigh

It’s kind of funny – the Japanese ex-wife got away with something the ex-husband tried to do.

The US courts gave her some freedom which she used to abduct her kids. Let’s face it, she knew EXACTLY what she was doing. Then he tried to do the same thing and got caught. I have to say I feel a little sympathetic towards the father. He may not be a perfect person but it sounds like he’s less in the wrong on this one.

The fact that the kids were raised almost entirely in Japan is irrelevant. Their father was born in America and their mother agreed to move to the States. Unless there’s physical abuse involved (and there hasn’t been any mention of it yet), then she didn’t have a right to move the children away from their father. She agreed to move, the courts had decided on custody and she took advantage of it. I guess the moral of the story is abducting your children is okay as long as you get away with it.

This brings up another point about Japanese law involving international matters. Japan wants to consider itself a player in the international realm but then still reserves the rights to hold all of its cards. They claim they won’t extradite to the US but other nations have extradition treaties based on a nation-to-nation basis. Same with international driver’s licenses. Japan will DEPORT people who use them for over a year, even if you renew and I think they’re the only country that does this. I love Japan but legally Japan likes to play cards with other people as long as they’re the dealer.

And does anyone else find it funny that the father is called an “American” in the Japan Times even though he has Japanese citizenship? I guess citizenship doesn’t matter if you don’t look Asian.
- Ponta
  
  The fact that the kids were raised almost entirely in Japan is irrelevant.
  
  When considering the best interest of the children, I think it is a very important factor.
  
  I guess the moral of the story is abducting your children is okay as long as you get away with it.
  
  From a Japanese parent’s perspective, the moral of the story would be that when you raised the children in Japan and the her husband want her to come to the U.S. for divorce, don’t take your children with you; visit him alone, or have him come to Japan for divorce.
  
  . Same with international driver’s licenses. Japan will DEPORT people who use them for over a year, even if you renew and I think they’re the only country that does this.
  
  Are you sure?
  退去強制
  http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%80%80%E5%8E%BB%E5%BC%B7%E5%88%B6
  - Tensigh
    
    >>When considering the best interest of the children, I think it is a very important factor.<>From a Japanese parent’s perspective, the moral of the story would be that when you raised the children in Japan and the her husband want her to come to the U.S. for divorce, don’t take your children with you; visit him alone, or have him come to Japan for divorce.<<
    
    You said something important – "From a Japanese parent's perspective". Again, sounds like it's Japan-centric thinking. Somehow, life in Japan is just better, and all other considerations be damned.
    
    But you also said something else; she consented to coming to the US. Even if she wasn't 100% sure, she came on her own free will. It seems like she's trying to play the victim here that she moved to the US and then she had no clue that her husband was going to divorce her. I don't know all of the circumstances, but it seems like if you're having problems and you don't want to leave Japan, don't do it. The husband can't make you come, and he can't force the kids. If you consent you can't turn around and run off with the kids. That was an actual crime.
    
    Sorry, didn't mean to bite anyone's head off. This case has gotten me a little riled up. The driver's license thing almost happened to a friend of mine, so that was anecdotal. But Japan has been pretty insistent that people who use IDP for over a year can get into trouble.
    - ponta
      
      “You said something important – “From a Japanese parent’s perspective”. Again, sounds like it’s Japan-centric thinking”
      
      Okay I’ll rephrase it. From the perspective of mother who raised international children in her country.
      How about that?
      
      “she consented to coming to the US. Even if she wasn’t 100% sure, she came on her own free will.”
      
      We don’t know the circumstance under which she has decided to visit the U.S. All we know is from her friend’s testimony that “her husband had refused and later persuaded her to move to the U.S. with the children”
      It is most likely that she knew that he wanted the divorce, but at the same time, according to the court transcripts, it does not mean she is emotionally accepting of that, and it is likely that her emotional attachment has not ended even as she sit in the court.
      
      ”
      The driver’s license thing almost happened to a friend of mine, so that was anecdotal.”
      Am I correct in assuming that after all it didn’t happen to a friend of yours.
      
      ”
      But Japan has been pretty insistent that people who use IDP for over a year can get into trouble.”
      
      I am afraid anybody who use IDP that is not renewed will be in trouble in any country.
Nate

I have to say, once the facts started showing up in the AP that she was tricked its obvious that this story is NOT a good example for the 100+ US children abducted to Japan.

I do wonder if he believed in two years she would be sent back to Japan. The reason I say this is because she would have come on a CR1 visa. Once she arrives she has a 2 year green card, at 2 years she must lift conditions where she would need a waiver for divorce. To get this waiver she must prove the marriage was in good faith…unfortunately I know USCIS and the immediate divorce upon arrival would raise red flags against her.

Its too bad the US court didn’t take into account that she was basically held hostage in the US.
- Ajapa
  
  I haven’t understood well about the Hague Convention concerning on this issue, so it may too careless to argue on this matter but…
  
  I have to say, once the facts started showing up in the AP that she was tricked its obvious that this story is NOT a good example for the 100+ US children abducted to Japan.
  
  It is surely not a good example for American men who want their children back. But you can still suspect that some of the 100+ U.S. children might have been abducted under somewhat similar conditions.
  
  Many Japanese women might have fought in her divorce suit under great disadvantages in thier husband’s home country. The judge may have a tendency to suspect their ability to rear children for vaious (often rational) reasons: She has not been well adopted to the society as yet. Her language skill is not good enough or even terrible to live in there. She can’t get enough support from others, e.g. friends, her family, and relatives, at there. In addition to these, there can be various other reasons mainly caused by the fact that she had not grown up or lived enough long in that country. Hence, the judge may impose many severe (to mothers but not to fathers) conditions upon mothers to prevent children being reared under unpredictable and undesirable circumstances.
  
  The above issue is not something the Hague Convention covering, isn’t it? Are there any unbiased and serious research on what drove these mothers to take such bold, outrageous, and extreme behaviour? I think it is a problem that Japan has not signed the treaty regardless of this incident, but maybe there are something more should be told.
  - fg
    
    Yes you make a very good point. That’s what I suspected also. More than a few Japanese mother’s were probably thrown in court unprepared on foreign turf.
    I know many cases where the couples get married despite language and cultural barriers because it gave them an illusion of “affection without words.” Then suddenly reality hits them and usually the western guy becomes overly rational, where as the Japanse or Asian woman becomes emotionally defensive. But at that point they already have kids.
    The same is probably true for a American father thrown into a Japanese court.
    I have my doubts that the Hague Convention will take all that intricacy in account.
    - Ajapa
      
      Off topic though…
      
      I know many cases where the couples get married despite language and cultural barriers because it gave them an illusion of “affection without words.” Then suddenly reality hits them and usually the western guy becomes overly rational, where as the Japanse or Asian woman becomes emotionally defensive.
      
      There may exist a problematic attitude in the Japanese media and magazines. They sometimes depict the international marriage as a highest of romantic story and induce young women to adore it. And sadly, a woman who honors “affection without words” too much could be the one who are not good at self-expression and debate highly plausibly. It must cause a terrible problem when she is thrown into the court and become a party to a suit.
      
      The same is probably true for a American father thrown into a Japanese court.
      
      Indeed, there can be much hardness to them too. But the situation might be very different. In my opinion, the Japanese have been shaken their way on the matter of interfamily issue nowadays. There might be still much ambiguity and vagueness, for especially Americans, in the treatment of families getting gradually dysfunctional or already divorced, in the judical system and the attitude of the police.
      
      It is somewhat strange to hear that many children were abducted by Japanese or Asian women. Asian women are often supposed to be very submissive and not having strong will. Some even argue that these nature of Asian women are good reason for choosing them as a wife. So then, suppose that these stereotypes are mostly true, how can these submissive, timid, and uncourageous women take such an outrageous but courageous (from one’s viewpoint) action? Just a simple answer, “because she is a mother”, is enough? I don’t know how many people who had gotten married with an Asian woman were tainted with such stereotypes or prejudice. However, there might be something to be investigate by scholars, e.g. sociologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists.
      
      There seem to be still many international and intercultural agreement or understanding to be required.
    - Anuraag
      
      Hopefully something changes somewhere so stuff like this doesn’t happen again, poor kids… :/
      
      People are talking about the Hague Convention; I know nothing about the Hague Convention asides from what’s written on Wikipedia, but I wonder if signing it would prevent situations like these. It seems that what led up to these unfortunate events is that Christopher wanted to protect his visitation rights with his kids, which is natural for any father. Since he wasn’t confident he could ensure this in Japan (I don’t know if this was well-founded since I don’t know how divorce works here – most of the articles about this issue conservatively preface “no visitation rights for the father” with “usually”, and a friend of mine would see her father at least once a year, which may not really count as visitation by American standards) so he came up with a loophole that would ensure visitation rights by divorcing in American courts (as ridiculous as it may seem to get married in Japan, live there for years, having kids born and raised there to then immediately divorce in the US). He was then able to convince the courts that his wife may run away with the kids to Japan, where he again would not have visitation rights (is this true?), and they put a restraining order on Noriko. This of course had the side-effect of getting him everything he wants while Noriko is left to somehow survive in a country that she likely did not want to go to in the first place. This is despite the fact that Noriko was actually granted custody of the children with visitation rights given to Christopher. I would think it reasonable to think it’s up to the one with custody to live wherever she may like and the father can then figure out how to arrange visits… It would hurt to be the father, but no one (or state since in this case it’s probably Tennessee’s screwup) should have the ability to force someone to live in a country against their will without a really good reason. Maybe it even breaks some international treaty somewhere.
      
      So I guess the point I’m confused on is, if there was no limitation on Noriko and the kids’ travel imposed, she would probably have left to live in Japan with the kids. Would she then have the ability to prevent Christopher from seeing the kids (what I can see as the only justification for the courts to limit her travel in the first place) due to Japanese law? And would signing the Hague Convention prevent this?
    - Ajapa
      
      Anuraag,
      
      I’m not very sure about this issue and I’m not a lawyer.
      
      Since he wasn’t confident he could ensure this in Japan … so he came up with a loophole that would ensure visitation rights by divorcing in American courts …
      
      It is not clear in what amount Christopher Savoie actually knew about the Japanese civil laws and the typical process of divorce done in Japan. He might have consulted with his lawyer since he was a long resident and had started his buisness in Japan. There are several known facts as a legal issue:
      
      1. Joint custody is basically not adopted in Japan but exceptional cases seem to exist for children with dual nationality.
      
      2. There are no substantive enactment regarding the visitation right and payment for rearing children. The popular interpretation as a positive law is such that they are considered independent from the custody issue and an analogical application of the Civil Code Article 766 is supposed to give a legal basis for them.
      
      To summarize, things are very ambiguous (at least to me, not lawyer) and Christopher Savoie might have nothing confident too. Many people are now participating in the activity for legislation or substantive enactment of the visitation right itself as divorce is getting more common in the Japanese society.
      
      It can not be clearly stated if his usage of “loophole” is justified or supported. He got his rights but he might have driven his ex-wife into an unusual mind state. He might get visitation rights satisfactory to him if he or his lawyer could have negotiated well with his ex-wife, Noriko, or her lawyer even in Japan. But it is not sure if their agreement would have properly managed since it lacks strong legal force.
      
      So I guess the point I’m confused on is, if there was no limitation on Noriko and the kids’ travel imposed, she would probably have left to live in Japan with the kids.
      
      Some argue that Noriko had given only very limited rights to travel with her kids outside of the U.S. because Japan had not signed the Hague Convention yet. It is the Hague Convention that ensures the rights to bring abducted children back to the appropriate person.
      
      Would she then have the ability to prevent Christopher from seeing the kids (what I can see as the only justification for the courts to limit her travel in the first place) due to Japanese law?
      
      I think, she could not prevent him from seeing the kids legally, unless there were troubles like child abuse or domestic violence caused by him. They are in a separation but still married in Japan. So, he could take a legal action to demand a contact with his kids, but maybe, he must have kept his bigamy status or divorce in the U.S. secret?
      
      And would signing the Hague Convention prevent this?
      
      I’m not sure too, but according to others’ explanation…
      
      Suppose that Japan had signed the Hague Convention long before, Noriko and her kids might have gone back to Japan after the divorce suit as they had long been residents in Japan. Then, if Christopher abduct his kids and forcibly bring them back to the U.S., the U.S. government must pay an effort to recapture those kids for Noriko by her request, right?
- ningen
  
  I wonder how the Tennessee court had jurisdiction over child custody matters in the first place. The divorce action started within a day or two of the children arriving in Tennessee.
SWater

For some reason, this unpleasant incident reminds me of “Fanny and Alexander (1982),” in which the mother was forced to choose either getting divorced with no custody of her two children or staying with her abusive husband as a hostage. In both cases, the mother felt she and children were trapped, and the mother was desperate to smuggle her children out of the house (country).
steve

Debito says:

As more information comes to light about the Savoie Case, I will admit for the record, in all intellectual honesty, that there are a number of circumstances that, as commenters point out, detract from supporting husband Christopher as a “poster child” for the push to get Japan to sign the Hague Convention.
http://www.debito.org/?p=4618

Also Debito posted excerpts from the court records. I have not verified that these are correct and used in the proper context.

Debito also says:

She came to the US willingly, knowing how things would turn out (i.e. divorce, not reconciliation):

(pg 121)
THE COURT: And she clearly understood that when she was
coming to the United States, she wasn’t coming
here to reconcile . And it was clear she came here knowing that
her husband was involved with another woman, and
she came here knowing that he wanted a divorce

http://www.debito.org/?p=4614

What a mess indeed.
- Ponta
  
  I wonder why Debito didn’t mention the affair.
  
  page 71
  Q And so you as parent coordinators decided that they needed not to communicate directly each other.isn’t that right?
  
  A Correct
  
  Q And there was something about the divorce, and the affair, the relationship with what’s now is his new wife and the failing to funds in those e-mails, along the way Ma’am?
  
  A Quite frankly, there were so many e-mails that those of specifics you’re losing me a little.
  
  Q But they were difficult and unconfortable. Is that right.
  
  A Yes.
  
  page 97
  Q ….but you specifically threatened him on Feburary 12. 2009, and said if you don’t do things I want you to do, basically I am taking your children to Japan
  
  A I actually clearly remember that email—That was verry very—at the peak of my frustration that my ex-husband threatened—I divorced month ago—-and he actually married three days before that e-mail. He remarried a person—a woman whom he was having an affair, so I was very depressed—-but also angry.
  - Tensigh
    
    The wife called it an affair — has the husband admitted to this? I don’t know for sure (I’m not calling him a saint) but the ex-wife calling it an affair doesn’t make it so.
Red

So he walks out on his wife with another woman, yet persuades her to come to the US, in a sneaky way to get a divorce hearing more biased towards him, and the wife and kids are supposed to spend the rest of her lives in Tennessee, (not the most cosmopolitan of places) so he can screw around?
And he was possibly hoping the wife might have been deported after two years, too, leaving him with the kids?

Sounds like a devious prick to me.
I’m glad his scheme back-fired!

Plus, by pulling his gung-ho kidnapping act, he’s blown the chances of all the divorced guys with legitimate grievances ever getting access to their kids.
Daz

The law is the law..she broke it…and whatever he ‘may’ have done to her is just another reason why Japan needs to sign the Hague Convention to safeguard it’s citizens too.Until Japan signs the convention and does away with the discrimination in the koseki making a foreign parent a ‘biko’ or additional note,then I will support the non-Japanese spouse every time, as the Japanese government does not even recognise them as the legal spouse or parent and the playing field is not level.
- http://popjisyo.com Sorede!?
  
  Well if you want argue Hague Convention, it specifies that the children should be returned to their country of “habitual residence” which is Japan.
- somegirl
  
  I am American wife married to a Japanese living in Japan and I really hope this guy stays in Jail. He is only making a bad situation and I feel that Japanese mother had the right to take her kids back to where they were born and raised. I hope they never let him out of jail. Even told my mother back in the States all the details being presented on both sides and she agrees, he is an idiot to have done what he has done, law or no law.
  - Tensigh
    
    So if you were married in the States and your husband divorced you and ran off to Japan with your kids, you’d just fold your arms and say “eh, can’t do anything about it, he’s in Japan”?
- I have no mouth and I must scream
  
  Are you sure he is a “foreign parent”
  
  “divorced in Tennessee, the two never annulled their marriage in Japan”
  
  btw how is she supposed to stay in the US now that they are divorced in the US lucky he remarried a US citizen so quick after returning.
  
  The case of a Tennessee man jailed in Japan for trying to snatch back his children from his estranged wife is not as clear-cut as it’s been made out to be, authorities here said Wednesday.
  
  The father, Christopher Savoie, apparently became a naturalized Japanese citizen four years ago, listing a permanent address in Tokyo, they said.
  
  And while he and Noriko Savoie, a Japanese native, divorced in Tennessee, the two never annulled their marriage in Japan, Japanese officials said.
  
  Also, the two children at the center of the case hold Japanese passports, they said.
  
  From CNN
  - Tensigh
    
    Wait – if their marriage was never anulled in Japan, doesn’t that mean they’re legally married? Then he didn’t “kidnap” his kids — he’s still legally married to their mother in Japan, isn’t he? He didn’t “kidnap” the kids — legally, he’s still their father in Japan.
    
    The Japanese authorities had no right to arrest him. He’s their legal father, still married to their mother. Unless a Japanese court ordered him to stay away, he’s scott free.
    - jikku
      
      He was arrested for FORCING the kids into his car and sped off.
    - leitmotiv
      
      He was arrested for FORCING the kids into his car and sped off.
      
      No. He was arrested for apparently abducting. The police initial comments, as cited in some early media reports, characterized the incident as involving “forcing” the kids into car. The police could not realistically have witnessed this. I imagine the police comment “forcing” probably came from Norikos original emergency call, which likely included some embellishment to ensure prompt police action. I have seen nothing that suggests an acrimonious relationship between Mr. Savoie and his kids such that he would have to “force” them into a car.
    - jikku
      
      They were on their way to school with the mother. There could be other witnesses. newschannel5.com report says, the little girl was crying in his arms. I doubt the kids got into the car willingly.
    - Ajapa
      
      Here is some fact:
      
      1. Noriko reported to the police after Christopher had taken his children away.
      2. Noriko and Christopher had not divorced in Japan but they are in a separation.
      
      To speak objectively, it is not very clear that Christopher did actually commit a crime as I am not a lawyer. But I found a case that a husband under a divorce suit, who had forcibly taken his 2-year-old boy temporarily reared by the mother away, was arrested and then was found guilty of kidnaping.
    - Ajapa
      
      FYI, from a lawyer’s Q and A:
      
      Q. A husband holding the custody had taken his child, who was reared by his wife in the divorce suit, away. Can the guilty of abduction or kidnapping of minors (The Penal Code, Artice 224) be applied to him?
      
      A. Yes.
      
      The Supreme Court’s judgment, 6th Dec. Heisei 17, appreciated that the father having the custody who had grabbed his 2-year-old boy, temporarily reared by his wife in the divorce suit, from a grandmother on her way to home from a nursery school and took his child away by driving a car parked nearby, was guilty of kidnapping.
      
      The judgment, pointed out that the necessity of father’s act of take-away for the purpose of rearing and protecting his child could not be accepted, his act was rough and forcible, his eldest boy was still a 2-year-old infant and thus it could not be expected that he had an ability of making decision and choice regarding his living environment, and the father did not have a clear perspective on rearing and protecting his child even though it was required for an infant; then concluded that the father is guilty of the crime since his act of taking his child away could not be allowed from the viewpoint of socially accepted value even when it was an interfamily act.
      —–
      
      This is what heppened for a Japanese-Japanese couple in their divorce suit. Sorry for my poor translation. I’m not a lawyer.
    - Ajapa
      
      Mistake: interfamily – intrafamily
    - jikku
      
      Even Savoie’s attorney thinks he committed a crime.
      
      from CNN’s article:
      
      Savoie’s attorney, Tadashi Yoshino, knows the cultural divide will be hard to overcome.
      
      “He technically may have committed a crime according to Japanese law but he shouldn’t be indicted,” Yoshino said. “He did it for the love of his children.”
kgo

Just to add more heat to this drama Miiko Crafton is the wife of Eric Crafton, the ex-navy man who was stationed in Japan, married a Japanese girl, then tried to make Nashville an English Only city.

Miiko Crafton probably had some coaching on what to say by her scheming husband.
Mr. USA

“Japanese people think she’s the victim here.”

Because she is.
- Pixelbomber
  
  Sounds like both parents treated this like some kind of game. The real victims are the kids here.
  - Mr. USA
    
    You’re absolutely right.
Ty

“This should make her more accessible to readers, and perhaps even make her aware of some of the problems with her reporting style.”

Ha! That’s funny.

She has no style. She is spinning a tale for the new network for whom she works, who pays her salary.

They don’t seem to care to report the correct story. That is so typical of a politically and financially motivated news media outlet like CNN, which claims to be unbiased and all that, but it’s not. It’s such a pretender, CNN.
Tom

I’m hating all this “He tried to take the kids home” that the media is reporting? Home? Their home is japan, where they lived and would have carried on living had the husband not made them move to somewhere to stop the mother having them.

Husband then gets new girlfriend while in Japan. Breakdown of current marriage. Woman tries for divorce and can’t. Husband manipulates her into moving to the U.S. where she can get out of marriage she doesn’t want to be in and also where he’ll be more favoured by the courts. She therefore gets kinda screwed in Tennessee of all places. She has primary custody UNTIL she takes them back to japan (illegally), THEN husband gets full custody in the states.

a) it’s complicated
b) he’s a manipulative idiot
- Tensigh
  
  “Who’s more foolish, the fool or the fool that follows him?” -Obi-wan Kenobi.
  
  He’s not a manipulative idiot, she’s an idiot for following him. If you’re going to call him manipulative, he’s a manipulative genious. She’s the idiot.
  - Stereo
    
    A manipulative genious should be punished. An idiot should be protected.
  - Tom
    
    Because she had no other choice. She couldn’t get the divorce she needed in Japan as he wouldn’t agree to it and Japanese laws are different.
    
    Her only choice was to move to america with him. She was trapped by the manipulative a**hole.
- pixel_bomber
  
  Actually going to Tennessee and going along with the husbands wishes for the divorce she seems to have come out a huge winner. I’d say she was clearly smarter and more manipulative than the dad. She walked away with full custody of the kids and the money.
  
  All in all still a pretty fishy case. I wonder what the truth will be tomorrow heh.
togu

to make it short I’m on NORIKO’s side! go back to AMERICA you cheater!!!
Hinomaru

The guy is a law breaker and does not deserve sympathy.
1) he tried to kidnapped the kids;
2) if he is a Japanese citizen, he ain’t supposed to have US papers, it is a good indication that he kept his citizenship in secret (which is against the law), as if not the wife would not get her green card so soon and per CNN reporter, he got arrested right before he tried to run inside the US consulate;
3) under Japanese law, he has committed bigamy.

Because of that, Japan will not sign the Hague convention and that is understandable. Actually Mexico (also not a party to the Hague convention) has far more of these abductions than Japan and not reported. I wonder why, is it racism?

On this one, J- gov got him and J- gov will get him one way or another. That is why the attorney for the guy is low key and not acting up, as J- gov has ‘other cards’ it can use.
You can bet that he will be a scapegoat the J- gov will use and Japanese will agree to.
- Mr. USA
  
  “Actually Mexico (also not a party to the Hague convention) has far more of these abductions than Japan and not reported. I wonder why, is it racism?”
  
  Japan is an easy target for Americans. They look different than us, they have a weird culture, and we fought them in a war. Child abductions occur in many different countries, but why would America complain about Mexico when we rely on them for cheap goods and labor? Japan will continue to be a target of this bias until they learn to stand up for themselves.
  
  However in this case, the father is Japanese, so Japanese law is more important than US law.
  - Nate
    
    What are you talking about? We complain about Mexico ALL the time! Its just that illegal immigration overshadows the issue.
    
    I don’t get this ooh we fought a war whatever crap. Most Americans including myself absolutely love Japan. In the US I would say the Japanese are held at almost the same high regard as the British….in fact other then Britain (and Canada due to proximity) I can’t think of a country the US is closer too then Japan. You might have said Israel but that relationship has been cooling rapidly!
- http://blog.havill.com/ Eido Inoue
  
  Mexico is party to the Hague Convention. It’s just that its enforcement is weak, unpredictable, and ineffective.
http://Hinomaru Hinomaru

I believe the guy may have broken a few laws.

1) kidnapping the children in Japan;
2) having a US passport, when he has a Japanese passport as by law can only have Japanese (unless dual citizen before 1985) one
3) he may have commited bigamy.

Can’t just take kids away (possible set when divorced in Tennessee USA).

Good indication he kept secret US passport, as his wife got green card very fast and if having problems in Japan, why go to US consulate when Japanese?

Still legally married in Japan, as not indicated per family registry.

Don’t forget that Mexico, like Japan has not signed the Hague agreement and these things go on all the time more often than in Japan, but CNN nor other media outlet has not reported them like this case. Is it a case of racism?

In any case, J- gov has lots of ‘cards’ it can use and it may convince Japanese to not sign the Hague Agreement and enforce the no dual nationality law even more. What will the USA say, its ok to break the law?
- DC
  
  >Is it a case of racism?
  
  No. As a leading G8 nation Japan is expected to behave on the international stage. But of course, Japan always behaves like a wagamama on the world stage, always taking a mile without giving an inch. If anything, the fact that America doesn’t seem to expect Mexicans to behave to the same standards could be ‘racism’.
  
  >What will the USA say, its ok to break the law?
  
  No, I doubt the USA will ever say that.
  However, it’s always ok for Japanese citizens to break foreign laws. That’s why there are so many abductions by Japanese citizens. They, and Japan, don’t give a flying fig for foreign laws.
  
  >it may convince Japanese to not sign the Hague Agreement and enforce the no dual nationality law even more.
  
  And Japan just keeps going backwards.
  - I have no mouth and I must scream
    
    >However, it’s always ok for Japanese citizens to break foreign laws.
    “The father, Christopher Savoie, apparently became a naturalized Japanese citizen four years ago, listing a permanent address in Tokyo”
    
    Now if anyone has a good explanation to this part go for it.
    From CNN
    http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/30/japan.savoie.children/index.html
    
    “the two children at the center of the case hold Japanese passports”
    “He headed for the U.S. consulate in that city to try to obtain passports for them”
    US passports for 2 young japanese citizens by a naturalized Japanese citizen?
    
    Also the AP article seems a bit different then the stuff written by Kyung Lah.
    http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i1wNIMvNzJOj4tJ3S-nfVaZ6lCGAD9B2JQA80
    
    -“In a hostile e-mail from Christopher Savoie that was entered into the court record, he called her an “idiot” and accused her of “poisoning the children against me.” He complained about the large cash payout she got and monthly support payments.”
    
    -“Crafton, a native of Japan who befriended Noriko Savoie during her short time in Tennessee, said her friend tried to get a divorce while the couple still lived in Japan, but her husband had refused and later persuaded her to move to the U.S. with the children.”
    
    -“Everything was provided so she could begin a new lifestyle, but right after that he gave her divorce papers,” Crafton said. “So basically she was trapped.”
    
    — “Noriko Savoie was not free to return to Japan.”
    
    Its really sad that the children have become the center of this pathetic game of tug of war.
  - leitmotiv
    
    And Japan just keeps going backwards.
    
    You are setting yourself up for a shriekfest with that statement. Maybe it better to say Japan needs to update regarding this topic — at least in order to avoid a growing number of such (embarrasing) cases in the future and be consistent with Japan’s stated policies and self-image involving global participation.
  - Ajapa
    
    DC,
    
    Japan always behaves like a wagamama on the world stage…
    
    You can simply use “egoist” or “selfish person” in place of “wagamama”. Did you want to make you look knowledgeable about Japan? To make your statement sounds reasonable?
    - SWater
      
      By using the word “wagamama,” maybe DC wanted to add a touch of childish/girly flavor to selfishness. If that’s the case, he is very knowledgeable about Japan, in some sense.
      
      He is probably a foreign-born American from a non-G8 country, by the way, because American-American don’t care whether Japan or US belongs to G8, and the other 6 countries know how much Japan has contributed (at least financially) to the rest of the world.
redgirl

IMO, This guy seems very calculated and a control freak.
Level3

Both parents are scheming assholes.

But in the end, the woman gets the kids, doesn’t have to allow visits, lives in her own country, and got $800,000 from the husband.

The case proves that Japan’s not participating in the Hague Convention rewards the Japanese parent IN ALL CASES no matter if they are truly innocent victims, scheming assholes, or some gray area in between.

It just shows other Japanese (including the evil ones) that all they have to do is get to Japan and they get sanctuary.

Who can support that?
- Stereo
  
  That 800,000 dollars is not a gift but a compensation of damage caused by her cheating ex-husband, and the money required for raising her children.
  
  But I think the money may have been confiscated.
  
  >The case proves that Japan’s not participating in the Hague Convention rewards the Japanese parent IN ALL CASES no matter if they are truly innocent victims, scheming assholes, or some gray area in between.
  
  Wrong. Mr. Savoie or 佐保井さん is also a Japanese parent.
  - Level3
    
    >Wrong. Mr. Savoie or 佐保井さん is also a Japanese parent.
    
    Have you not been paying attention?
    In the eyes of many in Japan’s justice system “Japanese” is usually a matter of race, not which passport you hold.
    A gaijin is always a “gaijin” to them even if they live here 20 years and get citizenship. For example, arresting a father for “kidnapping” his own children, with no other grounds than he’s a gaijin and therefore must be guilty of something. It’s her word vs. his, and she’s “really” Japanese, so she wins when it comes to the Japanese police.
    
    Police still hassle naturalized Japanese on suspicion of being illegals.
    Japanese media are reporting Dr. Savoie as “American”. Why is that? Do I even have to answer?
    
    They both played a game of chess with their own children, the pawns. The woman won everything by taking advantage of Japan’s unjust laws, AND taking advantage of American laws which yielded her $800,000 and partial custody in exchange for her lies.
    Of course, his marriage voews were also lies.
    I suppose the next step is the media finding the skeletons in HER closet. But you can bet the Japanese media won’t be doing any digging. Doesn’t fit the “GAIJIN HANZAI CRIME WAVE” template, even though he’s not gaijin, and there is no actual crime, and the only wave is the wave of Japanese mothers illegally taking children away from their fathers against court orders worldwide.
    
    Ah well, just ignore me, nobody is willing to be convinced. At least I can see that BOTH sides are conniving and scheming.
    - SWater
      
      > Japanese media are reporting Dr. Savoie as “American”.
      > Why is that?
      
      An American news media, called CNN, is also reporting Mr. Savoie as “American father.” I don’t know why journalists are so careless. Maybe because Mr. Savoie initially claimed he was American when he was arrested at the gate of American consulate.
      
      東京（ＣＮＮ）　離婚した元妻と一緒にいた子供２人を誘拐したとして福岡で逮捕された米国人の父親が、４年前に日本に帰化していたことが、警察の調べで３０日、明らかになった。
      http://www.cnn.co.jp/usa/CNN200909300021.html
    - The Overthinker
      
      Level3 does have a point though – if the guy has a PhD he should be DOCTOR Savoie, not plain old Mister.
    - Stereo
      
      You have so many things wrong. I do not know where to start.
      
      >In the eyes of many in Japan’s justice system “Japanese” is usually a matter of race, not which passport you hold.
      Really? So, you say every judge in Japan is a racist. Can you find any court ruling that upheld racism?
      
      >arresting a father for “kidnapping” his own children, with no other grounds than he’s a gaijin
      Penal Code Article 224　A person who kidnaps a minor by force or enticement shall be punished by imprisonment with work for not less than 3 months but not more than 7 years.
      He kidnapped his own children “by force” when they were going to school. That is why he is arrested.
      
      >It’s her word vs. his, and she’s “really” Japanese, so she wins when it comes to the Japanese police.
      Do you know Debito who is a gaijin by your definition? He won the famous Otaru Onsen law suit against “real Japanese”.
      
      >Police still hassle naturalized Japanese on suspicion of being illegals.
      So, what is wrong with it? Finding criminals is their job. They stop and question “real Japanese” too. That is how they find criminals.
      
      >Japanese media are reporting Dr. Savoie s “American”. Why is that?
      That is because he claims to be one. Not because Japanese media are racists.
      
      >They both played a game of chess with their own children
      What do you mean? What does this situation have in common with chess?
      
      >The woman won everything by taking advantage of Japan’s unjust laws
      Which law are you talking about?
      
      >taking advantage of American laws which yielded her $800,000 and partial custody in exchange for her lies.
      What do you mean by her lies? Are you saying she got more because of American law? If so, why do you think that way?
      
      >he’s not gaijin, and there is no actual crime
      What he did in Fukuoka is a serious crime.
    - SWater
      
      I tried to follow the Wall Street Journal style, one of the most reliable(?) American media. To my knowledge, they use Mister for Ph.D. instead of Doctor or Professor. However, since I realized that he also has an M.D., I should probably have called him Dr. Savoie.
    - The Overthinker
      
      In that case the WSJ is wrong (as is the NY Times who do the same thing). A PhD is a Doctor–in fact, more so than an MD, if you go back to the origins of the title. However “professor” refers to one who teaches (usually at a university) and does not require a PhD.
- leitmotiv
  
  Spot on. I imagine she could have filed for a divorce while still in Japan (even if contested) and forced him to play under Japan law. But under that scenario, she almost certainly would not have had access a decent (!) sum of 700K or so. She was successful in monetary settlement because the divorce occurred in the US. I think she understood the financial advantage of completing divorce in US.
  
  There is a lot of assumptions in the previous comments that she is the angel and he is the schemer. But there are obviously more facts to be uncovered before anything of the sort can be determined. Frankly, we will not know until one or both write tell-all books in 3 years.
  
  At this point, the kids are the ones most at risk. And both parent appear more or less equally bad for letting it develop to this stage of endangerment.
  - leitmotiv
    
    But I think the money may have been confiscated.
    
    Has that been reported somewhere? In the court docs, it looks like the judge thought about it and decided not to put restrictions on her cash, as she was making (apprently empty) promises that she would soon buy a house. I dont know for fact, but I bet it will emerge that Noriko was thorough enough to xfer her cash to Japan.
  - Stereo
    
    >But under that scenario, she almost certainly would not have had access a decent (!) sum of 700K or so.
    
    Why? He was running a company. In Japan, she would have been able to get half of the assets accumulated during marriage, compensation for his infidelity and alimony. Do you have any reason to believe Japanese court would award less?
    
    >But there are obviously more facts to be uncovered before anything of the sort can be determined.
    
    Then you should stop commenting here until you find things are determined.
    - leitmotiv
      
      @Stereo
      Do you have any reason to believe Japanese court would award less?
      
      Yes, from proximity to people who went through process (Japanese vs Japanese). As I understand it in a typical divorce case in Japan (assuming husband has assets and wife is dependent), for the wife to have court consider 50/50 asset split, wife has to demonstrate direct involvement in creating husbands assets. For example, in a business of the husband which is an asset. Otherwise, there is not an assumption of 50/50 as general rule. Moreover, Japan courts have weak powers of discovery (compared perhaps to US divorce courts). So if the wife wants to claim some hefty amount from a wealthy husband, she has a considerable, expensive, and often impossible burden of producing documentation of those assets. The court will not help, or at least not help much. It is not difficult to hide money from Japanese courts in divorce cases.
      
      But if you know some Japanese divorce law policy that effectively assures the court begins divorce proceedings with something like a 50/50 asset split initially, I am curious to know.
      
      Then you should stop commenting here until you find things are determined.
      
      Yikes. That from the same person who just made this statement of determined fact?
      
      But I think the money may have been confiscated.
      
      Whats with the hostility? Please note that there are some decaffinated coffees that are just as tasty as the real thing.
    - SWater
      
      >But I think the money may have been confiscated.
      
      Is it easy to transfer $800,000 to a foreign bank account from the U.S. especially by a foreign national under a child custody battle? I am asking because the authority usually suspects money laundering when a large amount of money is transferred.
      
      If Christopher had noticed the transfer, he would never have allowed his ex-wife go on a vacation with their children. So, it is not very likely for Noriko to take a risk to transfer money before “abducting” her children, and it is almost impossible after she became a fugitive.
      
      Since Noriko was supposed to live in Tennessee for at least 2 years, $800,000 should have been initially in a US bank account (assuming Christopher had paid full immediately). Then, the money may have been confiscated already. I am just curious about it.
    - leitmotiv
      
      @SWater
      
      Is it easy to transfer $800,000 to a foreign bank account
      
      Its not too difficult. It may not actually be in Japan at this moment, more likely in switzerland or luxemborg.
      
      If Christopher had noticed the transfer, he would never have allowed his ex-wife go on a vacation with their children.
      
      How would he notice it? You think he had access to her bank account? I imagine a transfer would have occured after she had returned to the US from Japan vacation and before she abducted the kids.
      
      Since Noriko was supposed to live in Tennessee for at least 2 years, $800,000 should have been initially in a US bank account (assuming Christopher had paid full immediately). Then, the money may have been confiscated already
      
      That was exactly what the judge considered at Mr. Savoie’s insistence, but then decided against it when Noriko apparently lied to the judge. There were no court controls put on her funds because she told the judge she was ready to put down payment on a property as soon as she would find one.
      
      Moreover, there is no grounds for funds being “confiscated”…that concept is something Stereo pulled out of his…well, let’s say say “out of thin air”. Assets can be frozen in such cases (if the court chooses to monitor accounts – as they decided not to do in this case, obviously a mistake). Not “confiscate” like they do to drug kingpins.
      
      As noted above, if it turns out that Noriko’s money is still in an account in Tennesee, I will be less sceptical of the portrayals of her as the innocent Japanese victim of the story, forced to live in barbaric US with no friends. But that is almost certainly not the whole story on her part…. We will see she took the kids AND the money. Financial incentive is the key reason for her to have agreed to go through divorce in US rather than Japan in the first place.
    - SWater
      
      >Its not too difficult. It may not actually be in Japan at this moment,
      >more likely in switzerland or luxemborg.
      
      So, do you think it’s more likely that a stay-at-home mom from Japan opened an anonymous bank account in Switzerland or Luxemburg and transfer $800,000 from her U.S. bank account before she desperately smuggled out of the U.S. with her children (and became a fugitive)? That would be an interesting story that Kyung Lah should definitely follow, and I would congratulate Noriko for outperforming her scheming ex-husband probably for the first time in her life.
    - leitmotiv
      
      Why do you think its so hard? Shes not an idiot. Anyone who can pay a fee to a good accountant/broker can do this. It happens every day and with sums much larger. It would take a week or less.
      
      Do you really think that money is still in her bank account in Tennessee? Honestly? Obviously its whereabouts is not reported yet, but it will emerge that it is somewhere outside the US at this moment.
    - Nate
      
      I transfer money from my wife’s foreign account every month (she still works for her home company so she gets paid there) there is a limit to how much can be transferred at a time but I think I could probably transfer 800,000 in pieces over the course of say 30 days or so. (not that we have anywhere near that much!)
      
      With alittle for planning I’m sure she could have gotten most of it out ahead of time.
  - SWater
    
    I agree with Stereo. It would have been much more costly if Mr. Savoie had agreed to go to a Japanese court. Here is the information of the bio venture firm he established before leaving Japan.
    
    http://biz.yahoo.co.jp/ipo/html/d2160.html
    新規上場企業情報ジーエヌアイ【2160】
    佐保井久理須代表取締役社長 4,812,600 7.22%
    - leitmotiv
      
      I agree with Stereo. It would have been much more costly if Mr. Savoie had agreed to go to a Japanese court.
      
      Why more costly in Japan? Stereo gave no serious reason to think that, and neither do you. Why do you insist such?
    - SWater
      
      Because Mr. Savoie was a founder CEO of a bio tech firm and had 4,800,000 of its shares. The firm became public in summer 2007, The stock price was once above 150 yen, and it was still above 80 yen when he resigned the firm in December 2007 and left Japan. Mr. Sovoie’s observable wealth was around $4,000,000.
    - Stereo
      
      leitmotiv,
      >As I understand it in a typical divorce case in Japan (assuming husband has assets and wife is dependent), for the wife to have court consider 50/50 asset split, wife has to demonstrate direct involvement in creating husbands assets.
      
      If you have no knowledge about something, do not comment on it.
      
      This is what a Japanese law firm says.
      
      http://www.ac-zaisanbunyo.jp/information/index04.html
      家庭裁判所での調停などの実務においては、原則として１：１の割合（平等に分ける）というのが最近の傾向と思われます。以前は、いわゆる専業主婦などの場合、平等よりは多少低い割合で決められたこともあったようですが、主婦の家事労働といえどもそれがあってこその夫の収入というように考えると、原則としては平等ということになるでしょう。
      ただし、どちらかの寄与度がはっきりと大きいといえるような場合は、平等ではなく、寄与度に応じて分与割合を定めている例もあります。
      
      “In the practice of divorce proceedings at family court, the split is by and large 50% to 50% these days. In old times, so called house wives used to get somewhat less than half. However, considering that the husband could have earned his revenue thanks to the domestic work of the wife, the split is in principle, 50 to 50.
      However, if it can be said that the contribution of one spouse is clearly larger than the other, there are cases that the split is determined by contribution rather than 50 to 50.”
      
      The opposite of what you said is true. The split is in principle 50 to 50 in Japan. Just search “離婚　財産分与” and you can find lots of pages that says the same thing.
    - leitmotiv
      
      @SWater
      
      What are you trying to say with that info? How on earth would that info impact the settlement amount from his assets if the divorce was carried out in Japan compered to US? You make no sense.
    - SWater
      
      専業主婦の場合
      実際の裁判例では、大部分が３割から５割の範囲内で、家事労働の財産形成への寄与度により判断されています。５割の寄与度を認めたものとしては、不動産等を購入したときに妻も現金を出していたり、妻の離婚後の生活に対して扶養的な要素を考慮したなど、特殊な要因を加味した場合です。
      http://www.rikon.to/contents4-2.htm
      
      It says, in a Japanese divorce court, a stay-at-home mom usually gets 30 to 50 percent of the family wealth, depending on the contribution of housework on the wealth accumulation. So, the wife would likely have got at least 30 percent of net worth accumulated during the marriage.
      
      Though it’s not my business at all, the amount is something like 0.30 x [$4,000,000 + other wealth (e.g., checking & saving accounts, housing equity, automobiles, severance payment) – debt – wealth held by Christopher before the marriage – wealth held by Noriko before the marriage] + reparation for infidelity.
      
      What I was trying to say is Christopher’s assets accumulated after the marriage would surely impact the settlement amount, and it is not small. Note that he established the firm after the marriage. If you don’t understand my explanation, just leave it as it is.
Ann

I’m so sorry for these kids. They are where they belong, in the country where they were born and lived almost all their lives. The guy’s actions were obviously devious and what the mother did is what any mother in her situation would have done.
Tensigh

And I think he’s doing what any man would do whose kids were stolen from him.
Ann

Tensigh, I guess you haven’t read the whole story… He has lost all reason from the beginning. He’s a liar and a cheater, amongst other things…
- leitmotiv
  
  The clear documented liar at this point is Noriko, who lied to US judge.
  - ningen
    
    You don’t know that she lied. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. Even the judge recognized that going back to Japan might make her change her mind.
    
    The child custody case should not have been heard in Tennessee in the first place. The children lived in Japan. Child custody jurisdiction shouldn’t be for put up for sale.
    - leitmotiv
      
      You don’t know that she lied. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. Even the judge recognized that going back to Japan might make her change her mind.
      
      I see your point. But whatever her intentions when she answered the judge, it effectively became a lie when she abducted the kids. That is why there is a federal warrent for her arrest. That is why she is sought by interpol. That is why she cannot leave Japan.
      
      The child custody case should not have been heard in Tennessee in the first place. The children lived in Japan. Child custody jurisdiction shouldn’t be for put up for sale.
      
      Regardless of where ningen thinks it should have occurred, Noriko chose to pursue it in the US. It was her choice. And no, child custody jurisdiction should not be for sale. But to Noriko it apparently was. That is why she agreed to do it in the US and not Japan as contested divorce — where she probably would have easily won custody but little money. There was a clear financial incentive for her. If it emerges that her money is still in the US, I will be less critical of her. But I doubt it very much.
    - Stereo
      
      leitmotiv
      >it effectively became a lie when she abducted the kids.
      Let’s see. If someone threatens you that unless you tell a lie he takes your kids, and if you did so, is it a lie? Such case is called coercion and the statement is not considered a lie. The Tennessee court did not have the jurisdiction over child custody because the court of habitual residence has the jurisdiction and habitual residence as US law defines is the place of living 6 month prior to the proceedings which is Japan. So, the Tennessee court, without proper jurisdiction, coerced her into saying that she does not bring her children to Japan. That should not be considered a lie.
      
      >That is why she agreed to do it in the US
      Why do you think she “agreed”?
      
      >not (in) Japan as contested divorce — where she probably would have easily won custody but little money.
      As many people here have already pointed out, she could have got more in Japan.
    - leitmotiv
      
      Let’s see. If someone threatens you that unless you tell a lie he takes your kids, and if you did so, is it a lie?
      
      LOL…wut? You seem to think that he was somehow threatening and coercing her to lie to a judge. But, mysteriously (as usual), you have no intention of explaining what you are trying to say in any reasonable detail.
      
      Why do you think she “agreed” [to proceed with divorce in the US]?
      
      For finacial incentive. It was much better prospects for her to do so in US than Japan Many comments here, in their zeal to portray her as innocent victim, that he didnt “allow” her to go through divorce in Japan….conveniently leaving unanswered the obvious question of why she conversely might also not have “allowed” him to carry out divorce in the US. Its utter bollocks. She could have initiated divorce in Japan if she liked. They both agreed to the US – him apparently for guaranteed access to kids (due to Japans lack of laws in this area) and she clearly for a financial settlement of assets of ~50/50 …a settlement amount of 800K would be very very unlikly in Japan.
      
      As many people here have already pointed out, she could have got more in Japan.
      
      Nobody had done such in any convincing way. You yourself have pointed it out, but never given any basis….just asserting it and reasserting it. I have commented the opposite, in response to your own comment, based on some real world observations (which you as yet have not reponded to).
    - Stereo
      
      I mentioned it is the Tennessee court without proper jurisdiction that threatened her, didn’t I.
      
      I restate my question.
      What evidence do you have that indicates she agreed to proceed with divorce in the US?
      
      See my comment at 2009-10-04 00:28:46. The split is basically 50 to 50.
      
      Be responsible of what you say. Do a little research before you make a comment here. Every time you make a false statement about Japanese law, someone has to correct you. That is time consuming for everybody. You are risking the quality of this page.
    - Not a Priest
      
      The statute book is no final guide to decisions a Japanese court makes. At best, it’s a place to start talking. Anyone who has used a Japanese court knows that the practical application of law in Japan depends on a number of intangibles. It’s one aspect which foreigners, rightly or wrongly, find frustrating.
      
      If the wife had wanted to sue for divorce in a Japanese court without Savoie’s consent, she could have done so. The hurdles might look high on paper but are easy to clear in practice. There have been generous settlemnt awards and stingy ones so no-one knows what she would have got. Worse, the court has weak enforcement powers so she may never have seen the dough even if it was a good number. Even more so given that his income and assets aren’t all in Japan.
      
      There is evidence that she knew she would be served with divorce papers in America. Again, this is the court’s statement (not his, not hers, the court’s):
      
      “And she clearly understood that when she was coming to the United States, she wasn’t coming here to reconcile. And it was clear she came here knowing that her husband was involved with another woman, and she came here knowing that he wanted a divorce…There was never any doubt in anybody’s mind about the facts and circumstances under which Ms Savoie came to the United States and her husband’s intent to divorce her.”
      
      She may have regretted submitting to a US court but no-one tricked her or forced her. The most you can say is that she might have felt she had no choice.
    - Stereo
      
      Not a Priest
      >If the wife had wanted to sue for divorce in a Japanese court without Savoie’s consent, she could have done so.
      
      No.
      Civil code
      Article 770　Only in the cases stated in the following items may either husband or wife file a suit for divorce:
      (i)　if a spouse has committed an act of unchastity;
      (ii)　if abandoned by a spouse in bad faith;
      (iii)　if it is not clear whether a spouse is dead or alive for not less than three years;
      (iv)　if a spouse is suffering from severe mental illness and there is no prospect of recovery; or
      (v)　if there is any other grave cause making it difficult to continue the marriage.
      (2)　A court may dismiss a suit for divorce if it finds continuing the marriage reasonable taking into account all circumstances, even in the case where there is a cause listed in items (i) to (iv) inclusive of the preceding paragraph.
      
      In Noriko’s case, she has to prove his “act of unchastity” to file divorce, but how?
      Even if she could, cheating once or twice may well be dismissed by the court. People here are supposed to make every effort to continue marriage.
    - leitmotiv
      
      Uh oh….looks like Savoie is released with no specific charges (Ha!). And more of the story comes out that Noriko has previously been living and working in California for several years with no language or cultural deficiency and, thus, may not be the poor, displaced Japanese chrysanthemum, forced to wilt in barbaric USA from cruel cheating husband. I am sure we will see many retractions from Stereo and other Japan-can-do-no-wrong commenters.
Girly

Talk about a confused, totally not-committed-to-anything kind of an individual in Savoie, who thinks he can change his mind any time he wants?

1. He was not committed to being an American, so he got Japanese citizenship.
2. But he was not really committed to being Japanese, so he kept his American citizenship a secret from his family.
3. He was not fully committed to the marriage as he kept in touch with his high-school sweetheart.
4. He was not really committed to his kids as he went to the US by himself first, pretending to promise a life in America for his Japanese wife and kids.
5. When he got back to the US, he had no idea how the law worked, so he tried to get his life back in the US, planning to steal his kids from his Japanese wife, none of whom have NEVER lived in the US.
6. He thought, being FORMALLY an American, that he could run to the US consulate and be taken in like he was family, and be forgiven for his stupidity.
7. Now he’s blaming the law, his former country, his new country and his wife for putting him in this stupidly embarrassing position that he put himself in!

What a total scumbag.
- Simon
  
  I couldn’t have put it better myself, Girly.
- http://blog.havill.com/ Eido Inoue
  
  Excellent summary, Girly. Once add on: even if he was 100% American and held no other passport except for the U.S. and even if he made it inside the consulate, the consulate still wouldn’t have helped him.
  
  The U.S. state department is extremely clear and unambiguous regarding this exact situation:
  
  http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction/Solutions/Solutions_3867.html
radical pikachu

Great blog post! That’s pretty much severe blow for CNN.

I understood before that they couldn’t deliver quality news. Entertainers, not news.
- Mr. USA
  
  Kyung Lah never reports news. She only reports emotional stories that make Americans hate Japan. I’m surprised she didn’t interview some angry gaijin professor form Temple University.
Soleil

It’s quite obvious that this CNN report is biased as is usually the case with all CNN news in favor of the ‘American’ father who claims to love his children, portraying himself as the tragic ‘American’ hero whose sole mission is to do the right thing for his children. Yeah, right! Ms. Lah’s reporting style depicts Japan in the most negative light possible, showing murky images of the prison cell, a stern looking police officer staring at the CNN camera, while Ms. Lah makes an emotional plea so exaggerated and overly dramatic. A truly loving father would do what’s best for his children. If they are happy where they are with their mother, leave them alone. It doesn’t matter whether they’re in Japan or elsewhere. Doesn’t he understand that he’s only confusing the children, making their life even more complicated than it already is? Parental separation or divorce has already done enough damage to these innocent children. Their father had an affair and got remarried to another woman. As if that isn’t devastating enough. He’s an ultimate loser, and I hope he loses big!
q-chan

I don’t care about the parent but feel sorry for the children. Regardless of which is wrong, it is the sad story for them. The greatest tragedy of them might be that their privacy was exposed to all over the world. Pls imagine that complete strangers know every things about your privacy regarding of your parent’s disputes and whisper about it with poor you looks.Is it happy for you?
Gigi

Just wanted to add a couple of comments:

Exactly, so, Girly. I’m glad that both sides of the story are coming out. At first, the story was being presented only from the father’s point of view, but it’s obvious now that there was more going on. He basically tricked her into coming here to take advantage of her inexperience and the language barrier, and resented the settlement.

I feel sympathy for the children, but none at all for him.
jikku

Now I see why CNN doesn’t mention Savoie’s affair.

In March 2005, Lah, who was married at the time, was fired from KNBC after her bosses learned that she had been having an affair with married KNBC field producer Jeff Soto. The station also fired Soto and Jim Bunner, a producer and friend of Lah’s husband. Bunner was fired because he knew about the affair but didn’t tell management about it, and his knowledge of the affair became known by management after he intercepted an incriminating note written by Lah to Soto that eventually got into the hands of management. The station’s general manager at the time, Paula Madison, had told employees when she joined the station in 2000 that she had considered romantic relationships involving at least one married staffer to be firing offenses.

Lah’s husband at the time, Curtis Vogel, was subsequently reported to have been the one to have complained about the affair, prompting management’s investigation of it.
Lilya

CNN in general and Ms.Lah in particular are not treating Japan news with fairness. It seems many in Japan see the same thing and this will only push Japan further away from the US.

I’m sure they are following a guideline by the State Department which wants to put the same old pressure to change every country on earth into a mirror image of the US.

But the fact is, here in the US, there have been many violent murders of women committed by their husband or ex-husband over child custody disputes, in addition to countless child abductions.
At least in Japan, situation concerning this is so dire as in the US and we must make sure not to import the similar problems into Japan.

If you find CNN untrustworthy news source, you should simply stop watching it. Instead, GOOGLE through various news sources of the world, only then we’ll get more unbiased informations.

Kyung Lah interviews Christopher Savoie

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