Father weighs in on the quality of medical care for disabled children in Japan

His son is not Japanese national, but has dual citizenship both Brazil and USA.
You should make sure that his wife is not Japanese.

USA cannot afford to provide the national health insurance even for their citizen nor legal immigrant living in the USA. Why is it possible to provide a free medical care for someone living in other country because of he is American.

I will try to cover everyone’s questions with a single reply so please bear with me. To paint with a broad stroke- if it was easily resolved, it would have already been done.

Kyung and I both disagreed with the higher-ups about saying we were divorced in a Japanese court- We weren’t. It was a kyogi rikon (city hall divorce) which the city hall should not have accepted because neither of us is Japanese. Since it is not a concept in America, they decided it would confuse matters too much. A kyogi rikon is not recognized by Brasil or America. Ironically, the Japanese court is recognizing our “divorce”, but the city hall is not. I am not eligible for the single parent subsidy because I can’t prove I am single in the States (same city hall that accepted the kyogi rikon).
So the court didn’t exercise jurisdiction in any civil matter. In fact, I suggested we start from scratch to make it easier and legally recognised everywhere, but changing the record at city hall would be exercising judgement. Plus the same Japanese law applies- the Japanese judge would have to rule using Brasilian/ US state-specific divorce laws- It is hard enough to know the laws of your own country without having to try to learn the laws of other places so it is understandable why a judge wants nothing to do with it. If there were internationally recognized standards, life would be much easier for everyone.

Side Note: Making a long story short- my wife’s family’s religion had her convinced Spencer is handicapped because our spirits weren’t in harmony during pregnancy among other things. She was petrified the same thing would happen with Amelia if we were “together” and wouldn’t consider hormonal issues or anything else. An incredibly delicate psychological situation that no one wanted to deal with. If the person (honnin) doesn’t ask, there is no way to force them to get counseling or other help in Japan unless they do something drastic at which point it is too late. Not passing judgement necessarily, but when you are faced with a situation like Spencer’s, grasping at any belief, particularly one you were raised with, to make sense of “why” something happened is quite common. Check out Spencer’s Story on the website.

With respect to custody of Spencer, it could be argued that I have custody based on the kyogi rikon- but it is not a valid legal argument outside Japan- thus the dilemma. Even within Japan, my wife could claim she has custody because there is no record.
Legal custody of Amelia has never been formally determined in Japan. My wife has it by default but again there is no legal documentation.
The courts say they have no way to record a legal custody decision because neither of us has a koseki (family registry). The judge has said we have joint legal custody and full equal rights to access under the Brasilian/American law and actually asked that I rescind that lawsuit. They claim they can’t issue a written ruling stating as much. He said the only thing he could rule on was “physical” custody/ guardianship while in Japan. He still has not issued a ruling.
So in short: We have joint legal custody, with no documentation in Japan. The court has not enforced visitation or anything else nor have they issued a ruling on “guardianship” while in Japan- despite the extenuating circumstances. Without legal documentation from somewhere, I am at substantial risk if I leave.
As an added bonus, they switched jurisdictions from Okazaki to Yamaguchi when my wife moved. Apparently the judge did not think having to travel with Spencer and his medical equipment for several hours by train was justification enough to retain jurisdiction- so much for the stated purpose of “best interest of the child”
When I try to explain to the court that if I leave with Spencer, I would be committing a crime in Brasil and the States, it rings on deaf ears because it is not a crime in Japan- so they don’t see the need for a speedy resolution even with Spencer. Plus they now claim the can’t rule on 1 child at a time. To be clear, I am trying to get custody/ guardianship of BOTH children.
As you mentioned, in most places including Japan (Civil Code Article 834), abandonment of one child should disqualify you for retaining custody of another. It should be an open and shut case, especially since the court has documents from my wife stating I would have custody of both children-before she changed her mind.
Common sense would suggest that my wife’s decision to no longer care for Spencer would be sufficient grounds to let me leave without legal problems. Legal issues seldom if ever use common sense. Should I continue trying to get custody of my daughter through courts in Brasil, at the very least I lose credibility because I have broken Brasilian law (married parents are not even allowed to travel domestically in Brasil without the consent of their spouse) or I could be extradited/ arrested. I have repeatedly asked my wife and been ignored.
As you can see, it is incredibly complex and certainly wouldn’t fit in the space of a segment on CNN. Kyung did the best job to get the conversation started about our story. For that I am very grateful. I am also following it up with the Japanese press from the standpoint of the courts need to be fixed- not because I am American, but because the children are the most important.
For example, when he has the power to stop it, how can the first judge force Spencer to travel for hours to get to court? Personally, I think he wanted nothing to do with the case because it was too difficult. By Japanese law, he could punt it so he did. Even the fact that by law, jurisdiction falls to the locale of the defendant is absurd. Theoretically, a parent could just keep moving and the case would never be heard.
I have not asked for special treatment because I am foreign. As Ponta pointed out, the judge has no reason to favor one foreigner over another so essentially our case could just as easily be seen in the same way as a dispute between 2 Japanese.
My whole point if you didn’t know either of us was foreign, it is clear the courts in Japan are not placing the welfare of the children above everything else. That is the story that needs to be told. Everyone should be appalled.
My personal situation is just an extreme example, but maybe one that everyone can relate to on a human level. Trust me, I would much prefer to not be in the situation I am, but I like to think something good will come of it.
I agree it is unfortunate to be tied to the Savoie case for a variety of reasons I won’t go into. He brought attention to a problem, though
Kyung Lah was very apologetic about the lack of depth and that it wasn’t a solo story. We thought it was more important to get the conversation started. As the balloon boy story demonstrates, a compelling story isn’t enough- it has to be “headline” worthy. I realize it is easy to blame the person whose name appears with the story, but there are many different layers where mistakes can get made- It is not like a blog where the person that writes it can upload it and edit it at will or even necessarily determine the tone of the story. Lots of people are involved and they are all human- even the lawyers- haha!. So please cut Kyung some slack.
We are working on the Japanese site and trying to get more depth as well. As you might imagine, my hands are pretty full. More importantly, we are trying to get the message out to the Japanese public/ media in a way that will bring about positive changes for everyone. Thanks- Spencer’s Dad

P.S. Ponta- what argument could my wife have that would justify not caring for Spencer? I have messages from her thanking me for being such a wonderful father to him which begs the question why wouldn’t she want me involved in our daughter’s life too. It is a tragic situation probably brought on by the overwhelming stress. I would like nothing more than to support my wife while she gets the help I think she so desperately needs. The courts are unwilling and/ or unable to acknowledge or act upon psychological concerns which have a huge impact on children. Most mediators/ court investigators have no formal training in marriage/ relationship counseling, child development or child psychology. The court in Yamaguchi does not even have a social worker on staff. Hard to see how they are qualified to determine the “best interest of the children”