Find My Parent

Resource Topic: Child Trafficking

Hague pact ‘too late’ for divorcee

For one Japanese mother long separated from her children after the failure of an international marriage, the Diet’s expected ratification of an international treaty to help settle cross-border child custody disputes arouses mixed feelings. “Personally, it’s too late for me, but I feel we’ve come this far at last because the problem is not limited […]

‘My children are my everything — the reason I’m alive’

Left-behind father makes desperate journey to Fukushima to reunite with kids On Bruce Gherbetti’s right forearm, the names of his three lost children are permanently inscribed in a swirling script of dark blue tattoo ink. “They go with me everywhere I go,” he says, smiling. “It is a physical representation of the fact that my […]

Hague pledge fails to appease U.S. lobbyists

Talk of joining cross-border child abductions treaty ‘insincere’ NEW YORK – Leaders of U.S. groups lobbying for the return of children abducted by a parent across international borders reacted with skepticism to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s explanation to U.S. President Barack Obama that Japan is close to joining a convention to resolve such incidents. “The fact […]

Please, prime minister, just let me be a father

Dear Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, As a boy growing up in America, my mother and father would have frequent arguments. It was a stressful time for everyone, and eventually they got divorced when I was in 2nd grade in elementary school. During the divorce proceedings all of my family members went through an especially difficult […]

Hague Convention on child abduction may shape Japan’s family law — or vice versa

Giant Hello Kitty-emblazoned kudos to Japan for finally signing the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. Now comes the hard part: actually making it work. Mistakenly identified by some press accounts as an accomplishment of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s accession is probably more the fruit of prolonged slogging by anonymous public servants. In the […]

Japan’s Child Kidnapping Problem

Dozens of American children are abducted to Japan every year—not by strangers, but by parents after messy divorces. Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky and Jake Adelstein report Updated Jul. 11, 2017 7:19PM ET / Published May. 19, 2013 4:45AM ET  Japan has a child-kidnapping problem. It’s not strangers snatching the kids on the playground or at the bus stop; the problem is that when […]

Case of International Parental Abduction – David Fleming

The Deep in Japan Podcast is completely independent, ad-free, and 100% crowd-funded. Please consider becoming a patron and making a pledge at the following: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=3864210 
 In this episode, I talk left-behind father, David Fleming, about the circumstances surrounding his then wife abducting their three children, and not allowing him access to them. Want to […]