Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:56:34.033Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Legislation as a Social Process: Japanese Family Law and the Drafting of the Bill on the Hague Child Abduction Convention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2022

Takeshi Hamano
Takeshi Hamano*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Humanities, University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu
*
E-mail: hamano@kitakyu-u.ac.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

When Japan signed the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the government enacted a new act to deal with international parental child abduction according to the Convention in the same year. The Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs were immediately in charge of making a draft Bill. Once the government and respective ministries had instantly set up the legal and administrative procedure for dealing with international family issue under the Convention, as some studies argue, simultaneous issues of the family in separation in Japan were underdeveloped. Employing a method of content analysis of the record of policy debates by authorities, observing both diplomatic and domestic frames referred in the debate in contrast, this paper highlights this law-making process delivered and elucidated continuous consecutive inquiries about radical questions of the current Japanese family law regarding the wellbeing of the changing families and their children in contemporary Japan.

Keywords

Japaninternational parental child abductionHague Child Abduction Conventionfamily lawcross-border marriage
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 316 - 335
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Asian Journal of Law and Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexy, Allison (2020) Intimate Disconnections: Divorce and the Romance of Independence in Contemporary Japan, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Alston, Philip, Bridget Gilmour Walsh, & UNICEF (1996) The Best Interests of the Child: Towards a Synthesis of Children’s Rights and Cultural Values, New York: UNICEF.Google Scholar
Barbara, Stark (2017) International Family Law, Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.Google Scholar
Beaumont, Paul R., & McEleavy, Peter E. (1999) The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Best, Joel (2020) Social Problems, 4th edn, New York: W. W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Bodenheimer, Brigitte M. (1980) “The Hague Draft Convention on International Child Abduction.” 14 Family Law Quarterly 99–120.Google Scholar
Boykin, Michelle (2012) “A Comparison of Japanese and Moroccan Approaches in Adopting the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.” 46 Family Law Quarterly 451–69.Google Scholar
Bozin, Danielle (2018) “Parenting in the Aftermath of Abduction: Comparative Insights into the Formulation of Parenting Arrangements Post-Return to Australia under the Hague Child Abduction Convention.” 37, no. 1 University of Tasmania Law Review 26–51.Google Scholar
Brown, J. Robert (1994) “Reform and Foreign Pressure,” in Brown, J. R., ed., Opening Japan’s Financial Markets, London and New York: Routledge, 104–20.Google Scholar
Brummel, Valerie (2016) “Comments: Parental Kidnapping, Criminal Contempt of Court, and the Double Jeopardy Clause: A Recommendation for State Courts.” 106 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 315–33.Google Scholar
Chan, Jennifer (2004) Gender and Human Rights Politics in Japan: Global Norms and Domestic Networks, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Child Welfare Information Gateway (2020) Determining the Best Interests of the Child, Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau.Google Scholar
Committee on the Rights of the Child (2019) “Concluding Observations on the Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of Japan,” https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/JPN/CRC_C_JPN_CO_4-5_33812_E.pdf (accessed 7 March 2019).Google Scholar
Costa, Jennifer (2010) “If Japan Signs the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: Real Change or Political Maneuvering?” 12 Oregon Review of International Law 369–88.Google Scholar
Cumming, J. Joy, Mawdsley, Ralph D., & De Waal, Elda (2006) “The ‘Best Interests of the Child’, Parents’ Rights and Educational Decision-Making for Children: A Comparative Analysis of Interpretations in the United States of America, South Africa and Australia.” 11 Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education 43–71.Google Scholar
David, Clarissa C., Jenna Mae, L. Atun, & La Viña, Antonio G. M. (2012) “Framing in Legislation: The Case of Population Policy in the Philippines.” 31 Population Research and Policy Review 297–319.Google Scholar
Dingle, Sarah (2011) “Claims Japan Consulate Helps Abduct Children,” https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/claims-japan-consulate-helps-abduct-children/2796590?section=world (accessed 3 September 2020).Google Scholar
Dyer, Adair (1997) “The Internationalization of Family Law.” 30 U.C. Davis Law Review 625.Google Scholar
Hague Conference on Private International Law (2003) Guide to Good Practice under the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Bristol: Hague Conference on Private International Law, Permanent Bureau.Google Scholar
Hague Conference on Private International Law (2011) “Domestic and Family Violence and the Article 13 ‘Grave Risk’ Exception in the Operation of the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: A Reflection Paper,” https://assets.hcch.net/docs/ce5327cd-aa2c-4341-b94e-6be57062d1c6.pdf (accessed 9 November 2017).Google Scholar
Hamano, Takeshi (2013) “Nihon No Kokusaitekina Minjijō No Sokumen Ni Kansuru Jyōyaku (Hāgujyōyaku) Hijyun Wo Meguru Hōdōnaiyō No Media Furemu Bunseki: Zenkokushi Keisaikiji Wo Taishō To Shite [Media Frame Analysis of Japan and the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: A Case Study of Recent Articles in National Newspapers in Japan].” 11 CIEE Journal, the University of Kitakyushu 77–98.Google Scholar
Hamano, Takeshi (2017) “The Aftermath of Japan’s Ratification of the Hague Convention on Child Abduction: An Investigation into the State Apparatus of the Modern Japanese Family.” 3 IAFOR Journal of Asian Studies 35–49.Google Scholar
Iizuka, Yamato (2020) “Oyaniyoru Ko No ‘Tsuresari’ Ga Shūdansoshō Ni Hatten Kaigaikara Wa ‘Gyakutai’ to Hinansareru Jittaitowa [Class Action against Parental ‘Child Abduction’: The Rason Why They Are Critically Recognised as ‘Child Abuse’ in the International Context],” https://dot.asahi.com/dot/2020082000083.html?page=1 (accessed 3 October 2020).Google Scholar
Ishaque, Shabnam, & Muhanmad Mustafa, Khan (2015) “The Best Interests of the Child: A Prevailing Consideration within Islamic Principles and a Governing Principle in Child Custody Cases in Pakistan.” 29 International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 78–96.Google Scholar
Itō, Kimio (2017) “Ideologī To Shiteno ‘Kazoku’ To Honkakutekina ‘Kazokuseisaku’ No Fuzai [‘The Family’ as an Ideology and the Lack of the Real ‘Family Policy’],” in Y. Honda & K. Itō, eds., Kokka Ga Naze Kazoku Ni Kanshōsurunoka: Hōan · Seisaku No Haigo Ni Arumono [Why Does the State Intervene in the Family? Things Behind the Law and Policy], Tokyo: Seikyūsha, 155–72.Google Scholar
Jančić, Olga Cvejić (2016) “Rights of the Child in a Changing World,” in Jančić, O. C., ed., The Rights of the Child in a Changing World: 25 Years after the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Cham: Springer, 1–36.Google Scholar
Japan News, The (2018) “Courts Fail to Return Disputed Children/Experts Seek Improvements to Hague Treaty Enforcement,” The Japan News, 7 March.Google Scholar
Jones, Colin P. A. (2007) “In the Best Interests of the Court: What American Lawyers Need to Know About Child Custody and Visitation in Japan.” 8 Asia Pacific Law & Policy Journal 166–268.Google Scholar
Jones, Colin P. A. (2012) “Divorce and Child Custody Issues in the Japanese Legal System,” http://amview.japan.usembassy.gov/wordpress/divorce-and-child-custody-issues-in-the-japanese-legal-system/ (accessed 4 June 2013).Google Scholar
Jones, Colin P. A. (2013) Towards an “Asian” Child Abduction Treaty? Some Observations on Singapore and Japan Joining the Hague Convention, Singapore: Asian Law Institute.Google Scholar
Kaji, Ryōta (2012) “Shinkokukasuru Kokusaitekina Ko No Tsuresarimondai to Hāgujyōyaku [Deepening Problem of International Parental Child Abduction and the Hague Convention].” 326 Rippō to Chōsa [Legislation and Investigation] 51–63.Google Scholar
Kaneko, Osamu, et al. (2015) Ichimon’itto, Kokusaitekina Konotsuresarihe No Seidotekitaioh: Hāgujyōyaku Oyobi Kanrenhōki No Kaisetsu [Q &A Institutional Practices against International Child Abduction: Introduction to the Hague Child Abduction Convention and Related Acts], Tokyo: Shōjihōmu.Google Scholar
Kumagai, Fumie, & Masako, Ishii-Kuntz (2016) Family Violence in Japan a Life Course Perspective, Singapore: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindhorst, Taryn, & Edleson, Jeffrey L. (2012) Battered Women, Their Children, and International Law: The Unintended Consequences of the Hague Child Abduction Convention, Lebanon, NH: Northeastern University Press.Google Scholar
Loseke, Donileen R. (2015) “Introduction to Constructionist Futures: New Directions in Social Problems Theory.” 11 Qualitative Sociology Review 6–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, Nigel Vaughan, Mark, Everall, & Michael, Nicholls (2016) International Movement of Children: Law, Practice and Procedure, Bristol: Jordans Publishing.Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas (1990) Political Theory in the Welfare State, Berlin and New York: W. de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Mainichi Daily News (2011) “Japanese Ex-Wife Arrested in U.S. On Accusation of Making Off with Child,” http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111027p2a00m0na010000c.html (accessed 5 November 2011).Google Scholar
Merle, H. Weiner (2008) “Codification, Cooperation, and Concern for Children: The Internationalization of Family Law in the United States over the Last Fifty Years.” 42 Family Law Quarterly 619–58.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2011a) “Hagujyōyaku No Chūōtōkyoku No Arikata Ni Kansuru Kondankai: Dai 1 Kai Kaigō [Roundtable About the Role of the Central Authority Related to the Hague Child Abduction Convention: The First Meeting],” https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/hague/kondankai01_gy.html (accessed August 6 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2011b) “Hagujyōyaku No Chūōtōkyoku No Arikata Ni Kansuru Kondankai: Dai 2 Kai Kaigō [Roundtable About the Role of the Central Authority Related to the Hague Child Abduction Convention: The 2nd Meeting],” https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/hague/kondankai02_gy.html (accessed 27 August 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2011c) “Hagujyōyaku No Chūōtōkyoku No Arikata Ni Kansuru Kondankai: Dai 3 Kai Kaigō [Roundtable About the Role of the Central Authority Related to the Hague Child Abduction Convention: The 3rd Meeting],” https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/hague/kondankai03_gy.html (accessed 27 August 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2011d) “Hagujyōyaku No Chūōtōkyoku No Arikata Ni Kansuru Kondankai: Dai 4 Kai Kaigō [Roundtable About the Role of the Central Authority Related to the Hague Child Abduction Convention: The 4th Meeting],” https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/hague/kondankai04_gy.html (accessed 26 August 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2011e) “Kokusaiteki Na Konodasshu No Minjijō No Sokumen Ni Kansuru Jyōyaku (Hagujyōyaku)” Ni Kansuru Ankēto No Kekka Ni Tuiste [Results of Survey About “the Convention of Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention)”], Tokyo: MOFA.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2011f) “Kokusaitekina Ko No Minjijō No Sokumen Ni Kansuru Jyōyaku (Kashō)’ (Hāgujyōyaku)” Wo Jisshi Surutame No Chūōtōkyoku No Arikata Ni Tsuite: Paburikkukomento De Yoserareta Iken [Opinions Collected from Public Comment about the Role of The Central Authority to Conduct the “Hague Child Abduction Convention (Tentative Title)”], Tokyo: MOFA.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2012) “Kokusaitekina Ko No Dasshu No Minjijyō No Sokumen Ni Kansuru Jyōyaku (Kashō)” (Hāgujyōyaku) Wo Jissennsurutame No Chūōtōkyoku No Arikata: Rontenmatome [Summary of the Points to Conduct the Role of the Central Authority under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention], Tokyo: MOFA.Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2014) “Process toward Conclusion of the Hague Convention,” https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/hr_ha/page22e_000251.html (accessed 27 March 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2017) “The Hague Convention (the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction),” http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/hague/index.html (accessed 2 October 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan (2016) “Heisei 28 Nen Zenkoku Hitorioyasetaitō Chōsa [The 2016 National Survey about Solo-parenting Household],” https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/files (accessed 1 February 2021).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice of Japan (2011a) Bukaishiryō 1: Hāgujyōyaku No Teiketsu Ni Atatte No Gutaitekina Kentōkadai [Handout for the Subcommittee 1: Specific Subjects to Be Discussed as to Conclude the Hague Child Abduction Convention]. Tokyo: MOJ.Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice of Japan (2011b) “Hōseibukai—Hāgujyōyaku (Ko No Henkantetsuzukikankei) Bukai [Subcommittee of the Legislative Council on the Hague Child Abduction Convention],” http://www.moj.go.jp/shingi1/shingi03500013.html (accessed 6 September 2011).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice of Japan (2011c) “Hōseibukai—Hāgujyōyaku (Ko No Henkantetsuzukikankei) Bukai Dai 1 Kai Kaigi (Heisei 23 Nen 7 Gatsu 13 Nichi Kaisai) [The 1st Meeting of the Subcommittee of the Legislative Council on the Hague Child Abduction Convention, 13 July 2011],” http://www.moj.go.jp/shingi1/shingi04900079.html (accessed 9 November 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice of Japan (2011d) “Hōseibukai—Hāgujyōyaku (Ko No Henkantetsuzukikankei) Bukai Dai 4 Kai Kaigi (Heisei 23 Nen 9 Gatsu 22 Nichi Kaisai) [The 4th Meeting of the Subcommittee of the Legislative Council on the Hague Child Abduction Convention, 22 September 2011],” http://www.moj.go.jp/shingi1/shingi04900087.html (accessed 9 November 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice of Japan (2011e) “Hōseibukai—Hāgujyōyaku (Ko No Henkantetsuzukikankei) Bukai Dai 5 Kai Kaigi (Heisei 23 Nen 10 Gatsu 17 Nichi Kaisai) [The 5th Meeting of the Subcommittee of the Legislative Council on the Hague Child Abduction Convention, 17 October 2011],” http://www.moj.go.jp/shingi1/shingi04900091.html (accessed 10 November 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice of Japan (2011f) “Hōseibukai—Hāgujyōyaku (Ko No Henkantetsuzukikankei) Bukai Dai 6 Kai Kaigi (Heisei 23 Nen 10 Gatsu 28 Nichi Kaisai) [The 6th Meeting of the Subcommittee of the Legislative Council on the Hague Child Abduction Convention, 28 October 2011],” http://www.moj.go.jp/shingi1/shingi04900094.html (accessed 10 November 2017).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice of Japan (2019) “Summary of the Legislative Committee,” http://www.moj.go.jp/shingi1/shingi03500004.html (accessed 26 March 2019).Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice of Japan (2020) “Minjishikkōhō Oyobi Kokusaiteki Na Kono Dasshu No Minijjyo No Sokumen Ni Kansuru Jyōyaku No Jisshi Ni Kansuru Hōritsu No Ichibu Wo Kaiseisuruhōritsu Ni Tsuite [On an Amendment to the Law of Civil Execution and the Act of Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction],” http://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji07_00247.html (accessed 5 June 2020).Google Scholar
Miyaoka, Isao (1998) “More Than One Way to Save an Elephant: Foreign Pressure and the Japanese Policy Process.” 10 Japan Forum 167–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulgan, Aurelia George (1997) “The Role of Foreign Pressure (Gaiatsu) in Japan’s Agricultural Trade Liberalization.” 10 The Pacific Review 165–209.Google Scholar
Nagai, Susumu (2017) “Status of Victims of Spousal Violence and the Future Tasks,” in Peterson, D. S. & Schroeder, J., eds., Domestic Violence in International Context, London and New York: Routledge, 136–46.Google Scholar
Nishitani, Yuko (2006) “Kokkyo Wo Koeta Ko No Dasshu Wo Meguru Mondai [Problems of Parental Child Abduction across Borders],” in N. Mizuno, ed., Kazoku- Jendā to Jiyuu to Hō [The Family: Gender, Freedom, and Law], Sendai: Tohokku University Press, 413–35.Google Scholar
Ōhe, Chika, et al. (2014) “ Kodomo No Hikiwatashi” No Hōritsu To Jitsumu [Law and Practice on the “Delivery of Child”], Tokyo: Seibunsha.Google Scholar
Pérez-Vera, Elisa (1982) “Explanatory Report on the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention,” http://hcch.e-vision.nl/upload/expl28.pdf (accessed 14 April 2014).Google Scholar
Quillen, Brian (2014) “The New Face of International Child Abduction: Domestic-Violence Victims and Their Treatment under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.” 49 Texas International Law Journal 621–43.Google Scholar
Rosen, Lawrence (2008) Law as Culture: An Invitation, Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Schuz, Rhona (2013) The Hague Child Abduction Convention: A Critical Analysis, Oxford: Hart.Google Scholar
Shani, M. King (2013) “The Hague Convention and Domestic Violence: Proposals for Balancing the Policies of Discouraging Child Abduction and Protecting Children from Domestic Violence.” 47 Family Law Quarterly 299–310.Google Scholar
Stammers, Neil (1995) “A Critique of Social Approaches to Human Rights.” 17 Human Rights Quarterly 488–508.Google Scholar
Stoever, Jane K. (2017) “Parental Abduction and the State Intervention Paradox.” 92 Washington Law Review 861–936.Google Scholar
Tanase, Takao (2011) “Divorce and the Best Interest of the Child: Disputes over Visitation and the Japanese Family Courts.” 20 Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal 563–88.Google Scholar
Ueki, Yuko (2013) Hāgujyōyaku Wo Jisshisurutame No Kokunaihō No Seibi: Kokusaiteki Na Ko No Dasshu No Minjijyō No Sokumen Ni Kansuru Hōritsu [The Implementation of the Domestic Law to Stipulate the Hague Convention: Laws to Stipulate the Convention of Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction], Tokyo: Research Office of the Committee on Judicial Affairs, House of Councillors.Google Scholar
US Department of State (2020) Annual Reports on International Child Abduction, Washington, DC: US Department of State.Google Scholar
US Embassy Tokyo (2007) “The Issue of International Parental Child Abduction: An Interview with Michele T. Bond, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizens Services, US Department of State,” –http://japan2.usembassy.gov/amview/e/amview-e20071127–81.html (accessed 2 June 2013).Google Scholar
US Embassy Tokyo (2010a) “American View Winter (Japanese Edition),” http://amview.japan.usembassy.gov/pdfs/wwwf-american-view201001.pdf (accessed 2 January 2012).Google Scholar
US Embassy Tokyo (2010b) “Rapid Increase in Child Abductions to Japan,” http://amview.japan.usembassy.gov/wordpress/rapid-increase-in-child-abductions-to-japan/ (accessed 4 June 2013).Google Scholar
Xia, Jianghao (2020) “The Best Interests of the Child Principle in Residence Disputes after Parental Divorce in China.” 34 International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 105–25.Google Scholar
Yamaguchi, Sawako, & Taryn, Lindhorst (2016) “Domestic Violence and the Implementation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: Japan and US Policy.” 17 Journal of International Women’s Studies 16–30.Google Scholar
Yamakawa, Kazuhiro, & Takahiro, Matsushima, eds. (2020) Minjishikkōhō Oyobi Hāgujyōyakujisshihō Kaisei No Pointo To Jitsumu He No Eikyō [The Points of the Reform of the Civil Execution Act and the Hague Child Abduction Convention Implementation Act and the Influence on the Practice], Tokyo: Nihonkajyoshuppan.Google Scholar
Yomiuri Shinbun (2018) “Courts Fail to Return Disputed Children/Experts Seek Improvements to Hague Treaty Enforcement,” 7 March.Google Scholar
Zushi, Shuji (2019) “Japan’s 5-Year Experience in Implementing the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention.” 2 International Family Law Journal 80–8.Google Scholar