Excited
Earlier this year, a New Jersey dad fought to get his son back from Brazil from his ex-wife’s family. Now, a similarly heart-breaking scenario is playing out–this time, in Japan.
Christopher Savoie is sitting in jail right now because he went to Japan to reclaim his two children. Their mother, Noriko–a Japanese native–previously had this court-approved agreement with Christopher: She would take the children on vacation to Japan during summers, and bring them back to Franklin, Tennessee, in time for school. This August, Noriko kept them in Japan. Since she had violated the agreement, a judge awarded Christopher full custody of the children. A warrant went out for Noriko’s arrest.
Unfortunately for Christopher, Japan is not part of the 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction, which finds a way to bring kids home across international borders. Instead, Japanese family law follows the tradition of sole custody divorces–that is, when a couple splits up, the children usually stay with one parent while the other leaves their lives permanently.
Knowing he might never see his kids again, Christopher flew out to Japan, grabbed his kids, and tried to bring them to the U.S. consulate. That’s where he was arrested by the Japanese police. Christopher now faces the charge of abducting minors, which carries a jail sentence of up to five years.
Can we get Bill Clinton over there to fix this?
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I heard that before they got a divorce in Japan, he convinced his wife into moving to the US where they could "start new lives" and work things out. Once they live there for only a few months, he filed for divorce without trying to work things out. I assume he was hoping the US laws would favor keeping the kids in the US but they lived in Japan and the kids grew up in Japan so it does not seem so strange that the wife felt betrayed and moved back there. I also hear this guy is already re-married. Can anyone confirm this?
I heard that before they got a divorce in Japan, he convinced his wife into moving to the US where they could "start new lives" and work things out. Once they live there for only a few months, he filed for divorce without trying to work things out. I assume he was hoping the US laws would favor keeping the kids in the US but they lived in Japan and the kids grew up in Japan so it does not seem so strange that the wife felt betrayed and moved back there. I also hear this guy is already re-married. Can anyone confirm this?
Update: The dad has been released from Japanese jail, and he has not been indicted for child kidnapping. The police let him go after he promised not to take his kids back to the States. Full story: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/15/jap...
Okay - I'll warn my mum and dad who've been happily married for 29 years
Fixed:
Japanese Women DO NOT marry a non-Japanese guy. Non-Japanese guys, DO NOT marry an Japanese Women.
Stupid CNN is so biased on this coverage, I bet this isn't the full story isn't here too.
I think both parents are guilty.
Western weddings do not register as legal in Japan so that woman can not be arrested because technically she didn't break the law.
(I agree with this legal wedding restriction because it safeguards Japanese wedding culture)
Well we know that Asian Woman and White Men never really matched to begin with and for cultural reasons they don't work out. Probably all that Hollywood influence got to them and she wasn't the geisha he thought and he wasn't the handsome white prince..
Now the kids will suffer because of it.
Listen up - Plain and simple, Harsh but True.
Asian Women DO NOT marry a white guy. White guys, DO NOT marry an Asian Women.
Hurray!!! problem solved.
You must understand... that no matter how you pine or pan whichever way that you do, asian society will ALWAYS belong to asian men. That is why NK is getting nukes, that is why China is building its military. And believe me, my sentiments are far more widespread than you'd like to believe. I am committed to the fact that one day your hegemony will end... and apparently if internal change and reform is not viable (as you stereotype us weak and as nerds), it will eventually culminate with your blood, white man.
-The enemy within your walls
Lol why get them to fix this? Let the fucker rot in jail...
This story makes me happy =)
So does knowing that the Annie Le murderer is going to get assraped. Did you know that her fiance's family wouldnt even attend her funeral? Haha, you asian bitches may not be prejudiced, but apparently Jews still think yer a monkey.
---Seething with hate,
Asian man
Since Japanese law doesn't recognize their divorce (since they didn't also divorce in Japan), how did he then break their kidnapping law.
That's swell PhilDDDD...I wonder if you were all over any blogs raising awareness when the Baker family abducted Anna Mae He
Yes, he had every reason to believe the authorities in Japan would not have cooperated in helping him get his kids back cause you know, they're a bunch of dirty, racist (towards those poor oppressed White guys) , unscrupulous yellow bastards...
Phil--I pray you get your children back. Thank you for educating us on what you know about child abductions--though I'm sorry you had to go through something terrible to learn it.
So, who should have custody of the child, Phil? Which parent should suffer the pains of losing her/her child in this case--the mother or the "American dad"?
And who do you think most Americans and the US media would favor?
And explain to me why the American media hypes particular sensationalistic stories of child custody and abduction when there is a flag-waving angle to it--but does not cover this issue to the same extent when there is not.
Great reply Phil. Would you provide sources for your stats? It would be nice to get more information on this for my own education. Also, is the definition of habitual residence that you use a US standard or one used internationally? This still goes back to the reality that we as observers of this story do not have all the facts. Which 50% is in play here? Regardless, we can only hope that it all works out so that the children get the loving safe home they undeniably deserve.
I'm very sorry for your situation. I know this a tragedy when it occurs in these circumstances. I am truly sorry for you and your children that you have suffered in this way.
As a father of an abducted child, there is no "crap" here, only children suffering. I presume you're not a parent, if you were you'd dread this happening to your own children. And if you were the left behind parent -- mother or father -- you'd be emotionally devastated at the thought of never seeing your child again.
For the record, I feel sorry for any parent of any race, colour or nationality that loses their children to abduction. Parental child abduction is child abuse. Read the stories here: www.takeroot.org
In over 50% of abduction cases -- whether it be a man or woman doing the abducting -- the abductor has a mental illness, and then on top of that there are just plain selfish people. So it's more likely that the children have been abducted for selfish reasons than not. If it was for other reasons, then there are plenty of remedies to use to address any other issues before stealing children and preventing them from feeling the love of both parents. Parental abduction is child abuse, and there is no excuse for it unless the children are in serious danger. The mother does not appear to have ever raised the question of serious danger in any US court.
As to home, home is the habitual residence of the children for 6 months prior to their abduction. Also, both parents had agreed to hear custody in the US. It's clear that these children were abducted from the US and the mother is guilty of a felony in the US.
One thing here is that we don't know the "true" story behind all of this. Why would a mother feel the need to "abduct" her own children? It is rare this happens because the mother just wants the kids all to herself. It usually happens out of a need to protect her kids. Just throwing that out as food for thought. I may be letting my own cynicism take over here, but I'm not quite buying his story.
Even if Japan were a member of the Hague Convention, who decides what is "home"? Japan is easily argued as home as much as the US.
How long will it be before this case becomes a cause celebre for all the flag-waving American jingoists to get outraged over?
The US media loves to hype these kind of stories: virtuous (White) American loses his/her kids to evil foreign-born spouse.
There is a mediocre made-for-TV movie waiting to be made out of Christopher Savoie's story--not unlike the 1991 flick _Not Without My Daughter_ starring Sally Field as Betty Mahmoody, an American woman who lost her kids to her evil Iranian husband (played by Alfred Molina).
Amurikans eat this crap up.
But in this case, this "American dad" is a citizen of Japan, and you would think that Japanese law would apply here.
Yes, he broke the law in Japan. That being said, what would you have him do? He had every reason to believe Japan would not have cooperated in helping him get his kids back.
Then again, as eforeric pointed out (thank you for raising this point!), doesn't Savoie being a naturalized citizen of Japan mean he didn't actually break the law? Hmm..
Sorry, I can't get see getting worked up about this case. She parentally abducted the kids under US law, so he turned around and parentally abducted the kids under Japanese law. He made his bed, and now he's lying in it.
I've been reading this for the past few days on CNN.com.
What's not mentioned here, is that Christopher is a naturalized citizen of Japan as well. I hope this gets resolved and the right thing happens. Japan needs to become part of the Hague Convention.
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