Japan Paves Way For Joint Child Custody In Divorce

The Japanese parliament has approved a change to a decades-old law, which will allow divorced couples to share custody of their children from 2026.

Traditionally, custody is granted to a single parent who is then able to completely cut off the other parent’s access to their children.

Until Friday, Japan was the only G7 country that did not recognise the legal concept of joint custody.

Most divorces in Japan happen through “consent divorce” – where both parties sign a paper and mutually end a marriage.

In this scenario, lawyers say, the couple is free to decide custody and visitation arrangements. But if the two parties go to court, the judge awards custody to one parent.
This system has drawn criticism from divorced parents who say they have been estranged from their children as a result.

Minako Sato* is one of them.

When Ms Sato moved to her elderly mother’s house to help out for a couple of months, she and her ex-husband agreed he’d bring her then 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter to visit on weekends.

This arrangement continued for about a month and a half. But Ms Sato said she noticed that her former husband had changed – he was quieter and more distant.

“He stopped talking to me when he brought the kids to my mother’s house,” she said.

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