{"id":4960,"date":"2009-11-05T20:26:54","date_gmt":"2009-11-05T11:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=4960"},"modified":"2009-11-06T12:24:49","modified_gmt":"2009-11-06T03:24:49","slug":"open-letter-to-pres-obama-re-nov-12-japan-visit-and-child-abductions-from-left-behind-parent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=4960","title":{"rendered":"Open Letter to Pres. Obama re Nov 12 Japan Visit and Child Abductions from Left-Behind Parent"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>\"debitopodcastthumb\"<\/a>
\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito<\/p>\n

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES<\/strong>
\n (Released to Debito.org November 6, 2009, for Obama’s Japan visit November 12, 2009)<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear President Obama,<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for taking the time to read these thoughts I\u2019ve put together in anticipation of your upcoming visit to Japan next week.\u00a0\u00a0 A few weeks ago while watching the evening news I saw you and your family taking a stroll outside the White house.\u00a0 That picture reminded me of the countless times I took my sons out for a walk. The glow I saw on Sasha\u2019s face and the confidence of Malia reminded me so much of what it means to be father. It has been four years since I last took a stroll with my boys; four years since I have been allowed to be a father.<\/em><\/p>\n

When my wife and I divorced in Japan I was unaware that I would not be allowed to continue to be a part of my children\u2019s lives.\u00a0 Please let me explain.\u00a0\u00a0 In most of the civilized countries of the world we understand how important it is for children to have access to both of their parents.\u00a0 Countless studies have shown that a child needs to gain insight and strength from both their mother and father.\u00a0 In Japan however, children do not have the same rights.\u00a0\u00a0 Custody is never shared.\u00a0 As stated on The Japan Children\u2019s Rights Network website \u201cThe word most often used with the meaning of “child custody” in Japan is “shinken”.\u00a0 The word consists of the characters (Japanese Kanji) for \u201cParent\u201d and \u201cRight\u201d However, the real meaning of \u201cshinken\u201d in Japanese is not \u201cParent\u2019s rights\u201d but is legally more similar to \u201cParent\u2019s duty\u201d.\u00a0 So shinken means a duty (or obligation) for the parent in order to bring up child in proper environment and protect him\/her.\u00a0 Married couples share shinken jointly.\u00a0 But outside of marriage, Japanese law does not permit joint shinken.\u00a0 Only one parent may hold shinken.\u00a0 A common reason given to justify the prohibition of joint custody of a child is that the belief that that divorced parents are not able to cooperate in executing their duty in harmonious way.\u00a0 Not all Japanese believe this, in particular the ones who each year try to obtain joint custody.\u00a0 But this concept is enshrined in the law.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

For years now I\u2019ve been writing on the Internet about Japan\u2019s abuse of Child and Parental Rights.\u00a0\u00a0 At times I\u2019ve been critical of my own government for lacking an understanding of the political, legal, and cultural issues surrounding Japan\u2019s evil attitude. \u00a0I followed your campaign for the Presidency and prayed that you would become the first President of the United States to confront Japan on this issue.\u00a0\u00a0 I have been impressed with your cabinet\u2019s proactive approach to the issue of International Parental Abduction and hope you will reach out to Prime Minister Hatoyama and help him understand how devastating the loss of a child is.\u00a0 Interestingly Prime Minister Hatoyama stated that he supports ratification of The Hague Convention \u201cfor the sake of justice.\u201d\u00a0 Even the Prime Minister realizes there can never be justice when a child is deprived of either parent.<\/em><\/p>\n

When you meet with Prime Minister Hatoyama, please remind him of his statements.\u00a0 There is no need to wait another two years to implement the rights Japan agreed to uphold when they became signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.\u00a0 Please walk right up to Mr. Hatoyama, look him squarely in the eye, and tell him non-custodial parents must have immediate access to their children. Let the Japanese Government know that there is no room for negotiation.\u00a0 Please uphold both parental and children\u2019s fundamental human rights.\u00a0 The Lord knows I have done about all I can.\u00a0 I have fought inside and outside of Japanese Courts with everything I\u2019ve have left. I\u2019ve been jailed, placed in solitary confinement, and stripped of all my assets for trying be a father.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mr. President, like so many other left behind parents, I pray every night to see my children for years. Please use your office and your voice to make this happen. There are so many parents who have renewed hopes since you have taken office. When you come to Japan for talks with the Japanese Government please make this issue an important part of the discussion.\u00a0 YES WE CAN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sincerely,
\nJust another left behind American Dad<\/strong>
\nends<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conclusion: When you meet with Prime Minister Hatoyama, please remind him of his statements. There is no need to wait another two years to implement the rights Japan agreed to uphold when they became signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Please walk right up to Mr. Hatoyama, look him squarely in the eye, and tell him non-custodial parents must have immediate access to their children. Let the Japanese Government know that there is no room for negotiation. Please uphold both parental and children\u2019s fundamental human rights. The Lord knows I have done about all I can. I have fought inside and outside of Japanese Courts with everything I\u2019ve have left. I\u2019ve been jailed, placed in solitary confinement, and stripped of all my assets for trying be a father.<\/p>\n

Mr. President, like so many other left behind parents, I pray every night to see my children for years. Please use your office and your voice to make this happen. There are so many parents who have renewed hopes since you have taken office. When you come to Japan for talks with the Japanese Government please make this issue an important part of the discussion. YES WE CAN!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,50,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-child-abductions","category-gaiatsu","category-japanese-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}