Since the story of the father seeking custody of his children who had been taken to Japan by their mother, there has been more pressure on Japan to join a child custody treaty. Currently, Japan is not a part of the treaty that deals with international abduction and custody rights of parents.

If you recall, a previous post discussed the American father whose ex-wife brought their two kids back to Japan where she is from. Though she violated the United States custody order, Japan did not recognize the custody order. There was nothing the father could do to even see or communicate with his children.

The countries that are already a part of the treaty believe that allowing parents to flee to Japan and break custody orders is allowing abduction to occur across country lines. It has even been said that allowing parents to take kids without repercussions is violating human rights under both United States and international law.

The U.S. State Department has reported that over 140 children have been abducted and kept in Japan this year alone. There are a number of other cases in which parents are not even allowed to communicate with their children. These numbers are what drive the U.S. to get Japan to join the treaty.

But will this change actually occur? Even though the Prime Minister of Japan's cabinet has already approved the plan, it still must be passed by Japan's parliament. This is where the problems could arise.

Some are concerned that parliament will not approve the plan because members of parliament may not understand why the change needs to occur. Current Japanese law typically grants sole custody of the child to the mother and if parliament members do not see a problem with the way things are currently run, things could stay the same.

Source: The Associated Press online, "Japan approves plan to join child custody pact," 19 May 2011