The anguish of parental child abduction: Japan moves towards granting joint custody

Every year in Japan, thousands of fathers fall victim to parental child abduction. It very often follows the same pattern: the Japanese mother leaves suddenly with the child and then forbids the father from seeing them again. These are abductions that fathers – Japanese and foreign alike – are powerless to fight, since Japan is one of the only countries in the world that does not recognise joint custody post-marriage. After a divorce, custody is granted to only one parent. But now, the law is about to change. FRANCE 24’s correspondents Alexis Bregere, Mélodie Sforza and Adam Hancock report.