Briefing Session on the Issue of Child Custody for Embassies in Tokyo

February 10, 2010
Japanese

With a view to deepening understanding regarding Japan’s efforts on the issues of child custody, Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing session for the embassies of countries which have shown a keen interest in the issue on February 10 (Wed). This meeting was chaired by Mr. Koji Haneda, Ambassador in charge of U. N. Affairs.
At the start of the meeting, Ms. Chinami Nishimura, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, explained the intention of this meeting given the growing issues of child custody, and summarized Japan’s efforts to deal with them.
In continuation, officials of Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained current attempts to address ongoing cases, the state of Japan’s consideration of concluding the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention), and the measures introduced to prevent child abduction. An official from Ministry of Justice also attended the meeting, and explained Japan’s domestic treatment of child custody under existing laws.
These explanations were followed by a question-and-answer time with participants from embassies in Tokyo, which was useful for mutual understanding. Many comments were received from the various embassies expressing their high appreciation for Ministry of Foreign Affairs for holding this briefing session.

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