Catherine Henderson's interview (Parent of abducted child)

Catherine from Melbourne, Australia, where she met her husband but later moved to Japan along with her daughter and son, gave me insight into the Japanese culture and mentality of the average Japanese person as she's worked in the country for almost 20 years now as an English teacher.

The Japanese culture and traditions stem from many problems within the legal system as Catherine mentioned. Before World War II, the head of a household was the father figure of each family, so if a couple was going through a divorce the children concerned will be given full custody to the father. Despite abolishing that system Japan maintains their sole custody system, allowing parental child abductions to occur. Japan claims the reason behind the sole custody system after divorce is to avoid conflict in any form.

Catherine says Japanese people don't like to be in any situation that can cause conflict and tend to bottle up their true emotions, regardless if it's in the workplace or in their personal life.

Many Japanese people put up a front and never reveal their true emotions to anyone which in turn causes them to suffer alone. Arguably one of the reasons why they have high suicide rates.

The Japanese court told Catherine that if they were to allow her visitation rights the issues between her and her ex-husband will cause "conflict" which will affect the children.

Catherine said: "How does meeting my children after not seeing them for two years could cause emotional conflict between my husband and me?"

Japan can't seem to see how two people after a divorce can co-parent peacefully so they maintain their exclusive custody system but don't realise the terrible repercussions of parental alienation to the child and continues allowing parents to abduct their children from their spouses.

In conclusion, Catherine's experiences highlight the problems within the Japanese legal system, particularly with regard to the sole custody system after divorce. This system allows parental child abductions to occur and does not consider the potential negative impacts on children and parents. Catherine's own experiences with the Japanese court show that the system does not prioritize the well-being of children and does not allow for co-parenting after divorce.