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Some of the faces of internationally kidnapped children in JAPAN. (Officially documented publicly disclosed cases) Left to right, top to bottom: 1. NIKO NYCOLE NEALY, missing since 7/13/2005 2. ALEXANDER MANIWA-WOOD, missing since 12/09/2004 3. MANAMI MANIWA-WOOD, missing since 12/09/2004 4. MARINA TIFFANY KANEDA, missing since 5/21/2004 5.TAKODA WEED, missing since 1/15/2004 6. TIANA WEED, missing since 1/15//2004 7. TYLER MICHAEL DAVIDOVITCH, missing since 11/29/2003 8. KAIRA KELLY LITWILLER, missing since 6/10/2003 9. CHRISTOPHER RYO GULBRAA, missing since 11/28/2001 10. MICHAEL KEN GULBRAA, missing since 11/28/2001 11. LACHLAN YUKIHIRO KISHIDA DUFFLEY, missing since 6/24/2001 12. RAYNA REW HARRIS, missing since 5/25/1997 Sources: Websites for INTERPOL, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, California State Department of Justice, Missing Children International These are a just a few examples of internationally kidnapped children in Japan from some official, publicly available sources. For a variety of reasons vast numbers of these cases go unreported. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Children's Rights Council of Japan estimates there could more than 10,000 internationally kidnapped children in Japan, with new cases growing at an alarming rate each year. CRC OF JAPAN ESTIMATES CUMULATIVE CASES OF INTERNATIONALLY ABDUCTED CHILDREN IN JAPAN TO NUMBER IN THE THOUSANDS-- How we came up with our numbers: According to a widely cited 1990 U.S. Department of Justice study called "National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children," 354,100 abductions per year are committed by family members in the U.S. Based on the 1990 U.S. population of 248,709,873, this works out to a U.S. per capita family abduction rate of 0.0014237. Assuming that this per capita family abduction rate is about the same for the Japanese population, based on the July 2006 estimated population of 127,463,611, the total number of estimated abductions per year in Japan by family members involved in custody disputes works out to 181,470. In recent years (2000-2003), 4.8% of all Japanese marriages involved a foreigner marrying a Japanese. Applying this percentage to the estimated 181,470 family abductions in 2006, it would suggest that about 8,710 of the estimated family abductions in Japan would involve an international marriage. Assuming that family abductions are done equally frequently by the foreign spouse as by the Japanese spouse, this would mean there are 4,305 children of international marriages abducted to or retained in Japan by the Japanese spouse. With U.S. citizens accounting for about 4.5% of the international couples, 194 of these estimated abductions would involve U.S. children being abducted to or retained in Japan. To err on the conservative side, one can assume that the per capita abduction rate for Japan is only half that of the U.S. Even so, this would mean that there are more than 2,000 international cases per year of children of international marriages being abducted to or retained in Japan, with almost 100 of these involving U.S. children. Cummulatively, adding together all the cases for the past 5 or more years, the total easily could be more than 10,000 international cases and over 500 cases involving U.S. children. International Child Abductions to Japan Cases Are Piling Up--Is Japan Following North Korea's "Heartless" Example? In 2002 North Korea admitted for the first time that it had abducted some Japanese nationals during the 1970s and '80s. Since then the Japanese government has stepped up pressure on North Korea to resolve these cases, and as a consequence, practically all the living abductees have been reunited with their families in Japan. Relatives of the abducted Japanese nationals have visited the U.S., for meetings with high-level members of Congress, cabinet members, and other influential members of the U.S. government. On April 28, 2006, President Bush even met in the Oval Office with one of the family members. After the meeting, President Bush stated, "It is hard to believe that a country would foster abduction. It's hard for Americans to imagine that a leader of any country would encourage the abduction of a young child. It's a heartless country that would separate loved ones." Ironically, the Japanese government is just as guilty of fostering "heartless" separation of loved ones as it accused the North Koreans of. Because of Japan's continuing refusal to join international treaties regarding international child abduction, its refusal to recognize foreign court orders in these cases, and its refusal to enforce relevant international treaties it already has signed, the Japanese government itself in effect condones international abductions of other country's citizens to Japan. When children of international marriages are abducted to Japan by the Japanese spouse, or retained there in violation of the foreign parent's rights, the foreign spouse is essentially powerless in terms of obtaining any Japanese government cooperation to locate their child, much less enjoy the most minimal of access rights through the legal system Japan provides foreigners. The latest statistics from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children paint a gloomy picture of the lack of success U.S. parents have had in these cases. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: -NCMEC's international case database (1995-2006) reflects that in sixteen percent (16%) of NCMEC's outgoing, active cases, involving children taken from the U.S. to Japan, NCMEC has been seeking the return of the children for ten years or longer. -Sixty-four percent (64%) of NCMEC's active cases involving Japan have been open for at least three years. -NCMEC's database reflects that only one recovery was ever achieved involving children taken from the U.S. to Japan. This recovery resulted from the re-abduction of the child by the searching parent. -To date, there has not been a single recovery from Japan that resulted from a civil legal proceeding or following the issuance of a criminal warrant for the taking parent. Children's Rights Council of Japan estimates that there are 2,000 or more of such new cases in Japan each year, involving not just U.S. citizen children, but children from all over the world. Practically all these children grow up completely isolated from their foreign parent throughout their childhood. It is not known how many, if any, ever re-establish a meaningful relationship with their foreign parent once they reach adulthood. Increasingly, there are some glimmers of hope, however. On December 3, 2005, a first of its kind event was held at the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo, to look at this problem. Titled "Seminar on the Hague Convention and International Child Abductions," attendees included representatives from the Japanese government as well as over 20 embassies stationed in Japan, many members of the news media, attorneys, psychologists, a number of left-behind parents with children in Japan, and others interested in these issues. On November 6, 2006 an international symposium was held on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Titled “International Parental Kidnapping and Custody Trends Around the World,” this symposium included representatives from the U.S. State Department, NCMEC, ICMEC, and two foreign governments. Children's Rights Council of Japan participated on the panels of both these events. With public forums like this, and continuing publicity by the ever growing number of left-behind families of children abducted to Japan, it is only a matter of time before the day will come when Japan too will admit its wrong doings, and will begin to take steps to reunite families, as North Korea has done.