After years of international outcry, Japan's parliament on Friday passed changes to the country's solitary custody system, which will allow Australian parents in Japan to seek joint custody of their children for the first time.
The Japanese government has been accused of facilitating child abduction through a solitary custody system that allows one parent to have complete control over the child after separation.
Since 2004, at least 89 Australian children have been registered as abducted after they were legally cut off from their Australian parents.
The legislation, which will come into force in 2026 and has retroactive effect, will enable parents to mutually consent to joint or sole custody, and it will also allow the Family Court to grant sole custody to one parent, including where that parent is at risk of domestic violence.
This is the first major change to the law in more than 70 years, and while the laws inject flexibility into the family court system, giving judges the power to grant joint custody, critics are skeptical that the changes can have a significant impact in high-conflict cases.
Takao Tanase, a Japanese lawyer, said the lack of strong legislation in the end was disappointing and could encourage "nominal joint custody", saying that there were no guidelines in the law that parenting responsibilities should be shared, only a vague reference to the vague concept of "looking out for the best interests of the child".
"If there is no significant change in the attitude of the courts, then this law will not change much," he said.
Australian mother Catherine Henderson's children were "kidnapped" by her Japanese husband five years ago when they were 10 and 14 years old respectively.
She said the laws were "a step in the right direction, but nowhere near enough to address the complex and serious issues in Japanese family law."
Scott McIntyre's children, Hitata and Harugo, meanwhile, who are the subject of Interpol's yellow missing persons notice, said there was nothing to celebrate. He said the law puts Japan at a starting point that other countries have reached many years ago.
"Those of us who have experienced this kind of thing are naturally concerned that the same court, which refused to recognize our custody after the kidnapping, will naturally continue to operate in the same way now as before," he said.
Last year, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Times and 60 Minutes revealed that dozens of Australian parents and children had been victims of child abduction in Japan. Subsequently, the Australian government convened nine governments, including the European Union, to lobby Tokyo to change the law.
Opponents of solitary custody argue that it encourages mass parental abductions and permanently isolate parents from their children's lives, while proponents say the laws serve to protect women fleeing domestic violence.
David Fleming's three children, Leon, Eugene and Alan, were "kidnapped" by his wife when he went to Osaka to work as teachers six years ago. He said he hoped the law would bring about a cultural change on co-parenting, but that there were still huge holes in the system.
"I think it's going to improve slightly, it's not entirely in vain," Fleming said.
Fleming later found out that his children, ages 15, 12 and 6, had been adopted by his ex-wife's lover. They ignored his visitation rights, he said, and he hasn't seen the child since, except for a brief Zoom call with his eldest son last year.