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Divorced from reality? Japan’s joint custody reform divides parents

Yasuyuki Watanabe has not seen his daughter in more than 15 years. But he is not celebrating the landmark custody reform that Japan has just…

By Samantha Johnson / May 10, 2026
Yasuyuki Watanabe has not seen his daughter in more than 15 years. But he is not celebrating the landmark custody reform that Japan has just implemented.

Until last month, Japanese law required one parent to hold sole custody of children after a divorce, leaving the other party reliant on informal goodwill or court-encouraged visitation to maintain a relationship with their child.

For Watanabe, 54, the result was a system seemingly designed to exclude him, where one parent could disappear from a child’s life entirely – not through any court ruling, but through the simple refusal to cooperate.

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That system has now changed, at least on paper. On April 1, Japan revised its Civil Code to allow parents to share custody after divorce: a change backed by a majority of the public and welcomed by parents who believe children benefit from the continued presence of their mothers and fathers in their lives.

A sumo wrestler holds a child during a “crying baby sumo” match at a temple in Tokyo last month. Photo: AFP
A sumo wrestler holds a child during a “crying baby sumo” match at a temple in Tokyo last month. Photo: AFP

A poll published by the Mainichi newspaper on April 22 found just 10 per cent of respondents were opposed to the changes, with 53 per cent in favour.

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But Watanabe is not among them. “This legal reform provides absolutely no benefit to high-conflict couples and does not consider the best interests of the child at all,” he said.

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