Japan dropped all charges against American dad involved in a custody dispute

Christopher Savoie

I was watching CNN this morning and one of their headlining stories was the Christopher Savoie story. Christopher Savoie is the American dad who was jailed a few months ago for attempting to get his two children back from his Japanese ex-wife, who had broke all state and federal laws, by taking them to Japan. Christopher Savoie was awarded sole custody of the children in America, but Japan does not recognize American law. As a result, he was jailed for 23 days in Japan. Since then, however, all charges against Savoie have been dropped. Japanese government realized that he was remorseful and decided to drop the law as long as Savoie promised to solve this dispute with discussion with his ex-wife.

CNN anchor, Kieran Chetry asked Savoie if those discussions have taken place and Savoie responded by saying;

“No, they haven’t, but I think that before we look at discussing anything, the fact that she broke all federal and state laws and violated a custody order needs to be taken seriously. We were not involved in a custody “battle.” The decision of custody had already been made.”

Although the Japanese authorities decided to drop all charges against Savoie, they did not return the children to him. There is a clash of cultures as the Japanese don’t believe in shared custody. One parent, usually the mother, although in the past it was the father, gets the children and acts as if the other parent is dead! The Japanese just don’t understand why the non-custodial parent would want to even see or visit their kids after a divorce. It’s just not something their culture believes in or understands. Unfortunately, the Savoie case isn’t the only case of its kind in Japan, but so far, not one American parent has been able to get his or her children back.

Background on the Divorce

Noriko Savoie

The couple divorced in January, and one month later, he remarried Amy and they blended his 2 children and her 3 children. Christopher has partial custody of his kids, but says that his ex-wife, Noriko, always made it difficult for him to see them. He claims that he was treated as if he was valueless and unimportant and feared that Noriko would do what she eventually did – head to her native Japan with the children. In late August Noriko picked the children up to take them back-to-school shopping and the Savoies never saw them again. Christopher knew he would have to resort to desperate measures to get his kids back, so tracked down his wife in Japan and followed her and the kids as she dropped them off at school. He then went in the school and picked his children up, but Japanese officials say it was by force and drove them to the U.S. Consulate where Savoie was arrested.

Currently, Noriko is considered an American fugitive, and if she ever decides to leave Japan, she will be brought back to Tennessee where she will face charges. However, if she stays put, it is very likely that the children will too as it is very difficult for Japan and the American Embassy to have a meeting of the minds on an issue that they are so far apart on.