A court in the United Kingdom has ordered that a Japanese child living with its mother in Britain be returned to Japan under The Hague Convention on cross-border parental child abduction, which took effect in Japan in April, sources said Tuesday.
It's the first time a Japanese child has been ordered returned since Japan formally joined The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, according to the Foreign Ministry's The Hague Convention Division.
According to Hirotaka Honda, a lawyer representing the father, the Japanese couple are estranged and going through a divorce.