The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction went into effect here on April 1, 2014, but there is another Hague treaty that Japan has yet to sign.
The purpose of the Hague Adoption Convention is to prevent the trafficking of children, and Japan is alone among developed countries in its failure to implement rules that require follow-up scrutiny when a Japanese child is adopted by a foreign party. Several years ago some lawmakers formed a Diet group to address this matter, and one member, Seiko Noda, the Liberal Democratic Party’s point person on child-rearing issues, proposed banning international adoptions of Japanese children because of the potential for abuse.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.