Back in the old days, you were actually given $1 for each bounty that was utilised. But then the earthquake and tsunami happened and it was changed. I never actually used it during the old system and it’s too late now to earn any money from it haha. I’m sure Koichi actually marketed that as a way to pay off your TextFugu subscription :P I’d prefer if we were given the option – I’d rather take the money and donate it to my own chosen charity, if I chose to donate at all, that is.

(Actually, it changed to donate-only some time *before* the disaster, but you got a choice of educational charities back then, I think)

Good news Edgar, you don’t. You misread the bounty information. When you submit a bounty, and it checks out, Textfugu (Koichi) donates 1$ to a charity of your choosing. However, currently, the Japan flood relief fund is the only available donation option, so that is why this is the only choice.

Think of it this way, every time you help Textfugu out, you help out a flood victim too! Every dollar helps.

I would imagine there’s more people in need from the effects of the earthquake and tsunami than there is related to child abduction cases. I’m not trying to downplay child abduction, but that’s just how I would see it. I don’t think we should really be criticising the choice of charity either, you could lament the same criticism to anywhere doing donations. That said I do think it’s silly that a lot of people donate to churches instead of charities helping people, rather than helping an already untaxed association…

• This reply was modified 13 years ago by  Luke.

I should also note, that I personally know of several children that were abducted to the fukushima area. Thereby not only subjecting the children to the harm caused by abduction… but also to unnecessary, increased health risks.

Generally only international cases get any mention.

But functionally, in Japan child abduction == custody. So if one member of a relationship involving children decides to end the relationship, they will typically abduct the child. Once the abduction has taken place, there is literally nothing that the other parent can do. If the non-abducting parent even attempts to see the child, they can be (and often are) arrested. The haven’t actually broken a law, but the police will arrest them for “harassment” of the abducting parent.

Eventually, the Japanese court (which only recognizes sole/unilateral custody) will rule in favor of the abductor. The Japanese courts use the logic that the child is now “settled” in the environment with the abductor and it is therefore “in the child’s best interest” to not have their environment changed.

There are legal articles the discuss the Japanese domestic issues:

English Translation of article by famous Japanese Law Professor — Discusses the number of domestic cases –>
http://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/1030/20PacRimLPolyJ607.pdf?sequence=1

General Analysis of the broken family court system in Japan:
http://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/1029/20PacRimLPolyJ589.pdf?sequence=1
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/articles/APLPJ_08.2_jones.pdf

Plus the number of international cases get downplayed:
Child Abduction in Japan… The REAL Numbers – part 1. | Letters to Kai and Koh http://bit.ly/pteCAe

Recent NHK (English) segment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fju4WDmpU9A

The reason that it doesn’t get so much coverage is that it gets labeled “custody” not abduction. But in Japan, as I’ve said, abduction is what determines custody. They who abduct, win.