I am considering fleeing Japan with my 7yr old who holds a Canadian passport. I will then ask for a divorce from Canada. I am worried of divorce inside of Japan since my husband is abusive and may not agree to custody of our child. We could be prevented from ever leaving Japan. I wonder if I can ask him to send my signed divorce papers to C. and I sign them and send them back, is that ok to do? Please give me any advice you can offer.

I recommend you get in touch with the Tokyo Bar Association. They provide free legal advice by appointment (http://www.toben.or.jp/english/) Also, I recommend you a lot of discretion and that you do not use expressions like "fleeing Japan" in public forums. Please proceed carefully. Japan is not signatory of current international treaties on child custody and you may get in serious problems with regards to the custody of your child. I wish you luck and I am sorry about your situation of your abusive husband.

Thank you for your advice. I will look into it. I'm not sure where to get good legal advice so the page you suggest looks great.