Curious to know about others who may have had divorce proceedings with a Japanese National?

I've been separated for over a year and no longer live in Japan, and she refuses to accept the mediation offered by the Family Court. I have had no contact with her or my 2 kids since I left.

Does anyone have any experience or advice that they could share? I want a divorce, and waiting 7 years is not an option I wish to entertain.

Thanks in advance.

Here is the USA consular report regarding divorce in Japan:

http://usembassy.state.gov/tokyo/wwwh7117.html

It starts with, "There are four types of divorce in Japan..."

It does not any include anecdotes or case histories or examples. (It does not address typical situations that might occur, and is thus relatively useless for people up against serious problems.)

Thanks Cornelia,

Above and beyond the call of duty! Great info and something for me to discuss with my lawyer. Much appreciated.

Thought I would let people here know that an English translation of the Civil Code of Japan, "Book 4 - Relatives" is now available on the crnjapan web site.

www.crnjapan.com/japan_law/laws/en/book4_relatives.html

It covers divorce laws, as well as things like forming marriages and children (custody, adoption, recognition, nullifying adoptions, etc.) Personally, I was not able to find it in English elsewhere on the internet.

The following page has an essay on divorce as well as links to translations of other Japanese laws also.

www.crnjapan.com/japan_law/en/

Some other translations are coming one day soon also - Family Registration Law (koseki-hou) and Residence Registration Law (Jyuumin hou).

And of course, if there are children involved, you will want to read much much more of the www.crnjapan.com site before deciding on how to proceed.

The above information is still available, but on a slightly different website name.

Children's Rights Network of Japan - a must read before marriage, having children, or divorce with a Japanese citizen

http://www.crnjapan.com/japan_law/laws/en/book4_relatives.html

http://www.crnjapan.com/japan_law/en/

[Admin: if you see this, feel free to change all instances of "crcjapan" to "crnjapan" in the original posting and delete this message.]