Hello everyone,
I presently on my 3rd round at family court in Japan.
The 1st round was held in 1999/2000. No contract.
The 2nd round was held in 2001. A contract was enacted but a certain mediator may have failed to convey information on verbal promises to the judge in regards to my son obtaining his Canadian Citizenship and Canadian Passport as well as my not having to pay child support should my X renege on this contract. It was the only way that I would endorse the contract if these conditions were agreed upon by all parties even though it couldn't be written into the contract. The mediator informed me that everyone had agreed to the above mentioned verbal promises. That's what the bilingual mediator informed me so I put my seal on it. I made a terrible mistake in trusting the mediator. Also, regarding one point of the contract, she said "as a sign of good faith..." was written into the contract for some extra money that my X wanted. After translating it a few years later it said "failed to pay". Boy was I surprised. And my X reneged on the contract since 2001 of course. But I kind of turned a blind eye towards some of her faults because I was still seeing my son 3 times a month.
The 3rd round started this January of 2007. Since my X stopped allowing me to see my son as of September 6th, 2004. I continued to pay child support up to the end of December 2005. I had even tried to communicate with her on many occasions and even sent registered letters to all three of her residences(although she lives in the last of the 3 with my son, they still go to the other two residences constantly). Regarding the last residence, she went into hiding for a year without even telling me where it was. And of course my son whom my present wife bumped into occasionally said that he couldn't tell her the address because she was a stranger, and me the address as well because I would visit. Hmmm. Sounds like PAS. Anyway, some really nice people in city hall including the help of a lawyer helped me find the new address. That's where I sent the 3rd registered letter to. Of course I can't visit there because then I'll be asked to go back to the police station again and they'll accuse me of being a stalker and try to force me to sign a paper in Japanese that I don't understand
(which of course I'll refuse to sign) again.
In regards to family court, the X only informed them about my not paying child support since March 2005. Hmmm. She lied again and I made sure to it that she lost face again. They also informed me that the reason I couldn't see my son was because he didn't want to see me. Thankfully I bumped into to him on December 1st, 2005. After he scanned the area briefly, he talked to me and said that he loved me and wanted to go to Canada with me one day to see his relatives etc...So I mentioned to him that when that day comes, we'll definitely go but only for a vacation and back to Japan afterwards. Well he gave me a big smile, we talked a little bit more and then we split up. When PAS is involved in his case it probably works like this. If any of the members from the Japanese side of his
family are around, he'll say to them he doesn't want to see me to make them happy. If they're nearby, he'll pretend to avoid me. But when none of them are around after he scans the area, he's really happy and talkative. So I guess I'll just have to be patient. The X may be winning the battles but I'll probably win the war. It's just a matter of time.
So in regards to the 3rd round, I have new mediators, a stenographer and I guess a new judge as well. I kind of presented them with ample information in regards to the previous mediator, the contract, the verbal promises, as well as the X. Looking forward to seeing what happens this February 14th.
My son's presently 12 going on 13 in September. Also, if anyone knows the record for amount of rounds in a family court, please let me know. I'm on my 3rd and the way things are going I'm sure I'll have the opportunity for a 4th and 5th as well.
In the meantime enjoy and think positive!!!
Steven
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