Searching for separated children living in Japan from the United States

Introduction

When internationally married couples with children get divorced, it is common for one of them to remain in the States while the other returns to his or her home country of Japan. The issue of the wife bringing the children back to Japan has been a major problem for many years.

Many people have lost contact with their children after taking them back and have never been able to see them. This blog aims to provide solutions for people with such problems.

Barriers to finding children in Japan from the US

Language

Having lived with Japanese people, you have understood how different English and Japanese are. Many Japanese can speak some English, especially in urban areas, but the language barrier can still be challenging.Naturally, when looking for a child in Japan, it is necessary to contact various places in Japanese.If you do not speak Japanese, you need to enlist the help of an interpreter when making inquiries in Japan.

Japanese law

The Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) sets out strict guidelines on how personal data is collected, used and shared. In private investigations, this means that any surveillance or data collection must not infringe on an individual’s right to privacy.

This strong legal barrier, established by the ‘Privacy Act’, can be a major obstacle for you. If you collect personal data illegally, it is considered an illegal act and you could be found guilty. This demonstrates that collecting personal information in Japan is very difficult.

Main methods to find children living in Japan from the US

Find them by yourself

Japanese citizens residing in Japan can be located through their family register called KOSEKI in Japanese, which is kept at the municipal office of the family’s place of residence.
However, family registers are only available to family members themselves or to lawyers practicing in Japan.

If legal action is required, such as collecting a debt or dividing an estate, a lawyer can be asked to conduct a search for the person, but you cannot ask your lawyer to conduct a non-legal search for a person, such as searching for a child.

You may also consider asking the Japanese Embassy in the U.S., but the Privacy Act clearly states on their website that they cannot provide information about an individual without the permission of the subject of the search (the child).Thus, it is very difficult for an individual to locate children living in Japan from the United States.

Find them through a detective agency

Japanese detective agencies can handle almost anything that does not involve a crime. For cases involving children, a detective agency is better suited than a lawyer. When Japanese detectives search for someone, the investigation is based on information provided by the client.

Detectives do not have access to public databases, but use private databases to gather information. Each detective agency has its own database and contacts, although confidentiality obligations prevent us from disclosing details. Information required to access the database includes name (in Chinese characters), date of birth, address, place of employment, telephone number, and social network accounts.

We are often asked by U.S. clients why such surveys are so expensive, and the reason is what we have mentioned here.Laws governing investigations differ greatly between the United States and Japan. Japan is one of the most heavily regulated countries in the world.

Searches we can conduct

We offer a range of surveillance services for businesses, the legal sector and individuals. We regularly provide fraud investigations, corporate investigations and family investigations including adultery and child custody investigations.

Our private investigators gather all available information and carry out in-depth investigations to locate individuals. We have the resources, technology, expertise and connections to find people who cannot be found using traditional methods.

Our agency is also a member of the World Detective Association and has an international network.

Conclusion

Finding someone in Japan, not just a child, can be extremely difficult. And if you would like to do it from the states the search may be almost impossible for an individual.

If you decide to hire our detective agency, please share all the information you have with us. Specifically, your name, date of birth, past residence, photographs, names of siblings (if any), the more details you have, the better the chances of finding them.

Please note that fees will not be charged until you formally make a contract with us.