The father of two hasn’t seen his children since last October
https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2022/05/american-father-jack-stone-goes-hunger-strike-outside-diet-building/

Matthew Hernon

By Matthew Hernon

For this week’s news roundup, Tokyo Weekender spoke to Jack Stone, who yesterday began a hunger strike outside Japan’s National Diet Building. His purpose is to end sole parent custody in this country and reunite with his children. Stone says his eight-year-old boy has been abducted four times, the first of which was on November 11, 2018. He claims his wife took their child from Florida to Japan on her father’s orders. Three days later, Stone filed a Hague Convention Return Order. The Japan Central Authority (JCA) refused to assist him with this.

The following year, the couple’s second child was born. Prior to that, Stone managed to locate his eldest son’s whereabouts and took physical custody of him. As his mother reportedly destroyed the young boy’s passport, they couldn’t return to the States. Instead, father and son lived together for just under three years in Japan. Then, Stone says, on October 10 of last year, the family went to the zoo. After what he describes as their “best day together,” he let his wife take custody of their first son for a week. He hasn’t seen him or his other child since.
An Abhorrent System

Before going on the hunger strike, Stone told TW he was scared as he’s already in bad health. It’s something he feels he needs to do, though, not just for himself and his kids, but also for his wife. “She is a victim of Japan’s sole custody system,” he says. “This abhorrent system causes fear and irrational behavior. For parents, there is the realization that if they don’t get awarded custody of their children, they might never have access to them again. That’s too great a burden for anyone.” Stone was keen to stress that this is not just an issue affecting foreign fathers. It’s estimated that around 150,000 children lose contact with a parent annually in this country.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club on Thursday, Stone vowed to continue with his hunger strike until “Japan starts implementing and putting together joint custody.” He believes for that to happen, the US government must sanction Japan under the Goldman Act, which is designed to right the wrongs of international child abduction. Also speaking at the FCCJ were Brian Prager, a lecturer who hasn’t seen his son for 12 years, and James Cook who, through the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, successfully petitioned to have his four children returned to their home in America in 2016. Six years on, they still haven’t been reunited.