Christopher Savoie: Still Married to Woman Who Took His Kids, Say Japanese
(Family Photo)
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Japanese officials say that the U.S.-recognized divorce between Christopher and Nokita Savoie does not apply in Japan, because it was never annulled in that country, according to CNN.
Photos: Father's Fight to Rescue Children
Christopher Savoie is currently in Japanese custody after grabbing his two children, who had been abducted to Japan by their mother against a U.S. court custody ruling, and trying to take them to the American Consulate.
It is unclear when and where Christopher and Noriko Savoie were married, and CBS affiliate WTVF is continuing to investigate court documents, but records indicate that the couple's divorce was finalized in January 2009 in Franklin, Tenn.
Court records in Tennessee indicate the Savoies lived in Japan from 2001 to 2008, and that Savoie obtained Japanese citizenship.
VIDEO COURTESY OF CBS AFFILIATE WTVF NASHVILLE
He first asked a court in Tennessee to block a possible abduction in October 2008 during divorce proceedings, and a Williamson County judge ordered Noriko Savoie to turn the children's passports over to the court clerk.
Soon after their divorce was final in January 2009, he again asked for help from the courts, seeking primary custody of the children or an assurance that his ex-wife would not flee with them. He turned over a February e-mail from his ex-wife as evidence that she might leave the country with them.
But in April, a judge held that Noriko Savoie could take the children to Japan for a vacation. In the order, the judge wrote that "this court fully recognizes Father's concerns regarding Japanese law and the protection of his rights. However, Mother has clearly testified that she intends to remain in Franklin, Tennessee, with the children."
Noriko Savoie was given the passports. She took the children on vacation and returned as scheduled. But two weeks later, they were gone again. Williamson County Clerk and Master Elaine Beeler said there was no court order requiring the mother to return the children's passports after the vacation.
(Channel 5)
Photos: Father's Fight to Rescue Children
Christopher Savoie is chief executive officer of Franklin-based Tazzle Inc., which makes data-sharing devices for BlackBerry mobile phones. The company has an office in Tokyo that oversees manufacturing in Asia, according to the company's Web site.
He previously founded and ran Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company GNI Ltd., according to court filings. Savoie moved back to the United States in January 2008 and Noriko Savoie and the children moved here in June of that year. Divorce proceedings began soon after.
Now, Christopher Savoi sits in a Japanese jail cell, his future uncertain. He faces up to five years for the attempted kidnap of his own children.
Photos: Father's Fight to Rescue Children
MORE ON CRIMESIDER
October 1, 2009 - Christopher Savoie, Dad Jailed in Japan for Child Rescue, Speaks from Prison
September 30, 2009 - Amy Savoie Speaks About Christopher Savoie's "Desperate" Attempt to Reclaim Children from Japan
September 29, 2009 - Christopher Savoie Follows Abducted Children to Japan, Gets Arrested (Photos)
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See all 27 CommentsWhat she did by force, he did previously by manipulating everyone and by abusing the US court system.
What she did by force, he did previously by manipulating everyone and by abusing the US court system.
Next, he left Japan because the law would not allow him to see his children. Shame on him. Corrupt laws lead to desperate actions. Shame on her. She can't leave the country because she'll be promptly arrested. Both are trapped. But now, the father has no access to his children at all. But, what does that matter. Father's right are not priority. We seek equality but men cannot have the same when it comes to the woman's realm of children. Right?
This is a problem for many people. This is not an isolated incident. Japan is turning into a safe haven for child abduction even for non-Japanese.
A total lie.
An ex-wife can report to the court any threats, abuses, nagative influences to the children or dangers of abduction and request a repeal
of any visitation rights, but otherwise he can see them by law.
You are saying the Japanese court didn't give this guy a visitation right? What on earth are you talking about, they didn't even go through a divorce in Japan.
The biggest issue here is actually that many fathers get frustrated dealing with Japanese kids' busy schedules(music lessons,swimming,and tutoring in addition to schools and friends) and the fact their mothers have the control over them which necessiates keeping a good relationship with them.
They may have problems keeping the kids in their lives, because they do not want to contribute to the kind of lives the kids are having. Instead, they often become the beggars for their time/attentions for their selfish needs or worse they become menace in their power struggle.
The same problem is common in US and EU, but the physical distance and cultural difference exacerbate the alienation.
Toland?s wife absconded with his daughter, Erika, from their home in Yokohama, Japan, in 2003 while he was stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base. She was not charged with child abduction and was able to prevent Toland from even visiting his daughter.
The U.S. and the international community for years have lobbied the Japanese government to sign the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of 1980. The treaty, which includes 81 countries as signatories, prevents parents from fleeing with their children to or within those countries to circumvent standing custody orders or before a court can determine custody.
?The problem has gotten so big that Japan is becoming known as a destination country for international parental kidnapping, even when no one in the family is of Japanese descent,? Smith wrote in a Sept. 24 letter to Hatoyama obtained by Stars and Stripes.
The Savoie case demonstrates not only the desperate measures parents can resort to, but also the hypocrisy of Japanese law, contend Toland and Paul Wong, an American attorney based in Tokyo who continues to fight for access to his daughter, Kaya.
?Japanese law says that parental [child] abduction is not a crime,? said Toland, whose daughter was taken by his in-laws after his Japanese wife died in 2005. ?So it?s asinine that he?s being charged because he?s the biological father and his rights have not been terminated by a Japanese court.? (snip)
A spokesman for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said it is aware of the Savoie case and had not been asked by the U.S. to release Savoie.
Embassy officials in Tokyo and ******* would not comment on whether those discussions would take place.
As of August, the State Department had identified 118 Japanese-American children who are living in Japan and cut off from their American parents.
from Stars and Stripes.
With Japanese law and father's rights
They were married in Japan and the family had lived all those years in Japan as Japanese, except for the last year which was spent in US.
When their marriage began to sour a few years ago while in Japan, the husband adamantly kept refusing to the wife's request for a divorce, but asked her to try anew together and move to the US with him.
Well, most foreigners in Japan are aware Japanese court usually awards kids' custody to the mother.
The poor, naive mother agreed to move to US for another try to save their marriage and the next day after their arrival to Tennessee, he pushed a divorce paper to her and forced a total control on her life even after the divorce. Moreover, he was having an affair and was preparing for a new marriage all the time.
The kids who grew up in Japan as Japanese were having hard time in US and it was absolutely impossible for the wife to start her independent life there.
This cruel jerk forced all these on her & the kids. I, as most other Japanese, hope he be kept in jail as long as it takes for him to realize the magnitude of the control, human right abuse which he carefully planned and carried out.
Japanese government should repeal his Japanese citizenship, for Japan does not allow a dual citizenship.
Ms. Noriko must have then lied in the court proceedings in the United States.
THE COURT: And she clearly understood that when she was
coming to the United States, she wasn?t coming
here to reconcile . And it was clear she came here knowing that
her husband was involved with another woman, and
she came here knowing that he wanted a divorce. .
NORIKO SAVOIE:
I don?t have any plans to
return to Japan or move to Japan, I haven?t had
any plans to move to Japan since I entered the
final decree. (page 80)
(skip to page 119-120)
THE COURT, IN SUMMATION:
I think Ms . Savoie understands that if she
elects to go to Japan and not return, she?s going
to lose her alimony, because the Court?s going to
pay it into court ; she?s going to have problems
with her child support ; she?s going to have
problems with her education fund ; she?s going to
be fighting her husband in the courts of Japan ;
and it just ? it?s going to be a terrible mess
for her and the children if she pursues that, and
the Court has no reason to believe that she
doesn?t understand that or that she intends to
pursue that .
But on the other hand, obviously Dr . Savoie
is not convinced that his former wife is acting
with him in good faith . Frankly, I don?t know
that he will ever be convinced until time passes
and she?s made trips to Japan and she?s returned
from Japan, and the children seem to be
acclimating to the notion that they have two
cultures that form them ; one is a Japanese
culture and the other is an American culture, and
they?re part Japanese, they?re part American,
they have part Japanese heritage, they have part
American heritage, and they?re entitled to know
both heritages, they?re entitled to know
grandparents from their Japanese heritage .
And what she will do when she gets to Japan
and she?s under the pressure of her family and
friends to stay there and not return, remains to
be seen.
(pg 121)
THE COURT: And she clearly understood that when she was
coming to the United States, she wasn?t coming
here to reconcile . And it was clear she came here knowing that
her husband was involved with another woman, and
she came here knowing that he wanted a divorce .
(snip, pg 122)
And it?s clear to this Court that it?s in
the best interest of these children that these
children?and I?ll say it again?have a
relationship with their father, and that they
also understand their Japanese culture and
heritage, and it?s part of their makeup, and that
they unde, and their American culture and
heritage as part of their makeup .
So based on the limited issue that?s before
me, the Court?s going to dissolve the restraining
order.
It doesn't say she approved of it and it does nothing to lessen the magnitude of his cruelty.
At this moment in the court, she had already lost her rights to take the kids back to Japan and live there.
This most likely was inserted into the record by his request to make it impossible for her to bring any future suit.
She may be guilty in the American court only technicaly, but the guy's crime breaches not just the japanese law but also the universal law of ethics.
Well, he is ruined in Japan.
What a jerk to bring such a shame to his children.
If you have a chance to read this "multiy" could you comment on the concept of jus sanguinus "right of the blood" and jus soli "right of the soil"? So, the children will hold citizenship in both countries in the US? Does this mean that the courts in the US had jurisdiction through jus sanguinus?
Being born in Japan does not confer automatic citizenship, unless at least one parent is a Japanese national.
According to US Embassy in Tokyo:
If your child has one Japanese parent and one American parent, the child likely is a dual national (U.S. and Japanese Citizen).
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7115.html
That is not correct. True, Noriko, who was already the custodial parent in Japan while Chris was setting up his new life in the US, would likely have been granted sole custody and Japanese Family Court has no authority to enforce visitation rights. They can and generally are agreed to, though, and it is then up to the parents to maintain mutually respectful relations and to work things out for themselves, rather than constantly dragging each other back into court and relying on an inherently *adversarial* system.
My guess is deadbeat fathers far outnumber the other.
Therefore, Japan should not change its laws counting on the support/commitment of American fathers.
Children are 6 and 8 years old (maybe 7 and 9 by now), meaning, they were BORN & RAISED their entire lives in Japan.
They can barely speak English.
Divorce started October 2008 (see above, 4 months after arriving).
Savior marries home-wrecker Amy by January 2009, Only one month after divorce is final.
He was knowing Amy carnally while married to Isaac and Rebbecca's mother.
Savoie unwilling to leave home-wrecker Amy to be with kids.
God Bless Norkio - You saved your children
Children are 6 and 8 years old (maybe 7 and 9 by now), meaning, they were BORN & RAISED their entire lives in Japan.
They can barely speak English.
Divorce started October 2008 (see above, 4 months after arriving).
Savior marries home-wrecker Amy by January 2009, Only one month after divorce is final.
He was knowing Amy carnally while married to Isaac and Rebbecca's mother.
Savoie unwilling to leave home-wrecker Amy to be with kids.
God Bless Norkio - You saved your children
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