Joint Custody After Divorce Takes Effect in Japan

Revisions to Japan's Civil Code allowing joint custody after divorce took effect on April 1. Until now, only sole custody had been permitted once a couple divorced. The move marks the first major overhaul of the system in roughly 80 years and gives parents the option of sharing custody after a marriage ends. It also creates a statutory child-support system requiring ¥20,000 JPY ($126 USD) a month per child, expanding support for child-rearing after divorce.

Joint custody will be allowed when both parents agree. If they do not, a family court will decide whether sole or joint custody is appropriate. Where there are concerns about domestic violence or abuse, the court is to award sole custody. Parents who divorced before the new law took effect may also petition for joint custody.

Shared Responsibility After Divorce

The revised Civil Code makes clear that raising a child is the responsibility of both parents, regardless of whether they are married, and that parental authority must be exercised in the child's best interests. It also says that even after divorce, both parents must respect one another as individuals and cooperate in raising their child.

Under joint custody, both parents will be involved in major decisions such as where a child lives and which school the child attends. One parent, however, may act alone on routine matters such as after-school activities or permission to take a part-time job, as well as in urgent situations such as disaster evacuation or emergency surgery.

The revised law also gives family courts a framework to encourage visitation between a child and a parent living separately at an earlier stage.

In addition, it introduces a statutory child-support system for children of couples who divorce on or after April 1. Until now, support payments have generally been set through negotiations between the parents or through court proceedings. Under the new system, even before a formal agreement is reached, the parent raising the child may seek ¥20,000 ($130) a month per child from the parent living separately.

Furthermore, the changes give unpaid child support claims priority over other debts. They also simplify some collection procedures that previously required a notarized document.

Hopes and Anxieties

The new joint-custody system allows both parents to retain parental rights after divorce. Under the previous Civil Code, cases in which one parent took a child without the other's consent became a growing concern. Once the child was living with that parent, courts could later give weight to the new arrangement in a custody dispute.

While some parents involved in such disputes say they have high hopes for joint custody, many also question whether courts will be able to make sound judgments in cases involving domestic violence or the removal of a child by one parent.

"I was distraught when I suddenly lost contact with my daughter," said Yuko Murase, a pseudonym for a company employee in her 30s. In January 2026, she said, her husband took their three-year-old daughter without her consent and moved to his parents' home without telling her where they were going or how long they would stay.

*(Photo courtesy of Zebra/Kakuwaku Project)*

Murase promptly petitioned the family court for the return of her daughter and to be named the child's primary caregiver. The case is still being contested.

Curbing Parental Child Abduction Cases

In custody disputes, critics have long warned of a distortion in which a parent who takes a child away can gain an advantage in a later custody fight. Once the child is living with that parent and appears settled, courts may give weight to that arrangement and to the apparent strength of the parent-child relationship.

The revised Civil Code is intended to address that problem by making clear that taking a child without the other parent's consent can count against the parent who did so.

There are exceptions, including cases involving domestic violence. In general, however, an unauthorized move could be treated under joint custody as a breach of the duty to respect the other parent and cooperate, potentially weakening that parent's position in a later custody ruling or modification proceeding.

Even so, how heavily courts will weigh such conduct remains uncertain and will likely vary from case to case.

Judicial Uncertainty

At the heart of the joint-custody system, however, is the child's best interests after divorce. As one Ministry of Justice official put it, even if a parent is at a disadvantage in the court's eyes for taking the child, "a court could still award custody to that parent."

Murase said there were times when she herself left home as the marriage deteriorated, but only to give her husband time to cool down. "I never intended to abandon my daughter," she said. Even now, Murase said, if the marriage ends in divorce, "I still want to raise our daughter together with my husband."

Murase added that if joint custody is granted, she would at least be able to remain involved in her daughter's life to some extent. In that sense, she added, the system may also make parents more restrained in how they attack one another.

Still, she has been allowed to see her daughter only once since her husband left with the child. Even under joint custody, if her husband is designated the child's primary caregiver, she fears she may rarely see her daughter. "If the court doesn't make the right decision," Murase said, "the person who took the child will still end up benefiting in the end."