Japan’s Legal Shift Toward Joint Custody

For decades, divorce in Japan often meant more than the end of a marriage—it could also mean the end of a parent’s relationship with their child. Under a custody system built around a complete separation between families, countless children grew up with little or no contact with one parent after divorce. In this episode, we explore Japan’s landmark shift toward recognizing joint custody, tracing how nearly a century of family law is being rewritten to place greater emphasis on a child’s relationship with both parents. From debates over parental rights and financial support to concerns about protecting survivors of domestic abuse, we examine the difficult trade-offs at the heart of this historic reform. The story reveals a society rethinking the meaning of parenthood after separation, where the pursuit of fairness must be carefully balanced against the realities of family conflict and child safety.https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/06/11/japan-is-rethinking-its-divorce-laws