You are a single mom with a young child. You have a job to make ends meet and find yourself dependent on the services of a nursery. You have met the staff and they are caring and friendly, and each morning that you arrive there you are met by a smiling and caring lady who knows all about your child’s quirks. She takes your precious bundle from you and you depart with great comfort and confidence that this is one aspect of your life that is well taken care of.

What in the world could possible go wrong? Vanessa George, Colin Blanchard and Angela Allen. That’s what can go wrong.

Japan has been known as a haven for child abduction in Japanese-American child custody cases as the Japanese law does not provide any room for American parents to get their children back home. But there is new hope that change may be coming.

Japan is the only big industrial nation not to participate in the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of 1980, which was signed by 81 parties.