The Japanese government on Friday approved a bill to allow joint custody after divorce amid calls for recognizing diversity in family relationships.
Current child custody rules allow only sole custody by one parent, but the bill would permit either sole custody or joint custody. A family court will intervene if there is a dispute.
If there is suspicion of child abuse or domestic violence by one of the parents, a family court will require the other parent to have sole custody under the bill.
Tokyo has faced criticism for its sole custody system, which poses challenges for foreign citizens seeking to maintain relationships with their children if their divorced partners return to Japan with them.
In many other nations, joint custody of children in the event of divorce is common practice, according to legal experts.
The Japanese government plans to secure the passage of the bill by the end of the ongoing parliamentary session through June.
The rules are set to take effect within two years following promulgation but would allow fathers and mothers who divorced before it comes into force to switch to joint custody.
Under joint custody, family courts will be able to intervene in disputes between parents on important matters such as education and long-term medical treatment, but in an urgent situation where a consensus cannot be reached in time, one of the parents can decide on their own, the bill says.
Consensus between parents is unnecessary to make decisions on some day-to-day matters.
Looking ahead to the system's introduction, legal experts called for the government to enhance the role of family courts across the nation in identifying cases of abuse and domestic violence, which are often difficult for outsiders to detect.
The sole custody system has been criticized by some for severing parent-child interactions and leading to nonpayment of child support after divorce.
In cases of sole custody, the bill also obliges provision of a minimum level of child support to the child-rearing parent by the other, while launching a system to help separated parents maintain contact with their children.
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