Confessions

Japan has many child welfare laws. Of note within Confessions are Japan’s laws regarding child custody and juvenile offenders. In a divorce, there is no provision of joint custody, though visitation rights may be negotiated (“Who Gets Parental Authority (Child Custody) in Japan?” English Lawyers Japan). Children over the age of 15 may have some say in which parent they prefer, but custody is usually granted to the primary caretaker, as the Family Court system usually tries to limit the amount of change—such as relocation—in a child’s life. Although the mother is often the first choice, this is not always the case. In the novel, Shūya’s father receives custody, likely due to Shūya’s mother’s abuse and her relocation for work. Despite Shūya’s apparent preference for his mother, he was separated from her indefinitely, as the text implies that she did not have visitation rights.

Japanese law also states that if a child is born out of wedlock, custody automatically goes to the mother, and the father may not even be acknowledged on legal documents (“Family Law—Child Custody in Japan.” Australian Embassy Tokyo). This is significant for Manami, whose parents never married. Custody would have been automatically given to Moriguchi; given that Moriguchi points out that the stigma against a parent who has HIV is greater than that of a single-parent home, it is likely that Sakuranomi may not have been legally declared Manami’s parent.

As for Japan’s juvenile penal code, adolescents under the age of 14 receive lighter punishments for their transgressions; depending on the crime, various sentences may be meted out, including being sent to juvenile rehabilitation centers (O., Risa. “Despite What the Media Says, Japanese Juvenile Law Is Necessary.” The International, 16 Apr. 2020). However, homicide is an exception to the penal code rule; offenders accused of homicide are sent to prosecutors rather than the Family Court and may face jail time (Osumi, Magdalena. “Japan’s Revised Juvenile Law Takes Effect as Age of Adulthood Lowered to 18.” The Japan Times, 31 Mar. 2022). In the novel, Moriguchi is cynical that the law will enact justice: Though Shūya and Naoki might have been sent to a prosecutor if Manami’s death had been ruled a homicide, because it was deemed an accident, they likely would have received a light sentence.

While cases of juvenile offenders attract significant media attention, it is illegal for news broadcasters to publicly share identifying characteristics of juvenile offenders (name, photo, or other distinguishing features) in order to protect the child’s privacy, with the hopes of not impeding future prospects once the child has been rehabilitated. The media law is reflected in the novel through its references to several child murderer news cases, such as the Lunacy Incident and the Kobe beheading, neither of which provide identifying characteristics of the killers. However, Moriguchi views that law with cynicism as well—in her retirement speech, she initially only references the killers as “A” and “B” but includes enough identifying information that the class immediately knows their true identities, “cursing” them by removing their privacy.