My current research project, Kinship and
Citizenship examines how citizenship and kinship
intersect in contemporary nation-states, and the
implications for individual people. At the moment, I am
focused on international child custody disputes involving
Japanese citizens. Because the Japanese government has not
(yet) signed the Hague Treaty on Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, people who violate custody
agreements and bring children into Japan have not been
apprehended by local authorities. Groups of “left
behind” parents – mostly, but not entirely,
fathers and non-Japanese citizens – have grown
increasingly vocal, making documentary films and organizing
political action in the United States and beyond. My
ongoing ethnographic research with these activists and
within Japanese advocacy organizations investigates the
intersection of kinship and citizenship to examine how both
categories are constructed for the nation-state and people
involved.