On Christmas Eve two years ago, Masahiro Yoshida returned to his home to find it empty. His wife had fled with their two-year-old daughter, seeking a divorce.

Since then, he's rarely seen his child because Japanese law grants custody to only one parent, almost always the mother. His wife has refused to allow him regular visits, accusing him of emotional swings and past verbal and sometimes physical abuse.

Yoshida, a 58-year-old musician, is among a small but growing number of divorced or separated fathers who have turned to the courts to get custody, or at least gain a right to see their children. More broadly, many are demanding a change in Japanese law to allow joint custody, as is the case in most developed countries.

International spotlight

"I think about my daughter all the time. I can't believe the courts allow this," said Yoshida, who admits hitting his wife twice but otherwise denies her claims. "This is a country that allows kidnapping."

The law was thrown into the international spotlight last week when an American was arrested for allegedly snatching his children from his Japanese ex-wife as they walked to school in southern Japan. Christopher Savoie, a 38-year-old Tennessee man, remains in custody in the city of Fukuoka while prosecutors decide whether to press charges.

His case has received little attention in Japan, a reflection of how widely accepted it is that young children should remain with their mother in divorces or separations. The law doesn't explicitly say mothers should get custody, only that one parent should, and by cultural default, that's the mother.