ISSJ does wish all of you and your families a wonderful holiday season and all the best for the upcoming new year. Please note, that the office of the ISSJ will be closed from the 28th of December 2016 until the 3rd of January 2017.

ISSJ assists adult adoptees for their tracing and searching journey. One of the adoptees of ISSJ who grew up in Hawaii had a dramatic reunion with his birth mother after 47 years. This touching story was also covered by Asahi Newspaper, one of Japan’s leading newspaper companies. You can read their story from here for some time: The Asahi Shimbun "Hawaii state senator meets birth mother after almost half a century" (July 6, 2015) http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/people/AJ201507060049

ISSJ held a symposium  " Promoting Family Care for Children-Thinking about permanency for cared children in regards to 1993 Hague Convention-" sponsored by Mitsubishi Zaidan on July 10, 2015 and about 60 people attended the meeting. There were reports on the change after the ratification of Hague Convention in Korea, China, Philippines, and the intercountry practices and trends of ratified or non ratified countries. There was also panel discussion on how to promote family care for children in need in Japan.