Act partially amending the Civil Code and other laws, 26 September 1987.
This Act amends the adoption provisions of the Japanese Civil Code to introduce special adoption.  The following are the major principles governing special adoption: 1) special adoption occurs when decreed by the family court in circumstances where it is considered particularly necessary (e.g., when parental care is difficult or inadequate); 2) the adoptive parents should, in general, be married and be at least 25 years old; 3) the child adopted should be under six years old, but can be up to eight years old if the prospective adopters have taken care of it before it reached the age of six; 4) both parents of the child must give consent to adoption; 5) the adoption decree is not to be issued until the prospective parents have taken care of the child for at least six months; 6) legal ties between the natural parents or blood relatives and the child are terminated by the adoption decree, although the prohibitions on marriage between close relatives still apply; 7) the adopted child is considered the legitimate child of the adopting parents; 8) adoption is irrevocable except in circumstances where the adoptive parents abuse or desert the child and the natural parents can take care of the child.  The Law also amends general adoption rules (under which ties to the natural parents are not severed) to allow one spouse to adopt unless the adoptee is a minor child.
D000300:Adoption; D001208:Asia; D001519:Behavior; D002649:Child Abuse; D002668:Child Rearing; D003415:Crime; D019049:Developed Countries; D005190:Family; D005191:Family Characteristics; D016656:Family Planning Policy; D005195:Family Relations; D005202:Asia, Eastern; D007564:Japan; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D011640:Public Policy; D012940:Social Problems; D020458:Third-Party Consent
Adoption--legal aspects; Asia; Behavior; Child Abuse--legal aspects; Child Rearing; Crime; Developed Countries; Eastern Asia; Family And Household; Family Characteristics; Family Policy; Family Relationships; Filiation; Japan; Legislation; Parental Consent; Policy; Social Policy; Social Problems