Sweden v. Yamaguchi
Sweden v. Yamaguchi, otherwise known as in the matter of
Case
The case was brought by Consul Baron Karl-Gustav Lagerfelt on behalf of the King of Sweden as petitioner for guardianship of Mary Ann Vaughn, the daughter of a Swedish national in Japan, against the Yamaguchi family, de facto custodians of the eight-year-old child, to answer the questions of custody, guardianship and citizenship of Mary Ann Vaughn, also known as Marianne Wilson.
The case was decided in Yokohama District Court in 1956, and sustained upon appeal by defendants to the Tokyo High Court in 1958. Defendants declined appeal to the
Parental history
Mary Ann Vaughn was born the only child of James A. Vaughn (b. May 7, 1925) and Vivienne Joy Wilson (b. November 2, 1929), in
Birth
Due to the sensitive nature of Vaughn's employment, the US Military Administration declined to allow Vaughn to marry under civil law at the
The
Upon learning that his wife was pregnant, Vaughn returned to the United States to seek permission for immigration of his pregnant wife. He received assistance from
However, Vivienne had been weakened by the privations of World War II, and contracted tuberculosis during James Vaughn's absence, during which Mary Ann was cared for by a nanny, Fumi. She died on 5 August 1950, the very day of passage of private legislation permitting her to immigrate to the United States.
Early life
After the death of her mother, Mary Ann Vaughn was placed under the guardianship of Professor John Wilson, with nanny Fumi Kaneko (later Fumi Yamaguchi) in custodial care. Due to the privations of the postwar period, John Wilson sailed to Sweden with his wife and children in 1952. Mary Ann was to accompany them, but due to an outbreak of whooping cough, she was to sail on the next ship. However, Yamaguchi absconded with Mary Ann, and Yamaguchi destroyed the child's records, raising her under claim of an abandoned American orphan in the slums of Yokohama.
John Wilson continued to search for Mary Ann, and with the intervention of the
According to Fumi Kaneko (reading from her interview in Asahi Shinbun and Shukan Shincho), the baby was entrusted to her by Vivian at her death bed. There was no mention of a search for the baby; instead Fumi Kaneko said she was the one who approached the Swedish Embassy to recognize Mary Ann before she entered into grade school.
Public notoriety
The case developed intense national publicity in Japan, with a great national sympathy towards the Yamaguchi family, to remain as custodian, with publication in the
Subsequent history
Mary Ann, now known as Marianne Wilson, remained in the custody of the Swedish Ambassador to Japan, and attended the ASIJ, the
See also
- Japanese law
References
- Shukan ShinchoWeekly, 2/25/56
- Kanagawa Shimbun 3/08/56, 3/15/56
- Asahi Shimbun3/8/56, 3/13/56, 3/14/56,3/18/56, 3/21/56 & 3/31/56
- Nikkan Sports 3/21/56
- 'A Public Betrayed': The Power of Japan's Scandal-Breaking Weeklies, Japan Media Review