Scottish Novelist’s sons abducted to Japan

in 2018, Douglas Galbraith (pictured below) took his own life at the age of 52. He had not seen his children for 15 years.

Now, on behalf of the children's grandmother and Galbraith's remaining family, His sister, Karen Macgregor (pictured left) has taken up the search for the missing children.

almost 20 years on, she is hopeful that Satomi and MAKOTO can be found.

view the entire article written by Emma cowing for the daily mail. go to original article

Those early days were a nightmare. 'Douglas tried everything,' says Karen. 'Within days of their abduction he had contacted the Japanese Embassy in Edinburgh, the British Consulate in Japan, his local MP, Sir Menzies Campbell, the police, the Foreign Office and Reunite, among others.

One of the toughest sticking points was that in Scotland – unlike in England and Wales – child abduction is not an offence unless a residency order is in place.

Meanwhile, Japan is not a signatory to the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, an admittedly limp international agreement that promises to return abducted children home within six weeks for the dispute to be resolved there

A police officer dispatched to officially record the abduction did not make a single note during his interview with Galbraith, departing with the words: 'They're with their Mum. They'll be alright'.

With doors being slammed in his face on both sides of the world, Galbraith considered going to Japan to track down the children himself, but said he knew his wife too well. 'It would be a locked door and police being called,' he said.

Instead, Galbraith turned to legal proceedings. In her submission to the court for a case that was never heard, the children’s mother, Tomoko, admitted she had removed the children from the country by deception and without consent, saying she had done this a) because she felt like it, and b) because of the poor quality of the sushi available in the local Tesco

respected novelist, Douglas even wrote a book about the loss of his children in the hope that they might one day see it, and contact him. To no avail.

he plunged his frustrations into his book, ‘My Son, My Son’, but Karen says the situation became increasingly difficult for her brother to cope with. She says: 'We tried to integrate Douglas more into our lives, but it must have been so painful for him to see our children growing up. I always encouraged him to keep looking – but I was not the one facing daily dead-ends and disappointment.

'

Galbraith died in 2018, having not seen his sons for 15 years.

In the wake of his death, Karen decided to take on the search herself, not least because she is desperate to reunite the boys with their elderly Scottish grandmother before it is too late.

Karen says. 'In my few years of searching I have often thought of Douglas saying, 'Think for yourselves' and I hope the boys, particularly Satomi, will remember that.'