Sweden v. Yamaguchi

Sweden v. Yamaguchi, otherwise known as in the matter of Marianne Wilson, or in the matter of Mary Ann Vaughn, is a highly complex decision in international family law which touches on questions in law still unresolved over fifty years later.

Case

The case was brought by the King of Sweden as petitioner for guardianship of Mary Ann Vaughn, the daughter of a Swedish national in Japan, against the Yamaguchi family, 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 civil and probate court in Tokyo in 1956, and sustained upon appeal by defendants to the Tokyo High Court. Defendants declined appeal to the Japanese Supreme Court, and custody was granted to the Reign. Mary Ann Vaughn, to be thenceforth known as Marianne Wilson, was granted Swedish citizenship and remained in the custody of the Swedish Ambassador to Japan in Tokyo.

Facts of the Case

Mary Ann Vaughn was born the only child of James A. Vaughn and Vivienne Joy Wilson, in Bluff Hospital in Yokohama, Japan on April 17, 1949. Her father was a US national employed under contract with the United States Military Administration of Occupied Japan. Her mother was a Swedish National, of three generations of Swedish citizens resident in Japan.