Even before my son was born, I knew raising him in Japan was going to be the hardest thing I would ever do. His father, who is Japanese, was never in the picture. He always had an excuse why he couldn’t be bothered to give our son a bath, change his diaper, or even just be present.I would not stick around to find out if [my husband] would strike our son the way he struck me many times before.He would abandon us for days, sometimes weeks, without money for food or baby supplies. On the rare occasion he was actually around and I mentioned finding work for myself, he would shame and isolate me.I …
