It is hard to imagine how Charlie McJilton makes ends meet as a single father living in Tokyo. He says he does "this and that" to pay the bills. Committed to staying in Japan for love of his daughter, most of his time is spent helping those in the direst need -- foreign residents who have fallen through cracks in the system by fair means or foul, the imprisoned (non-Japanese) and the homeless (99.999 percent Japanese).

He was keen I meet Mary, due to start school next April; it would help explain "why I choose to stay here." Which is the reason I found myself battling the elements on the far side of the Arakawa River last Monday. He cycled down to Kosuge Station to walk me back to the second-floor apartment where he and his daughter live when she is visiting. "There is no official arrangement; we muddle though as best we can. Some might not understand our situation, but Mary knows she has a father who loves her and is a part of her life."

He is an active member of an international support group for Rosal Villanueva Manalili, the young Filipino mother sentenced to eight years' hard labor for murdering her Japanese boyfriend in 1997. "Rosal was found guilty on the basis of a confession she made after over 130 hours of illegal interrogation by the Matsudo police. Even the judge said it was illegal."