These articles are intended to illustrate child abuse occurring in Japan with two purposes in mind. First, we want to correct the perception that Japan has less child abuse than other countries, or perhaps less severe abuse. Therefore we are willing to cover any reported incident of child abuse, child murder, etc, by a Japanese parent or relative. We also hope to illustrate that child abuse is more likely to occur in one of the following situations:
(EJ) means the article is available in both English and Japanese.
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Elderly man strangles son to death at their Nara home; (EJ) December 31, 2007
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Man ordered to spend 12 years behind bars for raping own daughters; (EJ) December 28, 2007
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Woman jailed for allowing man to rape her 8-year-old daughter; (J) December 26, 2007; Toyama--From around February 2006, the mother repeatedly left her daughter with a man she knew was sexually assaulting her in exchange for payments of 7,000~10,000 yen. The 35-year-old woman has been jailed for 2 years while the man, 33, is still being tried for rape.
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Man slapped with jail term for forcing mentally disabled stepson to steal; (EJ) December 26, 2007
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Woman escapes jail term for murder of son with brain disease; (EJ) December 26, 2007
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Woman held on murder charge after suffocating 4-year-old daughter; (EJ) December 24, 2007
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7 awarded 2.9 million yen in damages over abuse at children's home; (J) December 20, 2007
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Update: Step dad dealt 5 years jail for fatal child abuse; (EJ) December 19, 2007
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Update: Woman who abandoned infant sons to fend for themselves jailed for 15 years; (EJ) Decemeber 17, 2007; Court records showed that on about Oct. 30 2006, Yamazaki left her 3-year-old son and 1-year-old boy, Sora, in their apartment as she went out with her lover. She never returned and by Dec. 4, Sora had starved to death. She stuffed his body into a cardboard box and left it in a friend's storeroom in Tomakomai, Hokkaido. Her older boy survived by eating uncooked rice.
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11 children abandoned at Kumamoto baby hatch in 7-month period; (J) December 12, 2007
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Father arrested for abusing son, 11, with cigarettes; (J) December 11, 2007; Osaka--The boy was taken into care after he was found walking in the street late at night bare foot and naked from the waist up. The police suspect he was abused regularly as he had cigarette burns on his left hand and left foot, as well as other scars covering his body.
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Baby's body found dumped on Kochi roadside; (EJ) December 10, 2007
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Murder-suicide bid claims 5-year-old's life, leaves mother, eldest daughter ill; (J) December 9, 2007; Saitama Pref.--The husband called an ambulance after coming home to find his wife and two daughters collapsed in a bedroom. Burned briquettes were found in the room and a suicide note was left on a table. The girls were aged 8 and 5.
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Newborn baby girl found dead in coin locker in Saga; (EJ) December 7, 2007; Update: Sex worker arrested for stuffing baby's body in station locker (December 9)
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Parents arrested for letting 2-month-old daughter starve to death; (EJ) December 7, 2007
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Woman drowns 4-month-old son in bathtub; (J) December 5, 2007; Fukui--The mother sustained light injuries after slashing her wrists and stomach in a failed suicide bid.
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Babysitter sent to prison after girl suffers fractured skull while he played pachinko; (EJ) December 5, 2007
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Man arrested for fatally stabbing his father, sister and 12-year-old nephew; (EJ) December 5, 2007
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Man handed 18-month suspended sentence for abuse of infant son; (J) December 4, 2007; Yamagata--After a fight with his wife and annoyed by his son's crying, the man took his anger out on the infant by kicking him in the abdomen and tossing him onto the tatami mat floor a few times. Injuries to the 7-month-old boy included a broken leg.
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Update: Man to spend almost 4 years behind bars over fatal abuse of son; (J) December 4, 2007; The defence is seeking a suspended sentence for the mother.
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Update: Couple who suffocated baby in motorbike seat handed prison sentences; (EJ) December 4, 2007; Presiding Judge Masao Namiki sentenced the 22-year-old woman to 4½ years in prison, while her husband was given eight years behind bars. In January this year, the Tamiyas stuffed Yu, the wife's son with an early spouse, into the helmet holder on a motorbike while the husband went off to play pachinko, leaving the infant to suffocate. Yu's body was found at a roadside in Osaka Prefecture on April 23, the day of his second birthday and also the day that the couple registered their marriage.
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5 bodies found after blaze in Miyagi Pref.; (EJ) December 3, 2007; Before the fire broke out, Sasaki sent an e-mail from his cell phone to a relative in which he threatened to kill himself and his family. A 5 year-old girl was among the dead.
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While some choose single motherhood, Japanese women pick abortion; (EJ) December 2, 2007; In Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Denmark, nearly 50 percent of all children are born out of wedlock, meaning women in these countries don't need the institution of marriage to be able to have children and bring them up. The high rate of children born out of wedlock is possibly because there are laws to protect equality and no social stigma related to not being married. Children are not discriminated against simply because their parents are not wed and society treats them like all other children, giving them the same social and economic status as "legitimate" kids. Things couldn't be more different in Japan, where women often become virtual single mothers looking after the home and family while their husbands are turned into corporate warriors. Incidentally, the rate of children born out of wedlock in Japan is just 1.7 percent.
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Nara woman confesses to strangling 16-year-old daughter; (EJ) December 1, 2007
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Baby hatch info should be disclosed; (EJ) November 29, 2007; Kumamoto--Six months after the nation's first baby hatch was set up at a hospital in Kumamoto, operation of the unique facility has shed light on various problems involving pregnancy and childbirth.
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Woman arrested for beating daughter with metal rod; (J) November 28, 2007
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Police suspect murder-suicide after bodies of man, daughter, 12, found in car; (J) November 28, 2007
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Man acquitted in murders of mother, children; (EJ) November 28, 2007; The case took a sharp turn after Nakamura admitted to starting the fire in May last year after he was arrested over fraud allegations. He was accused of faking divorce papers so that his wife could receive welfare payments for child support.
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Woman suspected of abandoning bodies of her 2 newborn babies in refrigerator; (EJ) November 28, 2007
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Child care worker ordered to pay ¥ 7.3 million yen to parents over abuse of infant; (J) November 27, 2007; Tokyo--The 5-month-old girl suffered serious internal injuries after the welfare worker grabbed the pram the child was in and shook it violently. The 'nursing mom' did this on 2 occasions between June and July 2005 when the baby wouldn't stop crying.
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Newborn girl found dumped on apartment stairwell; (EJ) November 26, 2007; Iruma City--The baby, wrapped in a couple of towels and a man's long-sleeved shirt, was discovered by a passerby at around 5:30am.
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Teenage magician, wife arrested for starving newborn to death; (EJ) November 23, 2007
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Update: Kyoto father charged for killing three offspring; (EJ) November 22, 2007
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Update: Mother handed 7-year prison term for fatal abuse of son; (J) November 19, 2007; Her boyfriend was earlier sentenced to 7½ years in prison.
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Woman kills self, son, 4, after leaping from 12th floor of condominium; (J) November 19, 2007
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Update: Mom gets 6 years for strangling her 2 kids with apron strings; (EJ) November 19, 2007
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Update: Man to spend 8 years behind bars for fatal abuse of girl, 2; (J) November 19, 2007
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Mother kills self, 2 sons in Himeji parking lot; (EJ) November 17, 2007
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Death penalty upheld for man who killed stepson, parents' in-law; (J) November 15, 2007; Yokohama--The man, planning to take his (then) wife captive after she left him with talk of divorce, invaded his parents-in-law's apartment in July 2002. He fatally stabbed his father-in-law, mother-in-law and a 12-year-old boy, who was from his wife's first marriage. The supreme court rejected the 42-year-old man's appeal and he is to receive the death penalty.
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Saitama woman arrested for beating daughter, 15, over cell phone bill; (EJ) November 15, 2007
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Woman held after daughter hospitalized with serious head injuries; (J) November 15, 2007; Sakai--The 3-year-old girl is still unconscious and was covered in bruises when brought to the hospital. The police are investigating to determine whether she was abused on a regular basis. Update: The child died of her injuries on Dec 15th. (12/16)
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Stepfather arrested for breaking preschooler's thighbone; (J) November 14, 2007; Kobe--It is suspected the 4-year-old boy was regularly abused as multiple bruises were found on his body. The boy was from his mother's first marriage.
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2 adults, child found dead in car in suspected murder-suicide; (J) November 14, 2007; Aomori--It is thought the man, woman and girl, aged 5~10, had been dead for several months when discovered. Burned briquettes were found on the floor of the vehicle.
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Man held for burning 4-year-old stepdaughter with boiling water; (J) November 11, 2007
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Baby's remains discovered above ceiling in pachinko dormitory; (J) November 11, 2007
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Update: Grandmother also arrested over abandonment of infant's body; (J) November 10, 2007
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Update: Couple given suspended sentence for abuse of 3-year-old son; (J) November 9, 2007
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Gunma man arrested for beating 2-month-old son unconscious; (EJ) November 8, 2007
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Day-care facility shut down after boss abuses child with vacuum cleaner; (EJ) November 6, 2007
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Update: Jailed Akita mom tells court lover choked her 4-year-old son for more than 10 seconds; (EJ) November 6, 2007
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Kobe house fire kills mother, 3 daughters; (EJ) November 6, 2007; According to the Japanese media, murder-suicide is now suspected.
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Kids abused in day-care section of Hyogo hospital; (J) November 4, 2007; Nursery school staff at the hospital slapped the children on their heads and verbally abused them on a daily basis. The children's ages ranged from infant to 4 years.
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Yamanashi records 633 consultations for child abuse in '06, worst on record; (J) November 2, 2007
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Cat-burgling kid risked death in high-rise break ins; (EJ) November 2, 2007
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Govt. says 45,901 consultations nationwide for child abuse in fiscal '06; (J) October 31, 2007; This was an increase of 7718 cases on the previous year, according to the Ministry of Welfare and Labor.
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Update: Woman gets 10 years behind bars for strangling sons; (J) October 31, 2007
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Aichi man arrested for punching 4-year-old boy in face to 'discipline' him; (EJ) October 31, 2007
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Mum, daughter, 6, die from stab wounds in murder-suicide; (J) October 31, 2007; Yamagata--It is thought the woman stabbed her daughter in the stomach before stabbing herself in the chest.
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Woman arrested for strangling infant daughter; (EJ) October 30, 2007
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Suicide suspected as vehicle carrying married couple, teenage son plunges into sea; (J) October 29, 2007; The woman, who is currently unconcious was the only survivor.
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Update: Accused Akita child killer tells court her father abused her; (EJ) October 29, 2007
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Update: Prosecutors want 20-year prison term for woman who abandoned her children; (J) October 29, 2007; The woman's 1-year-old child starved to death after she left him and his older brother, 4, alone at her apartment for more than a month so as she could live with her boyfriend.
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Woman found innocent of fatally stabbing infant son; (J) October 26, 2007; Shiga--After stabbing her 6-month-old son to death in March last year the woman then failed in an attempt to kill herself. By reason of insanity the court ruled she was not guilty.
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Woman drops baby from 6th floor of condominium; (EJ) October 22, 2007
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Baby found encased in cement; pair held; (EJ) October 19, 2007
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Baby suffocates in bedding after parents leave him alone for 8 hours; (J) October 18, 2007
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Chiba woman held on suspicion of drowning 2-month-old son in bathtub; (EJ) October 10, 2007
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Update: Sapporo man gets 20 months for burning his 2 children with candle wax; (EJ) October 9, 2007; According to the Japanese language media, the man married the children's mother in January last year and they lived together as a family of six. The 2 youngest of the four children were born to the couple, while the abused children, a son, 7, and daughter, 5, came with their mother from an earlier relationship. The two older children have been placed into care.
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Man beats girlfriend's daughter, 3, for refusing to take bath with him; (J) October 8, 2007
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Woman drops newborn baby from toilet window; (J) October 5, 2007; Niigata--A 27-year-old woman has been arrested for attempted murder after dropping an infant from the window of a toilet where she'd just given birth. The baby girl suffered fractures to her skull in the fall.
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Gunma: Father admits smothering infant son; (EJ) October 4, 2007
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Update: Mother sentenced in deaths of kids; (EJ) October 3, 2007; Sapporo--The district court here Wednesday handed a four-year prison term to a woman who did nothing to protect her children from abusive behavior by her partner, resulting in their deaths.
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Police suspect murder-suicide in house fire that killed 4 family members; (EJ) October 2, 2007
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Update: 8th baby left at Kumamoto baby hatch; (EJ) October 2, 2007
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Update: Hatakeyama 'treated daughter cruelly'; (EJ) October 2, 2007; A woman accused of murdering her daughter and a local boy last year was cruel toward the girl, and even said she wished she had not won custody of her, the woman's former boyfriend said during testimony Monday.
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Woman suspected of poisoning family with weed killer in failed murder-suicide bid; (EJ) October 1, 2007
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Man busted over death of girlfriend's infant son; (EJ) September 29, 2007
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Woman arrested for abuse of 5-year-old son; (J) September 28, 2007; Saitama--The mother, 42, beat the boy while he was bound to a chair for about 9 hours. Bruising to the boy's face, arms and legs will take around 10 days to heal.
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Boy suspected of being abandoned taken into care; (J) September 28, 2007; The boy, thought to be around 10 years old, was taken into care after a tip-off to a child consultation centre in Suginami ward, Tokyo. The boy has no family register or certificate of residence and authorities have so far been unable to confirm his identity. There is also evidence that he has not been attending school.
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Update: Woman handed 4½ year prison term for starving son to death; (J) September 27, 2007
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Update: Death sentence reduced for one of murderous pair; (EJ) September 27, 2007
- Pair accused of slaying seven face gallows; (EJ) March 3, 2005; The following year, six members of Ogata's family -- her parents, Takashige and Shizumi, sister, Rieko, and brother-in-law, Kazuya, and their two children, Aya and Yuki -- were forced to live with the couple in the Kitakyushu apartment. Matsunaga and Ogata murdered all six between December 1997 and June 1998, according to prosecutors.
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Update: Prosecutors seek 13-year sentence for divorcee over sons' deaths; (J) September 26, 2007
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Update: Woman gets 6-year prison term for leaving newborn son to die; (J) September 26, 2007
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Update: Man gets 10 years behind bars for attempted murder, abduction of a minor; (J) September 26, 2007
- Gangster arrested for attempted murder, abduction of infant son; (EJ) August 2, 2006; The 9-month-old infant was hospitalized last year because of severe burns from boiling water. In March 2006 the child's parents and other family members forced their way into the hospital and took the boy after failing in repeated requests to have him released.
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Woman arrested for having 6-year-old daughter steal bag from shop; (EJ) September 26, 2007
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Woman arrested for slashing boyfriend's daughter; (EJ) September 26, 2007; "I slashed her because I was left alone and got furious," she was quoted as telling investigators.
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Woman faces murder charge for strangling pregnant daughter; (J) September 26, 2007
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Update: Man gets 8 years behind bars for fatal beating of girlfriend's son; (J) September 26, 2007
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Update: Police charge dead man with killing wife, 3 sons in Aomori; (EJ) September 25, 2007
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Nurse finds abandoned baby on hospital grounds; (J) September 25, 2007; Himeji--The newborn infant was found crying next to shrubbery in a hospital courtyard.
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Two sisters abandoned at nursery school for two years, Kitakyushu govt. discovers; (EJ) September 22, 2007; According to the Japanese language media, 2 other children were also abandoned at the same nursery school in 1996; a 2-year-old boy for 2 years and a 5-year-old boy for 4 years.
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Update: Sendai man gets life for killing girlfriend, infant daughter; (EJ) September 21, 2007
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Staff at children's welfare facility accused of violence; (J) September 20, 2007; A Fukuoka city orphanage is under investigation after 6 boys complained that 3 of the staff were violent to them on a daily basis. The boys, between the 1st grade of junior high school and the 2nd grade of high school, are currently under the protection of a child consultation centre.
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Woman arrested for attempted murder of 6-week old son; (J) September 20, 2007; The mother attempted to strangle the child but a relative who came to visit at around the same time noticed the boy's condition and called emergency services. The infant is in serious condition.
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Update: Man to spend 32 months behind bars for fatally spraying scolding water on baby son; (EJ) September 19, 2007
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Update: Father sentenced to 9 years in jail over death of infant; (J) September 19, 2007
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Update: Father gets 9 years in prison for strangling schizophrenic daughter; (J) September 18, 2007
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Family of 4 die in suicide pact; (J) September 14, 2007
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Update: Man handed 5-year prison term for abuse-related death of boy; (J) September 13, 2007
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Hokkaido man accused of abusing girlfriend's son with cigarettes; (J) September 13, 2007
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Update: Woman denies intending to kill daughter as double child murder case opens in Akita; (EJ) September 12, 2007
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Update: Parents retrieve boy 10 days after leaving him at baby drop-off point; (EJ) September 12, 2007; "We once thought about killing ourselves and the boy. But we hoped that he could be looked after if we left him at the baby drop-off point," one of the parents was quoted as saying.
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Update: Life sentence upheld for fatal abuse of two kids; (EJ) September 11, 2007; Kenichi Takao, together with the 33-year-old woman who lived with him in Hiroshima, suffocated her 6-year-old son, Yoshiki Matsugami, by sealing him in a plastic bag in September 1999, according to the ruling. Exposed to abuse by Takao for weeks before the incident, the boy was already in a weakened condition. The following month, Takao beat the woman's 4-year-old daughter, Shoko, to death, the court said.
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Nagoya man nabbed for breaking son's leg; (EJ) September 10, 2007
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Man held for assault on girlfriend and her son; (J) September 9, 2007; It is expected to take around 2~3 weeks for the woman and her 9-year-old son to recover from their injuries. The 3 were living together in Shizuoka Prefecture.
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Man arrested for abusing partner's 5-year-old son in Hokkaido; (J) September 8, 2007
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Four dead babies found in closet; (EJ) September 8, 2007
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Woman kills her 2 sons, self, over worries about younger son's health; (EJ) September 8, 2007; Her 6-year-old daughter was attending nursery school at the time of the incident.
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Help line besieged at baby-hatch hospital; (EJ) September 7, 2007; The hospital started the telephone counseling service prior to opening the baby hatch, into which parents can deposit babies they feel unable to raise. Many of those seeking help were youths and unmarried people facing unwanted pregnancies. Since late last year, the hospital has received more than 400 such calls.
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Update: Seventh baby for Kumamoto hatch; (EJ) September 6, 2007
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Prosecutors want 18-month prison term for dad who hurled toddler onto pavement; (J) September 6, 2007
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Update: Woman arrested for murder of daughter, 2 grandchildren; (J) September 6, 2007; Nara--Police have discovered that the deaths of a woman, 32, and her 2 young daughters in a car fire were the result of a murder-suicide pact. The 11-year-old brother of the girls and his grandmother survived the blaze but suffered serious burns. The 57-year-old grandmother has been arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder.
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Update: Prosecutors seek 10 years for woman who killed son; (J) September 6, 2007; The boy, Daiki, died 12 days after the attack. The boyfriend was earlier sentenced to 7½ years in prison.
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Update: Man gets 18-year jail term for killing infant son; (J) September 6, 2007
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Man busted for hitting girlfriend's 2 children with wooden sword; (EJ) September 5, 2007
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Beating leaves 4-month-old baby in serious condition, father arrested; (J) September 4, 2007
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Woman, 60, turns herself in after strangling 3-month-old grandson; (EJ) September 4, 2007
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Boy's statement: Father forced me to shoplift; (EJ) September 4, 2007; Prosecutors said the boy shoplifted because he was afraid of being beaten by his father. They presented to the court pictures of scars on the boy's body from cigarette burns.
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Man arrested for abusing girlfriend's 4-year-old son; (J) September 3, 2007; Update: September 9; The mother has also been arrested for involvement in the beating. Injuries to the child will take about 3 weeks to heal.
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Dad held for fatally assaulting infant son in Tokushima; (J) September 1, 2007
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Update: Mother's prison term reduced to 10 years on appeal; (J) August 31, 2007; The woman and her boyfriend were sentenced to prison for starving her 19-year-old son to death.
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Family murder-suicide claims 4 lives, leaves 2 children ill; (EJ) August 29, 2007; According to the Japanese media, problems resulting from the couple's differences in language, background and culture etc were quite apparent in the troubled international marriage. The man strangled his mother, younger brother and Filipino wife before gassing himself and the children. The wife also bore bruises on her face and arms from beatings.
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Update: Woman gets 10-year prison term for killing her sons; (J) August 28, 2007.
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"Immature" mum who killed baby gets suspended sentence; (J) August 27, 2007; A 22-year-old woman who drowned her infant son just after giving birth at home on January 9th received a 3-year prison sentence, suspended for 5 years. Giving a reason for the suspended sentence the judge said that "immaturity may have been an influence when the defendant took the infant's life." (Note: although the surnames are different, going by the Japanese version this seems to be an update on this Jan. 15, 2007 story (EJ).
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Woman kills sick son, self at home in Ibaraki; (EJ) August 25, 2007.
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Infant abandoned in Niigata supermarket toilet; (J) August 21, 2007.
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Baby girl left at gate of 80-year-old man's house; (J) August 21, 2007.
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Update: 2 boys left at Kumamoto baby hatch in August; (EJ) August 21, 2007.
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Newborn child abandoned in front of clinic in Shizuoka; (J) August 20, 2007; Update: (J) September 21; Mother to face prosecutors for abandonment of baby.
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Couple, son die in murder-suicide; (EJ) August 19, 2007.
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Baby boy abandoned at Tokyo department store; (EJ) August 15, 2007.
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Man arrested for allegedly strangling daughter, 7, son, 3, in Niigata; (EJ) August 14, 2007.
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Woman, 24, arrested for beating 2-year-old son to death in Asahikawa; (EJ) August 12, 2007.
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Newborn girl abandoned near JR station in Yamaguchi; (J) August 12, 2007.
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Man held for abusing partner's children; (J) August 11, 2007; The woman's 2 children were aged 6 and 4. The couple also had a third child between them who was apparently unharmed.
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Child abuse, child pornography cases hit record levels in first half of 2007; (EJ) August 10, 2007.
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Mum, daughter, 17, kill selves at level crossing; (J) August 10, 2007.
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Man indicted over fatal abuse of 9-month-old son; (J) August 10, 2007; Chiba -- The assault took place on March 12th this year. An autopsy revealed the infant died from strangulation and shock caused by a fracture to the skull.
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Murder-suicide suspected after mother, 2 young children found dead in Shimane; (J) August 9, 2007.
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Update: Woman arrested over 2-year-old son's murder; (EJ) August 7, 2007
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Nagoya child consultation centres dealt with 850 reports of abuse in '06; (J) August 7, 2007.
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Man arrested for beating 11-year-old son with wooden sword, golf club; (J) August 6, 2007.
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Stepfather abuses 7-year-old boy with candle; (J) August 6, 2007; The first grader sustained burns over his entire body that will take around 3 weeks to heal. His face was also scarred from cigarette burns.
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Update: Woman gets 14 years for killing son who interrupted her passionate romp; (EJ) August 6, 2007.
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Newborn infant abandoned near railway line in Iwate; (J) August 6, 2007.
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Update: Mother gets jail for drowning children in dam; (EJ) August 2, 2007; Tokushima -- A 42-year-old woman was sentenced to 7 and 1/2 years' imprisonment on Thursday for drowning her 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter in a dam in 2005.
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Sex business worker arrested for unleashing attack on 'noisy' 5-year-old; (EJ) August 1, 2007; At the time, the boy's mother, a 27-year-old call girl, was out working. Police are questioning her and other workers, suspecting that the 5-year-old had been abused on a daily basis. Update: (EJ) August 9, 2007; Boy dies after attack by sex business worker
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Arson suspects now accused of murder; (EJ) August 1, 2007; Police are also looking into the death of Kobayashi's adopted son, Yoshiki, who was 7 when he died after falling from a fourth-floor balcony of a public housing facility in February 2004, the sources said.
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Woman comes across abandoned infant at housing site in Chiba; (J) July 31, 2007.
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Father suspected of murdering son for insurance money; (EJ) July 26, 2007.
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Nurse finds abandoned newborn in hospital toilet; (J) July 24, 2007; The baby boy was about 1-2 days old and had been placed at the side of a toilet seat in a woman's restroom. The police are currently trying to establish the identity of the infant.
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Update: Flat full of bodies; mom guilty of killing daughter; (EJ) July 23, 2007.
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Man, woman, infant girl found dead in car along with burned briquettes; (EJ) July 21, 2007.
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Woman arrested for dumping 6-month-old infant in vacant lot; (J) July 21, 2007; Okayama -- The baby girl was wearing only a T-shirt and diapers when found by a passerby.
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Woman handed 7-year prison term for fatally stabbing intellectually disabled son; (EJ) July 20, 2007.
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Newborn infant found in shrubs on college grounds; (J) July 20, 2007; A security guard discovered the baby girl amongst shrubbery near his guard box at a women's college in Osaka. The child, who appeared to be healthy, was stuffed in a paper bag and estimated to be about a day old when found at around 5:45am on Friday.
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Osaka family found dead in apparent murder suicide; (EJ) July 20, 2007; A pregnant woman and two young children were found dead in their home here on Friday after the woman's husband apparently leaped to his death from their apartment block, leaving behind a message saying that the family was broke, police said.
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Update: Woman handed 8-year prison term for strangling children; (J) July 20, 2007.
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Update: Woman gets suspended sentence for abandoning baby; (J) July 19, 2007; The 29-year-old mother was found guilty of abandoning her child in a public toilet and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for 3 years.
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Woman faces arrest for fatally abusing 18-month-old son; (EJ) July 16, 2007;
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Man arrested for abusing partner's 5-year-old daughter; (J) July 14, 2007.
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Dad faces attempted murder charges after hurling crying baby son to floor; (EJ) July 13, 2007.
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Baby abandoned outside hospital in Sendai City; (J) July 13, 2007; The baby girl is thought to be about 2~4 days old and was discovered at around 1am after a neighbour phoned the hospital to say they could hear a baby crying outside.
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Woman slashes daughter's neck in murder-suicide bid; (J) July 12, 2007; Saitama -- The mother used a knife to attack her 21-year-old daughter as she was preparing for bed. The daughter fled the house and received help from a passerby while the 46-year-old mother turned the knife on herself in an attempt to commit suicide. Both women were hospitalised in serious condition.
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Consultation centers dealt with 37,000 cases of child abuse last fiscal year; (EJ) July 11, 2007; Child consultation centers across Japan dealt with a staggering 37,343 cases of child abuse in fiscal 2006, some 10,000 cases more than fiscal 2003, it has emerged. The number of consultation cases particularly increased concerning fatal abuse and murder.
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Philippine police detain Japanese man over child's beating death; (EJ) July 10, 2007; Philippine police took a Japanese man into custody Tuesday on suspicion of beating his Filipino wife's 4-year-old daughter to death.
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Mom jumps under train holding 2 kids; all killed; (EJ) July 9, 2007.
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Update: Parents found guilty, get suspended sentences over son's death; (J) July 9, 2007; Both parents were sentenced to 1½ years in prison, suspended for 3 years for the involuntary manslaughter of their son.
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Police find baby's body in car left in Yokohama parking lot for one year; (EJ) July 8, 2007; According to police, the vehicle had been kept at the dealership ever since a man bought it about a year ago. Police have not been able to find the buyer, and no one lives at the address he listed when he bought the car.
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Update: Troubled girls find help at our mobile phone site; (EJ) July 8, 2007; We're sending out an emergency message because I simply can't stand the spate of schoolgirl mothers dumping babies or killing children that has spread across the country.
- Stop killing kids!; (EJ) June 24, 2007; Kids dumped, kids killed, children's bodies left lying around. Why are Japanese killing innocent little children?
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Update: Nara man handed 6-year prison term for attempted murder of baby; (J) July 8, 2007;
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Mother handed 18-month suspended sentence for abandoning baby; (J) July 7, 2007.
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Update: 4th child abandoned at Kumamoto baby hatch; (EJ) July 6, 2007; While the hatch originally was established to accommodate babies up to a month old, it is for the first time a baby so young was dropped off.
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1553 consultations for child abuse in Shiga last year; (J) July 6, 2007;
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Newborn infant left at front door of West Tokyo apartment; (J) July 5, 2007; The baby boy still had it's umbilical cord attached when the apartment owner found him.
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Trial starts for mother following murder-suicide attempt; (J) July 4, 2007; Iwate--The woman first tried to kill her 6-year-old son by slashing his right wrist with a knife. She then cut her own wrist and neck in a bid to commit suicide. The prosecutors are seeking a 3-year prison sentence for attempted murder.
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Teen leaves baby to die at home after giving birth on toilet; (J) July 3, 2007; Gunma--The newborn girl died within 5 hours of birth after her body temperature fell and her respiratory tract became blocked. The 19-year-old mother was arrested on suspicion of murder.
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Update: Women get suspended jail terms for using boy to steal DVDs; (J) July 3, 2007; The 3-year-old boy's aunt and grandmother received 18-month prison sentences, suspended for 3 years, while the boy's mother got a 14-month term, also suspended for 3 years.
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3 kids killed; suspect father's suicide bid fails; (EJ) July 2, 2007; A high school student and two middle school students of Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, were murdered on Monday morning, apparently by their father, whose suicide attempt failed, police said.
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Stepdad suspected in child's death may have left Okinawa; (EJ) June 30, 2007; “I could not believe what I had heard,” said Hisa Uechi, 22, after pausing to regain her composure. She had stopped the boy one chilly November evening after spotting him walking shirtless and shoeless. She said she asked him what he was doing and he told her he was running away from home “ ‘because my Dad hits me.’ ” “Jordan had gathered all his courage to leave home,” Uechi said. “I felt if I didn’t speak up, his courage and desperate signal for help would be buried and forgotten.” She said she believed the boy’s story because she could see he had “bruises all over his body.” Now she believes that because he was an American and military dependent, the boy fell through the cracks in the Japanese system. And, because he was living in a home off-base, he also fell through any safety net the U.S. military might have, she said. “It was as if he had been abandoned,” she said.
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Newborn girl found in paper bag in drugstore toilet; (J) June 30, 2007; Hyogo--The baby was alive and wrapped in a paper bag when an employee found her in a restroom cubicle reserved for the use of infants.
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34,000 consultations about child abuse reported in 2005; (EJ) June 29, 2007; The number of consultations about child abuse reached 34,472 in fiscal 2005, the largest figure since records began in fiscal 1990, a government white paper released on Friday shows.
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Father kills himself after family slain; (EJ) June 28, 2007; Aomori Prefecture--A man killed himself by driving off a cliff after his wife and their three sons were found slain in the family's apartment here Thursday, police said. The bodies of Mayumi Sawada, 46, Naoya, 13, Sho, 10, and Hikari, 6, were found by relatives who went to the apartment around 10:55 a.m.
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Carefree minors treat unwanted pregnancies like a dose of the clap; (E) June 28, 2007; Reika says a lot of Tokyo gynecological hospitals will perform abortions on minors with no questions asked. She says it's easy for girls to find out where to go, courtesy of mobile phone sites that list the places that will willingly terminate pregnancies for girls.
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High school girl arrested for dumping corpse of newborn infant in closet; (J) June 27, 2007; Miyagi -- After giving birth to a baby girl on June 23rd the 15-year-old girl stuffed the body in a transparent plastic bag and hid it a closet. A few days later the teenager and her mother took the corpse, while still in the bag, to a city hospital. The cause of death is under investigation. (There was apparently no father figure in the girl's life. She and her mother lived alone.)
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Baby abandoned outside Kurashiki nursery school; (J) June 26, 2007; The baby girl is around 1 week old and in good health. Update: July 2; 18-year-old mother arrested over abandonment of child.
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Man beats toddler unconscious for not saying 'Itadakimasu'; (EJ) June 25, 2007; A 20-year-old man was arrested in Osaka Monday on suspicion of beating a 1-year-old boy, leaving him unconscious, because the boy did not show the proper etiquette while eating.
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Baby girl left outside hospital in Tokyo; (J) June 24, 2007; The infant was found in a pram and is thought to be around 3 or 4 months old.
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30 children slain by parents in murder-suicide incidents in '05; (J) June 22, 2007; Of the 19 cases where children died along with their parents 24 were killed by their mothers and 12 were less than 3 years old. When murder-suicide is taken into account a total of 86 minors were fatally abused in 70 cases in 2005. (The next article down notes that 56 children died in 50 cases.)
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2 in 5 deaths by child abuse overlooked in '05; (EJ) June 22, 2007; Abuse was overlooked in the deaths of about two in every five children who died from maltreatment in 2005, despite the involvement of outside institutions such as schools and day nurseries, according to a government investigation. The investigation also found that about one in five of the deaths occurred despite child welfare centers suspecting abuse.
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Teenage sisters to face charges after dumping baby; (EJ) June 21, 2007; Nara -- The pair decided to abandon the newborn boy, and later that day the younger sister took the infant to a dental clinic and left it near a hedge on the property. The step-sisters, both 16, were related through second marriages of both their father and mother.
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Abused kids increasingly placed in care; (EJ) June 20, 2007; The number of cases in which abused children were separated from their parents by family court orders hit a record high of 169 last year, according to a survey compiled by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court examined 185 abuse complaints filed with family courts over the year to March, and found that nearly half the victims were primary school children (89), followed by children aged between 3 and 6 (39), and middle school students (30). Infants less than 3 years old accounted for 21 cases. Cases of abuse involving infants have been on the rise in recent years, with some cases resulting in death. Parents were the alleged abusers in more than 90 percent of cases, with mothers and fathers numbering 111 and 63, respectively.
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Man busted for abusing stepson, leaving the victim with critical injuries; (EJ) June 18, 2007; "I hit him excessively," he was quoted as telling investigators during questioning. "My wife told me that the boy ate instant noodles without her permission. I got angry because he denied it." According to the Japanese language media 3-year-old Hiroki was from his mother's first marriage. Update: (J) June 29, 2007; Hiroki died from his injuries on June 29.
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Update: 3 unwanted children left in month since opening of Japan hospital baby drop; (EJ) June 17, 2007; The drop box was created after a series of high-profile cases in which newborn babies were left behind in parks and supermarkets, triggering a public outcry and government warnings against abandoning babies.
- Update: Boy, 3, left in "baby box" for newborns; (EJ) May 15, 2007; Kumamoto--The nation's first "baby box," where parents can anonymously leave their unwanted newborns, has had its first user, but the child abandoned was probably not what organizers had in mind. A boy about 3 years old was left in the box at Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto, apparently last Thursday, the first day the box was in operation, sources said Tuesday. The boy is in good health, and he told hospital officials that he rode on a Shinkansen bullet train to reach Kumamoto.
- Controversial baby drop-off point begins operating at Kumamoto hospital; (EJ) May 10, 2007.
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Over 1500 child abuse consultations in Hiroshima-ken last year, worst on record; (J) June 16, 2007.
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Couple leave 7-year-old girl tied to chair for 3 days; (EJ) June 16, 2007; Sapporo -- A woman who tied her daughter to a chair and left her there for three days without even giving her breaks to go to the bathroom has been arrested along with her 37-year-old partner, police said.
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Mum arrested for attempted murder after slashing son's neck; (J) June 15, 2007; Sapporo -- The woman's 13-year-old son managed to grab the kitchen knife from his mother before she killed him. She said she wanted to die along with her son and 11-year-old daughter because the family had debts and life was hard. A gash to the boy's neck will take 2~3 weeks to heal.
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Hokkaido sees 10% rise in child abuse in 1 year, consultation centers handled 954 cases in '06; (J) June 15, 2007.
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Man gets 13 years behind bars for repeated rape of ex-wife's daughter; (J) June 14, 2007; Iwate -- The man sexually abused the primary school aged girl from March 2005 until late 2006. He also photographed the victim and threatened to put her pictures on the internet if she refused his attacks. The child currently suffers from PTSD as a result.
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Girl who gave birth in high school toilet charged with murdering baby; (EJ) June 12, 2007.
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4-year-old boy who died at home may have been subjected to constant abuse; (EJ) June 11, 2007; The woman has told investigators that her 26-year-old boyfriend hit her son. As there are numerous bruises on his body, local police said it is highly likely that the woman's boyfriend constantly abused the boy. The woman was living with the victim and her 6-year-old daughter. (According to the Japanese language media she divorced her husband in 2004.)
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Naked newborn baby dumped at bicycle parking lot in Wakayama; (J) June 10, 2007.
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Update: Mom accused of killing son with cayenne; (EJ) June 8, 2007; Mitsunaka's older son was taken from the home and institutionalized in 2004 after it was found the boys had been abused. Since the older boy was the main victim of the abuse at that time, a child welfare center determined it was safe for Kakeru to return home, according to sources at the office.
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Woman arrested for stabbing 10-year-old son in chest; (EJ) June 7, 2007; The police also found multiple bruises on the boy's body and he appeared to have cigarette burns on his back. They suspect the boy was regularly abused as Nakashita said she routinely disciplined him with beatings. The head teacher at the boy's elementary school said that school officials had noticed bruises on the boy's body when he transferred from another school in February and reported the case to a municipal child consultation office. -- The Japanese language media report that the boy was in a care facility from the age of 1 until he started living with his mother again in February this year. Nakashita married in March last year and has a 3-month-old daughter with her new husband. There is no information about the boy's real father. Update: (J) July 23; Stepfather arrested over child abuse, Mother also rearrested.
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Okinawan man held for beating 2-month-old son; (J) June 7, 2007; The baby suffered injuries that will take 2~4 weeks to heal.
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Kanagawa recorded 683 cases of child abuse last year; (J) June 6, 2007.
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A 'socially accepted' act of child abuse; (E) June 5, 2007; By deploying this "usual" technique for dismissal, the Supreme Court confirmed the father's "right" (as endorsed by the lower courts) to touch his daughter's breast, thus refusing to enforce the human rights provisions of the Constitution.
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Okinawa: prefectural child consultation centre reports 364 cases of abuse last year; (J) June 5, 2007; There was a decrease in the overall number of cases from 2005 but more children were subject to sexual abuse in 2006. Update: June 13; Including other towns and municipalities within the prefecture the total number of cases was 968.
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Yamaguchi prefecture gets 50% rise in child abuse; (J) June 5, 2007; The number of cases for 2006 was 304 compared to 197 in 2005. (See table.)
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Woman busted for strangling 11-year-old daughter; (EJ) May 31, 2007.
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Baby's body found in dumped cooler; (EJ) May 31, 2007.
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Incidents of child abuse in Hyogo prefecture up 46% from previous year; (J) May 31, 2007; Hyogo prefecture child councelling centres handled 1087 abuse cases in '06. This was a 46% hike over the preceding year's figure. The main abusers in 86% of cases were the biological parents.
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Akita records significant increase in child abuse; (J) May 31, 2007; The number of child abuse cases in 2006 was 1.6 times higher than the previous year. Mothers were responsible for 67% of the abuse, fathers 19.7%, and non-biological fathers 6.4%.
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Mother, boyfriend arrested for beating 6-year-old boy with steel rod; (J) May 31, 2007; Injuries to the boy's body will take about a month to heal.
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246 cases of child abuse in Yamagata in 2006, mothers found to be assailants in 72% of cases; (J) May 30, 2007.
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Kagoshima consultation centres handled 264 child abuse cases in '06; (J) May 30, 2007; The official number of cases for fiscal '05 was no more than 105.
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Brazilian woman held for abuse of 9-year-old son; (J) May 29, 2007; Shizuoka -- The woman was arrested for beating the boy around his chest and back with an electrical extension cord causing injuries which will take about a month to heal. She came to Japan with her son 7 years ago and had been living with a partner in a common law marriage. The couple also have an 18-month-old daughter between them.
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Shizuoka logs 816 child abuse cases for '06, increase of 35.8% from previous year; (J) May 29, 2007; According to the article there were 215 more cases than in 2005 and around ⅔ of the abusers were mothers.
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Saitama child consultation centres handled 2287 abuse cases last year, worst on record; (J) May 26, 2007.
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Child abuse in Kochi prefecture doubles within last 5 years; (J) May 26, 2007; There were 117 cases in 2002 compared to 242 last year.
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Update: Shiga couple gets 7 years for fatally abusing 2-year-old daughter with steel bar, hot water; (EJ) May 25, 2007.
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University student arrested for abandoning newborn baby; (EJ) May 24, 2007.
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Saitama parents held for beating 3-year-old; Saga man pours boiling water on 8-month-old son; (EJ) May 23, 2007.
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2 teenage girls arrested for dumping dead baby in Chiba; (EJ) May 23, 2007.
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Newborn baby girl found alive in plastic bag at garbage-collection site; (EJ) May 22, 2007; Investigators estimate that she was born five to seven days earlier.
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Okayama prefecture dealt with 1039 child abuse cases last year, 25% increase over fiscal '05; (J) May 22, 2007.
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Grisly crimes spark rethink of 'safe' Japan; (E) May 20, 2007; A mother beheaded by her son. A baby who suffocated after being stuffed by his parents in the baggage compartment of a motorbike while they played pachinko. A murderous shooting spree during a hostage standoff. An outbreak of violent crime in the past week has triggered soul-searching and outrage in a country that has long prided itself on its safe streets and tight communal bonds. "While families used to act as brakes, there is an increase in crimes where people feel lost in despair and no longer care what happens to their families," he said. Indeed, fractured families figured prominently in last week's grisly headlines.
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Osaka man arrested for forcing 16-year-old stepdaughter into prostitution; (EJ) May 18, 2007; After raping her repeatedly since childhood, a man here has been arrested for forcing his 16-year-old stepdaughter into prostitution, police said. The girl's mother died five years ago.
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Judge gives suspended prison sentences to couple who abused daughter; (J) May 18, 2007.
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Kyoto City reports fiscal '06 child abuse cases up 40% over previous year; (J) May 18, 2007; A Kyoto City child consultation centre said the number of abuse cases for 2006 was 731. This included 216 children who were abandoned by their guardians. Update: June 14; The total number of cases rises to 1102 when the rest of Kyoto Prefecture is taken into account.
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Kyoto man given suspended sentence for maltreatment of 11-year-old; (J) May 17, 2007; The man was sentenced to a suspended 18-month prison term for causing bodily injury. Update (J) May 31; The mother of the boy was also found guilty and given a one year suspended sentence.
- Woman, common-law husband arrested for abusing boy; (J) March 6, 2007; From around 3 in the morning for about an hour the 11-year-old boy was made to take off his underpants and stand while he was beaten or hurled down onto the tatami. Bruises to the boy's torso, arms and legs will take around 2 weeks to heal.
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Update: Couple says infant died after they placed him in motorbike's helmet compartment; (EJ) May 17, 2007; After putting Yu in the motorcycle's helmet storage compartment under its seat Mika went shopping while Motoki went to a pachinko parlor. Motoki returned to the motorcycle and found Yu dead, investigators said. Mika divorced Yu's father sometime around January last year and remarried Motoki on April 23, according to local police. A passer-by found Yu lying dead in a ditch along Route 173 at around 5 p.m. on April 23, his second birthday and the day when Mika and Motoki registered their marriage.
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Child consultation centres in Iwate handled 310 abuse cases in '06, exceeds previous year's figure; (J) May 17, 2007.
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Update: Man gets suspended sentence for 'discipline' leading to daughter's death; (J) May 16, 2007; The judge sentenced the victim's father to 3 years in prison, suspended for 5. (Update in Japanese.)
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Woman arrested for forcing son, his friend to snatch bag; (EJ) May 16, 2007.
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Woman gets five years for fatal arson; (EJ) May 15, 2007; Presiding Judge Seiichi Nagata said, "After failing in married life and living an unstable life by changing jobs, she became desperate and set fire to her own home to commit suicide." The house was gutted and her father, Koji, a retired 61-year-old firefighter, her two children, aged 3 and 4, and her 82-year-old grandmother died.
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Update: Boy, 3, left in "baby box" for newborns; (EJ) May 15, 2007; Kumamoto--The nation's first "baby box," where parents can anonymously leave their unwanted newborns, has had its first user, but the child abandoned was probably not what organizers had in mind. A boy about 3 years old was left in the box at Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto, apparently last Thursday, the first day the box was in operation, sources said Tuesday. The boy is in good health, and he told hospital officials that he rode on a Shinkansen bullet train to reach Kumamoto.
- Update: Controversial baby drop-off point begins operating at Kumamoto hospital; (EJ) May 10, 2007.
- Update: Kumamoto mayor says baby 'drop-off' point is last resort; (EJ) April 5, 2007; Kumamoto Mayor Seishi Koyama has stressed that a baby drop-off point that the city has approved is a "last resort," and that it would be better if the drop-off point was not used at all.
- Update: Health Ministry sending mixed signals over baby drop-off point proposal; (EJ) March 6, 2007; The ministry has already basically stated it's acceptance of the setting up of baby drop-off points at Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto, saying, "It cannot be called illegal."
- Update: Govt approves 1st baby hatch / Critics fear decision may encourage parents to abandon new-borns; (EJ) February 24, 2007; Views are split over the hospital's plan to set up the baby hatch. Some praised the idea, saying the hatch would save lives that would otherwise be lost, while others were critical, saying it might encourage people to abandon new-borns.
- Hospital to set up a "baby box" for unwanted infants; (EJ) November 9, 2006; The statistics also show that as of February 2003, 63 babies placed in the custody of infants homes in Japan had been left abandoned outdoors and in other areas with no clues to the identities of their parents.
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Gov't to make welfare facilities for children smaller, seek more foster parents; (EJ) May 14, 2007; Currently, approximately 30,000 children are living at 556 care homes for children across the country, according to the ministry. About 60 percent of them are victims of child abuse. Another 3,000 are under care at 117 homes for infants, while about 3,000 others are being cared for by foster parents.
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Update: Hell hath no fury like a porn star scorned -- just ask her niece; (EJ) May 12, 2007; (EJ); Chiba -- Age traditionally comes before beauty; but after ex-AV star Kyoko Teranishi found out her boyfriend, 50, had traded her in for her 14-year-old niece, the enraged porn queen whipped the teen round the head with a coat hanger for several hours, leaving her with serious injuries and landing herself a 500,000 yen fine.
- Former actress Kyoko Teranishi arrested for beating niece; (EJ) April 24, 2007; Teranishi, 49, and the girl's father and grandmother hit the girl on the head with a hanger for some four hours at the girl's home in Noda, Chiba Prefecture on April 20. The girl, a junior high school student, sustained serious injuries that will take about two weeks to heal, police said.
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Women busted for using 3-year-old to steal DVDs; (EJ) May 11, 2007; Toyama -- A mother, aunt and grandmother who used a 3-year-old boy to steal DVDs have been arrested on suspicion of theft, and the toddler taken into protective custody. Police suspect the three used the tactic to commit at least similar 20 thefts, and are continuing to question them.
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Woman held for abandonment of children's bodies; (J) May 11, 2007; Ishikawa -- After getting reports of a foul odour emanating from a car at a Komatsu city parking lot, police arrived at the scene to discover the corpse of a new-born girl. The car was traced back to a 37-year-old woman who'd been arrested in early April on suspicion of theft. She confessed to having given birth to the child in February. The police came across the decomposed remains of a second child, a boy, when carrying out a search of a house where the suspect lived with her boyfriend and his parents. The infant was found wrapped in a plastic cover stuffed in a cardboard box. It was estimated the child had been dead for about 2 years. The boyfriend whose whereabouts is unknown is also wanted for questioning.
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Ex-child welfare worker arrested for fondling 2 girls; (EJ) May 10, 2007.
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5-month-old boy dies from brain haemorrhage, common-law husband missing; (J) May 9, 2007.
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Mother indicted for fracturing skull of 18-day-old baby; (J) May 9, 2007; The woman also repeatedly beat her 1-year-old son over the head with a milk bottle.
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Judge hands woman 7-year prison term for murdering daughter; (J) May 8, 2007.
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Mum dumps new-born baby in car park, arrested for murder; (J) May 7, 2007; The woman gave birth to the baby girl at home at around 7am on May 5. She then left the infant at a nearby car park within an hour of the delivery. Having received a heavy blow to it's head the child died about 5 hours later. The woman had reportedly told no one about the pregnancy, nor did the baby's father apparently notice she was pregnant.
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Staff at 40% of child consultation centres mentally fatigued from job-related stress; (J) May 6, 2007; According to the nationwide survey child care workers at approximately 40% of consultation centres suffer from anxiety or are in a mental slump because of stress from child abuse cases.
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Gunma child abuse figures for '06 highest ever at 551 cases, surge in physical, sexual abuse; (J) May 6, 2007.
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Scores of children left in cars last year as adults played pachinko; (EJ) May 5, 2007; A total of 56 children were rescued after being abandoned in cars while their parents and other guardians were playing pachinko in 37 cases in nine prefectures last fiscal year, an industry organization said. In the wake of a series of incidents in which children abandoned in cars while their guardians were playing pachinko died from heat stroke, Zennichiyuren launched a campaign in fiscal 2004 to have employees of member parlors patrol their parking lots. In the first year, 53 children were saved after being found in cars, sweating excessively, while their guardians were in pachinko parlors in 43 cases.
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Father busted for bashing 12-year-old daughter with log; (EJ) May 4, 2007.
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Stepfather held for beating son's face with plastic cane; (J) May 3, 2007; Ibaraki - After a child consultation centre had received around 10 reports that the 8-year-old boy was suffering facial injuries the man was warned about 'discipline' by a caseworker in February this year. First reports to the centre of the child's maltreatment came in June 2006. The boy has a 4-year-old sister and his mother married the man in 2005.
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Kagawa prefecture dealt with 420 child abuse cases last year, 9-fold increase from '97; (J) May 3, 2007.
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Baby left on doorstep of Aichi man's home; (EJ) May 3, 2007.
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Baby girl dies after being crushed by collapsed mom in home; (EJ) May 2, 2007; Updates in the Japanese language media report that the mother had taken 2 types of sleeping medication about an hour before the incident. She was later arrested.
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711 child abuse cases in Shiga prefecture in '06, increase of 66 cases over previous year; (J) May 2, 2007.
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6 Tokyo children died after centers learned of abuse; (EJ) May 1, 2007; Six children in the Tokyo area died of parental abuse in the three years to fiscal 2006, despite child consultation centers aware of the victims' situation, Tokyo metropolitan government officials said. In three of the deaths, the centers failed to provide information to officials in other jurisdictions where the abusive parents had moved.
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Woman with psychological illness dies after dad abandons nursing responsibilities; (J) April 29, 2007; The corpse of the 30-year-old woman was found by her younger sister when she visited the woman's apartment on April 25. The victim depended on her father for assistance but he had not visited her for around 2 months and was arrested for abandonment.
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Man arrested for chaining 5-year-old son to bed, shooting him with air-gun; (J) April 27, 2007; The boy's father chained the child to a bed before he beat him with a metal pole and fired air-gun pellets at him. The assault lasted about an hour from around 11am on April 8. The police were alerted when neighbours heard the boy crying and called 110. The boy lived with his parents and a sibling and had been taken into temporary protective custody on 2 previous occasions, in April 2004 and Sept. 2006. Update; (J) May 19; The father is rearrested for pouring scalding water from a kettle over his son in September last year.
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Child consultation centres in Tokushima prefecture handled 236 abuse cases in fiscal '06; (J) April 27, 2007.
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Update: Man gets jail term for abuse, teenager 'treated like animal'; (J) April 25, 2007; The judge said in his ruling that the child was treated as if he were an animal and was subjected to repeated violence. Uda was sentenced to 3 years, 10 months in prison. (Update in Japanese only.)
- Update: Mom on trial for abusing teenage son commits suicide; (EJ) March 20, 2007; According to the charges against her, Kita and her 34-year-old husband abused her 14-year-old son between Aug. 17 and Sept. 7 last year because they didn't like his attitude.
- Couple arrested for abusing 14-year-old boy in Osaka; (EJ) November 25, 2006; Police arrested a 39-year-old woman and her common-law husband on suspicion of abusing her 14-year-old son. The boy told the police that he had been put on a restricted diet, adding that a dog collar was placed around his neck and that he was chained to a post whenever he was caught sneaking food.
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Woman sentenced to 8 years in prison for murder of infants; (J) April 25, 2007; According to the ruling Yamamoto drowned one of her children in a bathtub in November 1992. In June 1995 and August 2000 she killed 2 other babies by smothering them with a bathtowel. (Update in Japanese only.)
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Man arrested for abusing 11-year-old son; (J) April 24, 2007; The boy was left with a broken arm and other injuries after the 15-minute beating.
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Update: Woman who abused daughter with IV needle arrested; (J) April 23, 2007; The boyfriend was arrested on April 26. (Updates in Japanese only.)
- Couple sought over abuse of 10-year-old girl with IV needle; (EJ) April 7, 2007; Noting that the woman's 7-year-old daughter also has signs on her arm that a needle has been pierced into it, investigators said they suspect that the couple regularly abused the two daughters. In early February, the mother and her boyfriend forced the elder daughter to swallow tranquilizers and pierced the girl's arm several times with a needle intended for use with an intravenous drip under the pretext of treating her mumps. The abuse left the girl with slight injuries that took six days to heal, local police said.
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Police hold man for trampling on common-law wife's daughter; (J) April 21, 2007; Internal injuries to the 3-year-old girl are expected to take a month to heal.
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Naked new-born baby found washed up on Shizuoka beach; (J) April 21, 2007.
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Woman, daughter found floating dead in sea in tragic murder-suicide; (EJ) April 19, 2007.
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Elderly lady finds dead new-born girl near front door; (EJ) April 19, 2007; Officers said that the baby girl was naked and the umbilical cord was still attached to her.
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Hokkaido couple arrested for abuse of 4-year-old boy; (J) April 18, 2007; A gash to the face of the boy will take 2 weeks to heal. His 2-year-old sister had also been beaten. The boyfriend moved in with the woman and her two children in December last year.
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Update: Coalition approves bill to strengthen child abuse law; (EJ) April 17, 2007.
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Update: Prosecutors want 3-year prison term for man who abused daughter; (J) April 17, 2007.
- Dad fractures legs of 1-month-old baby girl; (J) March 2, 2007; At the hospital the man reported that the toddler's injuries had come about after his eldest daughter had been rough with the child. Because there were also marks on the baby's face which indicated abuse the hospital reported the incident to the police. According to the investigation, some time in mid-February the man had pushed down hard on the child's lower body causing the fractures, although it wasn't until Feb. 28 that an ambulance was called. Even though the man's wife and mother in-law lived with him they claimed they did not see the incident, nor did they even notice that the baby was suffering.
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Tokyo woman, 20, arrested for beating 8-month-old daughter into coma; (EJ) April 13, 2007; The woman, identified as Miho Nakajima, allegedly banged her baby's head against the wall and punched her face and body several times because she wouldn't stop crying, police said.
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Sapporo judge sentences man to 6 years in prison for rape of stepdaughter; (J) April 13, 2007; The man violated the 11-year-old girl twice, in late November 2004 and early January 2005.
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Corpse of new-born baby found in trash area of Buddhist temple grounds; (J) April 12, 2007; An elderly man who worked at the temple in Kanagawa came across the baby boy while cleaning. The child's body was wrapped in a cloth and it's umbilical cord was still attached.
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GSDF instructor arrested for sexual assault on step daughter; (EJ) April 12, 2007.
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Trial starts for couple in abuse deaths of 2 sisters; (J) April 11, 2007.
- Man admits to fatally abusing girlfriend's 2 young daughters; (EJ) September 24, 2006; After beating 4-year-old Seina chan unconscious the couple abandoned her to take their dog to the vet. By this stage Hina chan, 3, was already dead. The mother was later arrested for helping her boyfriend dispose of her daughters' bodies.
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Woman suspected of gassing 2 sons, self by burning briquettes in murder-suicide; (EJ) April 6, 2007; Officers rushed to the scene, broke the window of the apartment and entered the room to find a woman and two boys collapsed. They died shortly afterwards despite first aid treatment. The three are believed to be Kiyo Yamashita, 36, and her 5-year-old and 8-year-old sons who lived in the apartment. (According to the Japanese report Yamashita was separated from her husband.)
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Common law husband held for showering wife's 19-month-old son with scalding water; (J) April 5, 2007.
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Woman busted for starving mentally disabled son to death; (EJ) April 5, 2007; Kawasaki admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I was indebted and couldn't even afford to buy lunch for him. I felt a burden when I thought about my child. I knew that my son could not cook anything," she was quoted as telling investigators.
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Woman arrested for arson, attempted murder, sets house alight in attempt to kill her kids; (J) April 5, 2007; In a failed murder-suicide bid the 40-year-old woman set fire to the kitchen of the house where she and her 3 children were living. The oldest child, 19, noticed the blaze and managed to escape uninjured with her two younger brothers. The woman admitted to lighting the fire and told investigators she wanted to die because life was hard. She divorced 10 years ago and had raised the 3 children alone.
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3-year-old plunges to death from apartment block while parents play pachinko; (EJ) April 3, 2007; A housewife living in the apartment block said she had worried about the girl in the past. "I heard that her parents were regular pachinko customers. Once time I saw Saki in the elevator by herself, wearing no shoes and saying 'Where's my father?' and looking for him, which made me worried," she said.
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Child abuse: '48-hour rule' becoming more established nationwide; (J) April 2, 2007; When the Ministry of Welfare receives information from a child consultation centre that a child is being abused the aim is to respond within a 48-hour period to confirm the child's safety.
