Japan’s shame as ‘shocking’ new child abuse figures point to deadly trend

Government’s latest statistics show that children are increasingly bearing the brunt of violence within society

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The Kanagawa-based Child Maltreatment Prevention Centre is calling for a radical rethink of child care services in Japan, including a revamp of the system of social workers employed by local authorities. File photo: Shutterstock

Published: 3:26pm, 9 Oct 2016Updated: 11:03pm, 9 Oct 2016

Sakura Kuroda was just five months old when her mother held her under the water of the bath in their home in the town of Toyoake, central Japan, until she was dead. Tomomi Kuroda then put her daughter’s body in the family car and drove to her father’s home. Shortly after 5am on September 12, police received a call from Kuroda’s elderly father to say that the child was dead.

Kuroda, 39, admitted that she had killed her daughter and police quoted her as saying she was tired from caring for the baby and two older children. She added she had also planned to kill herself because she could not bear to leave her daughter alone but gave no reason for not going through with her plan.

Sakura Kuroda’s tale is tragic but barely rated a mention in the national media because the horrific abuse meted out to children is becoming such regular fare. It is all the more shocking in a nation that has traditionally prided itself on caring for all members of society – particularly the very young and the very old. But the government’s latest statistics show that children are increasingly bearing the brunt of violence within society.

A survey released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on October 4 showed that 27 children under 12 months old were killed by their parents in fiscal 2014, which ended on April 1. Of that total, 15 died of abuse within 24 hours of being born.

In total, 71 children under the age of 18 died at the hands of their parents during the year. The deaths of the 27 infants less than a year old represented 61 per cent of the total, the first time babies have accounted for more than 60 per cent of the total child victims of fatal abuse.

The remaining 44 children died of abuse, neglect or in murder-suicide cases, up eight from the previous year.