Yua Funato is seen in this image taken from the Facebook page of her mother Yuri Funato. Photo: Facebook
crime

Consultation centers in Japan handled record 130,000 child abuse cases in FY2017

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17 Comments
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And it is not just in the home..... schools and sports clubs need to be included.

13 ( +13 / -0 )

The growing number is certainly worrying, but I wonder whether part of it is an increase in people's willingness to actually report such cases to the authorities. Japan is notorious for considering serious acts of violence or etc. as "private domestic issues" when they happen within a family, causing people to not report them to authorities. That's a dangerous problem as well, and I hope it's something that can change.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

The photo of that girl always breaks my heart.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

That’s nearly a 10% increase in a year. You cannot claim it is just because more cases are being reported. The fact is, child abuse is on the rise in Japan. I’ve lived here for many years and have always said, “There’s Just not enough love in Japan.” Children are a treasure, not a burden to be abused.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

One thing I read a lot lately on here is abuse on infants. I can't speak for all towns in Japan but my town "required" a class for expecting parents. In the class, we learned about things like changing diapers, suggestions on why a baby is crying and the growth process. At the end, we formed groups with the other parents and talked about what we learned and our experiences with pregnancy. We made friends with other parents and often chatted about child rearing. Whenever we have small problems with the children, we instantly know that we are on the same boat as many other parents so don't easily get stressed out. People need to know before having children the steps on raising children.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

blvtzpk - Same here.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

It is sad to say, that It is possible that many cases of child abuse go unreported. Any suspicion should confidently be reported.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

That picture of Yua-chan breaks my heart every time I see it.

She clearly felt happiness at some point. Then her evil parents took it away and let her die believing she was in some way to blame.

I hope against hope that her parents live long lives, but never see daylight again.

For once, Japan, can we see some Justice?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

That poor poor little girl may she RIP. I would commit crimes if I crossed paths with her parents. Unbelievable evil!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Although child abuse reports included less serious cases such as quarrels between parents, serious cases continued to occur,

Including unnecessary bits and pieces of information like this put subconscious thoughts into the readers minds that the problem is not as serious as it sounds.

"Continued to occur"? please do not belittle the issue, there is a hell of a lot more than what is being reported because the government does not want to "scare" the people out of their bubble!

The article is focusing on domestic abuse and violence towards children, but what about the numbers of kids that get abused in schools, by bullies, by their teachers? Add those numbers in and a more horrific picture and pattern of abuse and violence gets drawn and that should shock everyone into action!

People complain when the authorities are intrusive, but no one should be complaining when it comes to the health, welfare, and safety of our children!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Kidz are money for schools.

Teachers rarely report anything even if they suspect it compared with other places I’ve lived in.

I don’t think you can tell that abuse is “on the rise” with these statistics.

Are you trying to tell me that we treated people better 100 years ago? I doubt it!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

More smoke and mirrors! It’s exceedingly unlikely that the incidence of child abuse cases is growing at a double digit rate. I’d wager that it has more to do with a realization that the declining birth rate is connected with perceptions about the value of kids. If so, kudos for the unusual display of lateral thinking. The flip side of this is that it lends support to those who harbor suspicions that the authorities are not averse to fudging a whole range of statistical measurements that underpin claims to Japan’s supposedly superior ways.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Shame Japan Shame..... do something about it!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Absolutely staggering.

When will Japan wake up and do something more proactive about this issue?

the punishments for abusers are nowhere near severe enough. They know their countries impotent courts won't deal out any lasting punishments. Sentence a few to life in prison or better yet the death penalty as a deterrent. It seems being a good parent for the sake of your kids isn't motivation enough for these monsters. It's about time an example was made

1 ( +7 / -6 )

"In March this year, Yua Funato, 5, died in Tokyo after being abused and neglected by her parents despite her desperate pleas for them to stop mistreating her."

From The Japan Times:

” ‘Please forgive me forgive me,’ ‘I promise I will never ever do it again,’ ” a senior officer from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said at a news conference, his voice trembling as he read the messages written by the preschool girl in hiragana characters in the notebook.

According to the officer, Yua was forced by her parents to wake up at around 4 a.m. every day to measure her weight and practice writing hiragana. Her parents restricted her diet so their daughter could be as slim as a fashion model.

In the notebook, she wrote her weight almost every day as well as messages begging her parents for forgiveness.

“I promise I will try to be better tomorrow than today, without being told by Daddy and Mommy,” another message read."

This is just so heart-breaking. The parents were re-arrested June 6, but I don't know if they are still in custody or walking the streets again.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

At least it's becoming an issue rather than ignored, it was only a generation ago that leaving the elderly or a unwanted child in the mountains to die was OK.. Two generations ago pawn shops had wife's and children in cages on the street for sale. It's a slow process but at least the awarenes of despicable behavior is creeping into the social norm.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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