Newborn girl found in bag near highway in Saitama

What a way to give Xmas gifts.

Sad story but at least the mother didn't do what we normally see in these cases here in Japan of somehow killing the baby by neglect. I hope they name her Noel.

Find the mother and burn her!

What kind of person would do this crap? Did the "father" just do a drive by and drop the poor girl from the window?

Times like this you wish you had a window into someone soul to see how dark it can be.

This is a good example of negligence. This poor baby deserves better.

Is there a way to stay current with this story? I hope the editors run a follow-up article that lets us know how we can be of help. Seriously. Merry Christmas.

I hope she recovers fully, and finds a loving home to grow up in, and never learns how she came into this world, on Christmas day.

If I found that baby I would adopt it....poor thing....

At least the baby is alive and the charge is, abandoning a baby and not abandoning a corpse.

Shocking

All I hope is for the baby to live a better life than she would with the soulless parents. Hope she finds a loving and caring family.

Hard to fathom that someone unwell enough, inmature enough, or un-educated enough not to realize that a baby was coming and that there are ways to deal with that, wouldn't have someone, a guardian or caretaker around to help them understand and to see that the infant ended up somewhere likely to be found, as opposed to in the bushes on the side of a road.

Someone went to the trouble of wrapping it in a towel. Why such a place? Perhaps there need to be more stories and comic books about babies left on doorsteps. (Ring the bell and hide around the corner to make sure someone takes it in,...)

Well, at least she wrapped it in a towel, so a tiny spark of humanity was left. Last time I remember something like this happened, they had dropped it on the road...

Still, how hard can it be to find a baby hatch, or at least a warm entrance to a building.

I think in very sad situation or fear of society reaction lead mother to do this things. I wish her mother come forward and bravely accept child, its also painful for a mother to leave child like this but it has great share of our society, sex out of marriage bond, or any other reason.

we need more responsible parents, ,not just more children

Deplorable !!! How can someone have such a disregard for life??? My partner and I have been trying for a number of years without success and this gift of life that woman so callously tried to dispose of . That should be a attempted murder sentence applied to her if they catch her.

I hope the little girl moves into a better position in the start of her life

Give me the baby! Ill adopt her

How about they get AKB48 to do a contraception campaign? They have them campaigning for everything else!

great that the litle girl is alive ,, hope the mum is ok ,, he who hasent sinned throw the first stone

The police should be looking to find the mother, help the mother and then go from there. Announcing they want to charge her, not help her will make her run further. Very sad.

Thank you Eugene Ryan. We should not judge. Try walking in the mother's shoes for a day. I don't know any woman who would have willingly done this. Perhaps she was afraid of her parents or her husband. I send Love and comfort to her and to her precious new baby.

It is very sad that these kinds of things are still going on all over Japan. When will Japan take this kinds of situation serious and start to educate their pupils on the importance of life. As it seems, or as it looks like, many Japanese people seem to think that life is nothing but a game. Many of them seem to have no consideration on how fragile and how important life is. I pray that the person that did this will be found and be reprimanded seriously for her actions.

I don't care what the parents have been through, you don't leave your newborn on the side of the road!

The poor helpless baby could have been killed, died from exposure/starvation/thirst, or taken by some maniac...

Amazing she's still alive...what a way to come into the world. I hope they find the monster of a mother and put her away for a long time for not just abandonment, but attempted murder as well

Good she was found and living. Now, will they name her Santa, Meri , or Kurisumasu ?

and never learns how she came into this world, on Christmas day.

I think she will know, and she will want to know. I would. Her mother is probably not in mental condition to raise her, but I hope she can be found and she formally gives the baby for adoption.

Saitama; -But even miracles happen in Saitama and I am now expecting a third. Don't let me down Saitama.

It is a miracle that the girl was found alive. I hope for her recovery and good future life and family.

What a rough start for this little angel. Nevertheless life is a precious gift so, in a way, she is a lucky one. The truth is, I don't want to read or hear about things like this happening anymore. I feel my heart going sick. I wish I was in the economic position to adopt one of these babies, but even if I was, I understand the Japanese adoption system tries it's best to not give any kids on adoption by it's impossible requirements.

Thank god she was found and is being treated. I'm torn about the police looking for the person who dumped her -- on the one hand I want them to find him/her and make them suffer, but knowing that they would likely try and put the baby back with them, I say leave them alone and focus on the child. Here's hoping the rest of her life is better than its start. Give the little dear to parents who will treat her well, and let next Christmas be more of a miracle.

Here in the US, many cities and states have laws which allow parents to take newborns to a safe place and hand the baby to a staff member. Under these laws, safe places include hospitals, emergency care facilities, police stations and staffed fire stations. The entire process is legal, completely private and parents cannot be prosecuted for child abandonment.. Can newborns be dropped of at safe places in Japan, without fear of criminal charges?

Can newborns be dropped of at safe places in Japan, without fear of criminal charges?

Yes, easily. She could have gone to the hospital and told them she didn't not want to register the child, so her name never appears in documents. Social services take such babies for adoption . Seriously, the mother had issues, like mental ones, as who wants to deliver like that ? She might be a teenager that was hiding to family,or even to herself (pregnancy denial).

Find the mother and burn her!

on the one hand I want them to find him/her and make them suffer,

How can you say that when you have no idea of the full circumstances? Anyway, I'm not too sure what good burning and inflicting suffering on the mother (or whoever is responsible) will do to enhance the situation. The mother involved could have any number of problems. It might have been some poor young kid who couldn't discuss the matter with anyone and just panicked. It is also possible to be in late pregnancy and not be physically obvious.

Find the mother and burn her!

How can you say that when you have no idea of the full circumstances ?

How can you under any circumstances say this is an exceptable way to take care of a problem?

I get -8 for saying what she did was unexceptable and yet "I hope they find the monster of a mother and put her away for a long time for not just abandonment, but attempted murder as well" get a thumbs up?

"he who hasent sinned throw the first stone" Kinda not in the same ball park as stealing candy as a kid now is it?

This baby does deserve a much better life and by the actions of the mother the childs life has just taken a huge step up "after" being found. In Calgary a abandoned mom (from the Canadian father who was a scumbag) left in the shadows let her little one of a few months old starve to death as she didn't know where to turn and obviously had a mental health issue (possibly triggered by postpartum depression a very destructive problem)....even a very "social" country has lots of safety nets but if you don't know how to leap into the net you (or your (unborn)child) will never get help... I would suspect a terrified and extremely naive teen is the mom....

Yes, life is precious. It seems to have an expiry date, though. How many older people live alone, no phone calls, no visits, no help.

I'm glad the baby was taken in safely. This could have been an infinitely more tragic story than it already is; she could easily have died of exposure. I hope she gets a better life than the one she started with.

I might be sticking my neck out, but I hope the mother is safe as well. I don't know her circumstances: it could be a desperate and outcast teenager; it could be someone homeless and/or mentally handicapped; it could be an extreme case of post-partum depression. In any case, one has to be incredibly desperate and troubled to abandon a baby in a bush, and if she is living on the streets, she's in danger too.

It's disturbing to see that so many can look negatively (-4...-8) at a comments made about this individual needing to be punished. Like Cos / Okinawamike stated there was another legal and safe way for this child to be given up and not handled like trash . What kind of message are we teaching people if they aren't punished for such a reckless act ? This baby has rights , this baby has the right to not be abused, the right to live . If you try to stab someone you can end up with a attempted murder charge ..the mother of this child should be caught and prosecuted. We have many people out there screaming against abortion ...and the right for a fetus or child to live ..what's this ??? She had the child and disposed of her ...only a few people on here agree with punishing her ...sad.

Japanese rarely adopt, this poor little girl will most likely spend her life in institutions, knowing her mother threw her away.

Even a "distressed teen" should have had the sense to leave the baby somewhere safer, even if they didn't have the ability to sort out an adoption. The "mother" must be totally lacking in even basic human decency, and if they do find her, she should be punished for what was a heartless act of child abuse.

Homeschooler is sadly right, well, the first part anyway. Not sure about the punishment. We don't even know if it was the mother or boyfriend or mother's mother or who threw the baby away.

Children in orphanages here have no rights and if they cannot prove where and when they were born cannot get a proper job or even get married, I have been told. A hidden area in Japan like something from the dark ages. This child needs foster parents, but the system is not very supportive or active apparently.

I never know this thing also happen in Japan. Well, now it becoming global issue.

Have a safehouse for dropping unwanted babies off with anonimity...

good news that baby is alive, i want that baby ....

I heard that in Japan the adoption is difficult even for its citizens, and you kind of become a property of the goverment until you become an adult, when you have to take care of yourself, missing the chance of getting lovely parents. I feel sorry for her, but it's better to have a difficult future than nothing. Wish her luck.

When I was in Los Angeles on a shuccho, I saw a sign advising parents of unwanted babies to turn them in at any fire station - NO questions asked.

That is the humaine thing to do. Japan is different. People just don't want children not related by blood.

Usually the end of these stories are sad, in this case it turned out happily for the baby! :-)

I went to a Christmas party one year at an orphanage run by the sisters of a particular church in this city here in Japan. They were all ages and had bright and shining eyes, telling me that they were innocent and eager and enjoying life. I think they were some of the lucky ones, if I could believe some of the horror stories the sisters told me.