Record 37,000 children suspected to have suffered abuse in Japan

Anyone that abuses another is repugnant. When someone abuses a child, the depth of repugnance increases.

Instead of abusing your child, contact me. I probably won't "win," but I'll give you more of a run for your money than a child.

Crazy thing is.... right now the number of children in Japan is at a record low as proportionate to the overall population. What this really means is, and it has been said before, Japan is finally addressing this problem. Japan and the Japanese are opening up their closets and airing the dirty domestic laundry. The numbers have only increased because more kids and more concerned people are reporting them. We may see more kids acting up on trains but I'll take that over a bunch of kids that have been quietly beaten into submission.

And the government is doing what?

Child abuse has been increasing every year for a decade. The increase in cases does not support the theory of it just bring a matter of more cases reported. The number of children being born also dramatically decreased over the same period. Less kids and more abuse doesn’t paint a pretty picture for Japanese society.

Child abuse happens because parents or guardians cannot cope with stress in their own lives, because they were abused themselves as children, because of unrealistic expectations, lack of support, alcohol abuse and emotional disorders within the parents themselves. Most of those are rife within Japanese society.

And the government is doing what?

Raising consumption tax from 8 to 10%.

Tip of the iceberg.

These numbers are just what are reported, so and from experience with statistics from the government, are kind of hard to believe.

Meaning, and I hope to god I am wrong, that this is STILL being under reported, which is scary to consider.

Not included here are the number of kids abused by teachers btw.

@chip star

You'll be ok mate. A few of us here will be right beside you.

The story of little Yua disgusted me. The thought of her begging the people she should trust most in her life were the ones abusing her.

It makes me, a big hulking loaf of a dude....weep.

RIP all you little ones.

Society for old people no longer safe for children

@Chip Star - not sure why your post is downvoted (but there is no logic to up and down votes as no rationale is given for their use). I agree with you and will also volunteer. I would happily take a few licks in place of a child. I guess the downvoters would rather it be the child that gets the abuse.

Feel the same way as you do

I’m afraid some of the real cases have gone unnoticed, while there also is fake reporting, and that’s very unfortunate. I was told by mom friends, that a family with kids , when moving to a new apartment, usually checks the neighbors. There are some people who just hate kids, and when the kids get noisy, those neighbors call the social services just out of spite. They would say that there are kids screaming or crying, there are sounds of banging, and would do that so many times, that the family would be forced to move out.

Another problem, about which there is even a book by a neurosurgeon, is that some babies and very young, still clumsy kids would bang their heads by accident, and the doctors, depending on their mood, would call social workers , even if there are witnesses claiming that there’s no abuse, just an accident. The author, a doctor himself, gives advice what to do in such case.

On the other hand, some people are simply afraid. I know a mom, whose child’s best friend is abused by her stepdad ( that’s according to this mom) but as the stepdad is yakuza, she is simply scared, and tries to keep the children from seeing each other. See no evil, you know. Honestly, I understand her.

Normally, I oppose the use of capital punishment worldwide, but in the case of what happened to poor little Yua, I WILL make an exception for her heartless parents!

And believe me, there is a special place in Hell for people like the Funatos!

I can't even bear to look at Yuachans picture, let alone read the article. Knowing how she was beaten and tortured to death, all the while begging forgiveness and promising to be better. I'm crying as I write this. I hope that b@stard gets what he deserves, and Yuachan spends eternity in bliss.

 I hope that b@stard gets what he deserves, and Yuachan spends eternity in bliss

and I truly hope that the judge makes this a model case and gives a long sentence to show abusive parents of their possible future if they continue what they are doing. I just have a feeling many of us will be disappointed as usual because sentences are always light here with crimes against children.

There’s a special place in hell for those that abuse children. Imagine being born into these houses of pain? Very sad.

the government compiled emergency measures to tackle child abuse, including a plan to employ an additional 2,000 child welfare staff nationwide by fiscal 2022, up from the 3,253 employed as of April last year.

Or, the government can make the whole foster/adoption process a lot better and easier by severing all ties between the abused child and their parent, thus making it easier to place the child in loving homes. That is if the child was abused by the parent. In japan, the parent still has all control over the child, EVEN AFTER placing the child in one of those centers for abused children. At anytime the parent can take the child back under the pretenses of "I'm ok to take care of my child!" and at the drop of a hat, the abuse continues until its too late for the child. Those are the children you read about on this site. I know this because I deal with some of these facilities and spoke with staff and the abused children.

I was shocked to hear the news and Japanese government has to deal with these incidents.

If you work in Japanese school, you will see abuse every day.

These kids are so cute and don't deserve this kind of abuse. What they need instead is constant communication and reinforcement that they are loved and of value. They are human beings with their own personalities and feelings.

Different case, but slightly related - I would be really shocked at the amount of animal (pet) abuse that also goes on in Japan, if those figures ever saw light.

A lot of Japanese just cannot comprehend when they are routinely abusing; ignoring a child's need to be heard, caging animals every day/night. While it may be softer type of abuse on the surface, emotional abuse can be just as damaging in the long term. Both humans and animals are social animals, we need contact and the freedom to express ourselves, along with food and water etc.

Sadly no one in Japan, newborns to the elderly, is safe from societal ijime!

I think one of the big reasons for this abuse is young women not planning to have kids, HAVING them & being utterly ill-equipped for the task, usually not married, or she does marry the idiot who fathered the child......

Basically you end up with newborns in situations where neither parent wanted to be a parent in the first place....single parents, usually moms, step fathers, new boy friends etc...a real MESS of a home life, far too many situations like this & they lead to tragedy

@Michael Jackson

Same. It is heart-breaking.

When politicians stuff up the economy, the stuff up family life. This is proof

It is unfortunate that the children are abused even in countries like Japan. No one could believe this. Perhaps, it is the dismantling of family system,destruction of family value systems and disintegrating joint family system.

It is unforgivable, it is criminal. Is Japan still civilized as it was 2000 years ago ? Obviously not. Abe govt must immediately address the problem by allocating money for national defense system against child abuse.

AgentX - Different case, but slightly related - I would be really shocked at the amount of animal (pet) abuse that also goes on in Japan,

Here is is an example of this I saw this evening walking hone from the station in the rain. A young woman was carrying her little ‘yap yap’ dog while her 2-3 year old child was struggling to keep up with her while she hastily got her little mutt home before it got wet. Pets get treated much better than kids. You waychnpeople talking to their pets as if they were humans and they talk they are best friends. You watch people talking to their kids and they treat them like they are just scummy burden place on them. I am not exaggerating. I’m sure anybody who understands Japanese and takes the time to observe will see the same scenario.

If scolding is regarded as psychological abuse, how can you discipline little kids? Ridiculous.

Takeshi Hasegawa - If scolding is regarded as psychological abuse, how can you discipline little kids? Ridiculous.

Sorry Takeshi, it is your statement that is ridiculous. Scolding a child does not include verbal abuse, which is child abuse. Perhaps your definition of scolding is quite different to the real meaning. Scolding a child means telling the child to decist. It does not mean screaming at a kid and calling them stupid. It’s all about education. Most parents abuse their kids for not acting like an adult expects them to act. I read an article the other day stating that a four year old child’s mind functions at genius level because of the amount of new information they process and their high level of perception. This means, they are actually more intelligent than their stupid parents who expect them to think as they do. There is your reason why scolding is child abuse.

Of the 37,113 total minors affected, roughly 70 percent, or 26,415, were suspected of having been subject to psychological abuse, including 16,869 who had personally witnessed domestic violence.

A total of 6,792 victims were suspected to have suffered physical abuse, 3,795 neglect, and 111 were thought to have been raped or forced into some other form of violent sexual activity, the report showed

Taking the figures in the article at face value

37,000 affected

26,000 suspected to be subject to something deemed psychological abuse

6700 suspected to be subject to something deemed physical abuse

I use "deemed" because I bet more than 7000 kids get smacked about and more than 26,000 get verbally bullied/gaslighted/excessively disciplined/whatever

My main point in dragging the numbers up is to highlight that the authorities think psychological abuse is four times as common. Yua chan was beaten, but a psychologically abused child would be more representative of what the authorities think is happening. To be honest, I suspect that psychological abuse actually is more common, but wonder where the respective lines are drawn. Presumably it does not include things like habitual sleep deprivation or forcing kids to eat food they don't like, or the numbers would be in the hundreds of thousands.

In Japan, more so than in other countries, it is socially and culturally acceptable to abuse and kill your own children. There is always some pathetic and innocuous reason but there is no excuse for evil. Chip Star join forces with me, I promise you we will win. We need more people in the world like you. Alfie Noakes, do not ever under any circumstances makes excuses for abusing a child. You sir, are condoning child abuse and are part of the problem.

“Child pornography” is now more correctly referred to as child abuse material.

‘Child abuse material is distinct from other forms of pornography because there’s no way that the subject can give consent.

Flippantly referring to it as “child porn” makes Japan Today look dated.