Show notes
TW - CA, child abandonment, infanticide, stillbirth, and other troubling topics. Viewer discretion is advised.After reading Ryu Murakami’s novel Coin Locker Babies, we wanted to learn more about this phenomenon and speak about recent cases of children left in lockers, other well-known cases of child abandonment, and find out a bit more about what options people have, like foster care and adoption. Please be respectful in the comments. Got questions or want to share your story? Send us an email at [email protected] - @franklinthewomanCheyenne - @lostwithlowWords mentioned/useful words間引き mabiki - thinning out, pruning, also Edo period word for infanticide of second or third sons遊郭 yuukaku - red light/entertainment districtReferences/sources:Child abuse and neglect in Japan: Coin-operated-locker babieshttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0145213494001087Editorial: Japan needs legal protections, support for confidential births, baby hatcheshttps://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250416/p2a/00m/0op/004000c#:~:text=Jikei%20Hospital%20first%20introduced%20Japan's,maternal%20and%20child%20support%20approaches.Japan's only 'baby hatch' sees record high inquiries 'due to pandemic'https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20201128/p2a/00m/0na/005000cSouthwest Japan hospital shelters woman seeking to give birth without family knowledgehttps://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20211029/p2a/00m/0na/045000c#:~:text=Since%202007%2C%20Jikei%20Hospital%20has,was%20going%20to%20give%20birth.Mother arrested for leaving baby's body in locker - 26 September 2018https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/7579Baby’s body found in shopping center locker - June 6, 2021https://japantoday.com/category/crime/baby%E2%80%99s-body-found-in-shopping-center-locker?comment-order=popularJapan Children Support Association https://npojcsa.com/en/index.htmlInfanticide in Japan: Sign of the Times? - NYT 1973https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/08/archives/infanticide-in-japan-sign-of-the-times-daughters-spared.html33-year-old woman arrested in Osaka for abandoning newborn baby's body in coin lockerhttps://www.asahi.com/articles/ASR3N3R59R3NPTIL004.htmlTime stamps00:00 TW - whole episode00:43 life updates, books 6:32 coin locker babies10:08 recent cases 17:32 similar cases through the ages20:21 orphanages, foster care, adoption overview23:55 does Japan have baby hatches?29:27 movies based on abandonment cases38:20 what options are there