KANAGAWA —

Police said Wednesday the remains of a newborn baby were found in a river in Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture.

According to police, a woman contacted emergency services after noticing what appeared to be a baby floating in the Shimotsuruma River at around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, TBS reported. Police arrived at the scene to discover the body of a newborn baby boy that had apparently been put into the river shortly after birth.

Police believe the body had been in the water for around a month. Investigators say they are currently interviewing local residents in an attempt to uncover further information about the mother, TBS reported.

Japan Today

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  CrazyJoe at Aug. 02, 2012 - 07:35AM JST

  What a terrible thing to do! Whatever the reason, this will not be tolerated.

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  sensei258 at Aug. 02, 2012 - 07:39AM JST

  So very very sad. But, not more sad than when I witnessed a young mother crying "I want my baby, I want my baby" as she was led by her boyfriend into the operating room to terminate her pregnancy.

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  my2sense at Aug. 02, 2012 - 07:55AM JST

  Yamato and no shock there. Went thru that station around 6AM to Yokohama years ago and it was me in a suit and 200 hostesses and working girls on the platform. I'm just saying.

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  Matthew Simon at Aug. 02, 2012 - 07:59AM JST

  Now they get to live the rest of their life with that on their conscience, If they have any.

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  Mirai Hayashi at Aug. 02, 2012 - 08:00AM JST

  What a way to come into the world...mother should be found and hung

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  Disillusioned at Aug. 02, 2012 - 08:14AM JST

  Cold! Just chillingly cold! What sort of sicko would toss a newborn into the river? Hope they find this monster and punish her/him, but I know, even if they do find the party responsible it will be an apology and a suspended sentence. It is pre-meditated murder and should carry the death sentence.

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  Speed at Aug. 02, 2012 - 08:47AM JST

  B-A-B-Y H-A-T-C-H for mothers' with a conscious. A bit of money and time from Kanagawa but it's better than handing down a death sentence.

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  MrsT1 at Aug. 02, 2012 - 09:07AM JST

  Sooo sad and I agree with the baby hatch idea. But adoption in Japan is not so popular... I've had so many Japanese friends/family tell me they would never adopt a baby that was given up/parents unknown because "who knows what weird flaws that person had and passed onto the child"? Bizarre logic. Maybe the state doesn't want to care for these unwanted babies either...

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  Probie at Aug. 02, 2012 - 09:10AM JST

  police believe the body had been in the water for around a month.

  Wait wait wait. A body in the water, for a month, in this weather, and the witness called because it looked like a baby? Surely it would be far beyond looking like a baby if it has been in there for a month?

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  ExportExpert at Aug. 02, 2012 - 09:24AM JST

  What a terrible thing to do!

  And what a terribly grisley find, the mother and the father must be found and punished and then educated and strerilised.

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  m0nkeyhand at Aug. 02, 2012 - 09:29AM JST

  god what a terrible thing to do! of all the places to put it! i swim in these rivers.....

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  gogogo at Aug. 02, 2012 - 09:37AM JST

  Sad, I wish they had gone to the baby catch

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  hobart_mark at Aug. 02, 2012 - 09:57AM JST

  There are somethings in this world I would rather not know aobut. This is one of them.

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  Mirai Hayashi at Aug. 02, 2012 - 10:00AM JST

  @Probie

  Good point. A river is a moving body of water so the body should have been flushed out into the ocean within days, or consumed by animals. There is no way a dead body can e floating in a river for a month.

  Perhaps JT got it wrong and meant to say that the baby had been dead for a month....

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  Mirai Hayashi at Aug. 02, 2012 - 10:18AM JST

  Read a few other Japanese news sites. None of them say that the police stated that the baby was in the water for a month. Addtionally, contrary to the JT's

  statement apparently been put into the river shortly after birth

  other sites are reporting that the baby had been dead for some period of time, but nothing about when it was blased in the river.

  Other facts:

  1. the baby was a newborn with umbilical cord still attached
  2. he was a boy
  3. he was found by 2 passer-bys, man waking his dog, and a woman. The woman reported it to police.
  4. was found in Sakai river in Yamato

  http://www.tvk-kaihouku.jp/news_wall/2012/07/31/post-157.html

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  maitai62 at Aug. 02, 2012 - 12:28PM JST

  Very sad indeed...I'm sure there are lot of prospective parents who can't have children who would adopt babies like these. Given the low birth rate in Japan, does government or non-profits have any adoption programs to help out mothers like this? If not, they should. RIP little one...

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  FightingViking at Aug. 02, 2012 - 01:02PM JST

  ...I'm sure there are lot of prospective parents who can't have children who would adopt babies like these.

  Unfortunately not... Japan does not like either "mental illness" or "adopting babies"

  As MrsT1 says :

  I've had so many Japanese friends/family tell me they would never adopt a baby that was given up/parents unknown because "who knows what weird flaws that person had and passed onto the child"?

  Unfortunately, this is very true.

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  maitai62 at Aug. 02, 2012 - 01:24PM JST

  @ Fighting Viking

  Thanks for the info. What a shame...This has to change...

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  TSRnow at Aug. 02, 2012 - 02:37PM JST

  This is so sad. RIP little one.

  I don't know why there is nothing being done in the Kanto area. I agree to a baby hatch. Or any kind of facility that could take care of unwanted children. (I wish there was a better word!!)

  My belief is that the reason why Japanese are reluctant to adopt is because there is the mentality of blood is thicker than water. Flaws, DNA status or whatever is second to that. They need to keep the line of blood so whatever the situation, people desparate to have babies will put millions on in vitro fertilization rather than adopting a stranger's child. I have seen some older couples just give up having children after all their trouble because they wanted "their" child.

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  Aída Posadas at Aug. 03, 2012 - 02:23AM JST

  We could think that is better not to be born at all, instead of ending up un-adopted (and unloved)... But to be born and die on a river, all alone and suffering!! ... that's just not decent.

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  Aída Posadas at Aug. 03, 2012 - 02:25AM JST

  Also! What's wrong with the system?!? Japanese people do not like to adopt, but they won't allow foreigners to adopt japanese children... -_- so so sad...

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  ebonyninja at Aug. 03, 2012 - 11:02PM JST

  ****Birth Control is needed!!

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  Cynthia at Aug. 04, 2012 - 12:01AM JST

  That is so sad. I hope that the mother and father of this child are prosecuted. Especially if they put him there because they "just didn't want him" or "couldn't take care of him". Even then, there are places to you can leave your child so that he/she may have a fighting chance. Ugh, that is just stupid.

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  Elbuda Mexicano at Aug. 04, 2012 - 07:22AM JST

  @My2sense, yes, the last time I checked out Yamato in Kanagawa, is it a nasty, dirty place, full of yakuza, right outside of Atsugi Navy base, so since the end of the war, used to be a place for bars, whores etc..for the GIs and it still is but now more for the local Japanese since the yen is way too expensive against the USD, etc..but yes, so horrible stupid young Japanese girls whoring around, drunk, no idea who got them pregnant, so just toss a baby into a river and let it die?? Very, very sick! RIP poor little baby out in crappy Yamato.

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  maitai62 at Aug. 04, 2012 - 09:45AM JST

  "Also! What's wrong with the system?!? Japanese people do not like to adopt, but they won't allow foreigners to adopt japanese children... -_- so so sad..."

  Whaaaat?! Is this true? Many adoptive parents here in the US (Hawaii) are adopting babies from China. I'm sure if babies from Japan were available, they would be readily adopted too.