Police in Yamaguchi Prefecture are investigating the death of a newborn boy whose body was found floating in the sea off Hofu on Tuesday afternoon, and are treating the case as a possible crime.
At around 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday, a relative of a man fishing near Nishiuura in Hofu called 110 to report that a baby was floating in the water, the Hofu police station said. The body was found about 20 to 30 meters offshore, near Nishiuura fishing port.
The boy appeared to have been born shortly before his death, and his identity is not known. He had no noticeable external injuries and was not wearing any clothes when he was found. Police believe he had been dead for several days.
The station is working to establish the cause of death and the boy's identity. It has not said whether anyone has come forward with information about the child.
An unattended birth, and where parents can turn
Japan allows women who cannot raise a child to give birth anonymously at a small number of designated hospitals, under a program known as "内密出産" (naimitsu shussan), in which the mother's name is kept from the child. The scheme operates at only a handful of facilities, and its rules vary by institution.
The health ministry has also promoted a system of confidential consultations at local health centers for women with unplanned pregnancies, and a national hotline for pregnancy worries, operated around the clock, takes calls from women who say they have no one to talk to.
Whether any of those routes was available to the boy's mother, or whether she sought help, is not known. Police have not said whether they have identified a suspect or a person of interest.