Police are investigating whether a newborn boy whose body was found in the sea off Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Tuesday was killed before being abandoned, NHK reported. Officers are working from the condition of the body, the broadcaster said.
The body was found in the afternoon of November 3 in the water near Nishiuragyoko port in Hofu. Police have not said how long the infant had been in the water or whether anyone has been identified in connection with the death.
The case is one of a series in which newborns are left without anyone to care for them, a problem that has drawn attention to gaps in anonymous birth services and counselling for women who cannot raise a child. Japan allows 内密出産 (naimitsu shussan), or confidential births, at a small number of designated hospitals, where a mother can give birth without her identity being recorded on the family register. Access remains limited, and counselling services for women who give birth alone are uneven across the country.
Police have not said whether the mother in the Hofu case has been found or what led to the infant being left near the port. NHK did not report any further details of the investigation.