OSAKA -- There are 74 children across Japan whose whereabouts cannot be confirmed by their local governments or schools, according to an education ministry survey.

There are numerous instances of such children being the victims of crimes. Recently, a body believed to be that of a child was found stuffed in concrete in Yao, Osaka Prefecture. If the statement of a suspect in the case is true, the remains are possibly those of an elementary school girl who disappeared many years ago.

The education ministry annually counts the number of Japanese children and students receiving compulsory education whose whereabouts have not been confirmed by their local board of education for more than one year.

According to the School Basic Survey for the 2024 academic year, there are 74 "missing children and students." Regarding these children, the education ministry has asked each education board to cooperate with child consultation centers and other organizations to confirm their whereabouts. In addition, the Children and Families Agency has requested local governments to check on the status of children who have not undergone infant health checkups and those who are not enrolled in kindergarten, or other child care facilities.

Since the body recently discovered in Yao has not yet been officially identified, it is not known whether the child was treated as a person of unknown whereabouts, but how local governments handled the situation is expected to be a focus in the future.

In a separate case in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, the relatives of a child who had not been attending elementary school admitted their involvement in the abandonment of the child's body shortly after birth. There was also a similar incident in the city of Fukuoka. In both investigations, the suspects were referred to prosecutors, but the cases were dropped due to the statute of limitations on prosecution.

(Japanese original by Kazuki Iwamoto, Yujiro Futamura and Haruno Kosaka, Osaka City News Department)