TOKYO -- A social welfare corporation based in the capital's Sumida Ward announced on March 31 the launch of a "baby hatch" at one of its hospital to anonymously accept infants whose parents are unable to raise them, marking the second such initiative operated by a medical institution in Japan.

According to the San-ikukai social welfare corporation, the "Inochi no Basuketto" (basket of life) hatch was set up at the 199-bed San-ikukai Hospital in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, and the facility will accept infants up to 4 weeks old. This is the second baby hatch operated by a hospital in Japan, following the "Konotori no Yurigago" (stork's cradle) hatch established by Jikei Hospital in the city of Kumamoto in 2007.

San-ikukai also announced that on the same day it would begin the "confidential birth" program, in which women with unplanned pregnancies give birth after only revealing their identities to hospital staff. Until now, Jikei Hospital has also been the only one in Japan to offer this program.

At the press conference, the social welfare corporation's executive director Motonobu Nakamura said, "Considering the reality of abandonment cases, there is a rising need to protect mothers and children. We would like to start the baby hatch as a last resort to protect the lives of babies in the hope that society will become a place where such efforts will not be necessary in the future."

Founded in 1918, San-ikukai operates medical and welfare facilities, as well as day care centers in Tokyo, Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures. It launched the "project to protect babies' lives," offering anonymous consultations related to pregnancy since July 2024.

(Japanese original by Shunsuke Yamashita, Tokyo City News Group, and Minori Nagaya, Tokyo Bureau)