Miyuki Ishikawa
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| Miyuki Ishikawa | |
|---|---|
 Miyuki Ishikawa was surrounded by police officers at the Waseda police station |
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| Background information | |
| Alias(es): | Oni-Sanba (demon-midwife) |
| Born: | 1897 Miyazaki, Japan |
| Died: | Unknown |
| Penalty: | 4 years in prison |
| Killings | |
| Number of victims: | 85-169 |
| Span of killings: | April 1944 through January 1948 |
| Country: | Japan |
| State(s): | Tokyo |
| Date apprehended: | January 15, 1948 |
Miyuki Ishikawa (石川 ミユキ Ishikawa Miyuki?, 1897 - ?) was a Japanese midwife who is believed to have murdered many infants with the aid of several accomplices throughout the 1940s. Estimates of her victims range from 85 to 169, and the general estimate is 103.[1] When she was finally apprehended, the sentence she received was remarkably light because of Japanese situation of those days, considering that Miyuki's actions resulted in a death toll so high that it remains unrivalled by any other serial killer in Japan. A report of "Children's Rainbow Center" referred the incident as "unbelievable and unbearable."[2]
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[edit] Early life
Ishikawa was born in Miyazaki, and graduated from the University of Tokyo. She later married Takeshi Ishikawa. The relationship did not produce any children.
She worked as a hospital director in the Kotobuki maternity hospital (寿産院 Kotobuki San-in?). She was considered to be a midwife, despite the fact that no form of midwifery licence existed at that time in Japan.
[edit] Infanticide of at least 103 newborns
In the 1940s, there were many babies in her maternity hospital, and Miyuki Ishikawa found herself facing what she perceived to be something of a quandary. The parents of many of these infants were poor and unable to rear their children without financial struggle, and she herself was unable to help the infants because of a lack of social and charitable services.
In order to solve this dilemma, Ishikawa chose to neglect numerous infants, many of whom died as a direct result of this abuse. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it is estimated that she killed at least 103 babies.[1][3][4] Almost all of the other midwives employed by the Kotobuki maternity hospital were disgusted by this practice and resigned from their positions.
Later she also attempted to garner payment for these murders. She and her husband Takeshi solicited large sums of money from the parents, claiming that it would be less than the actual expense of raising these unwanted children. A doctor, Shiro Nakayama, was also complicit in this scheme and aided the couple by falsifying death certificates. The criminals also bribed the Shinjuku ward office in an effort to cover up their actions.
[edit] Prior incidents
Similar cases had occurred in Japan before this incident. The people of Itabashi were accused in 1930 of murdering 41 foster children.[5] Hatsutarō Kawamata was arrested in 1933 for murdering at least 25 foster children.[6] The Japanese government was aware of this crisis, but was apparently unable to do anything.
Japanese tradition also disputed the rights of infants. Cases of infanticide by a parent had been typically regarded as bodily injury resulting in death under the Criminal Code of Japan until 1907.
[edit] Arrest and trial
Two police officers from the Waseda police station accidentally found the remains of five of Ishikawa's victims on January 12, 1948. Autopsies performed on the bodies of the five babies proved that they had not died of natural causes. She and Takeshi were arrested on January 15, 1948.
The victims were deserted children, and so she insisted that parents were responsible for their deaths.[7] Public supported the assertion, but Yuriko Miyamoto criticized them, saying it was an example of discrimination.[8]
Upon further investigation the police found over 40 dead bodies in the house of a mortician. 30 corpses were later discovered in a temple. The sheer number of dead bodies recovered and the length of time over which the murders took place made it difficult for the authorities to determine the exact number of victims. Consequently, the exact death toll remains unknown.
The authorities viewed her murders as a crime of omission. In the Tokyo district court, Ishikawa was sentenced to eight years in prison, Takeshi and Dr. Shiro Nakayama were each sentenced to four years imprisonment. The couple made appeals. In 1952 the Tokyo High Court revoked the original sentence, and sentenced Ishikawa to a four years in prison and Takeshi to a two years.
[edit] Aftermath
This incident is regarded as the principle reason the Japanese Government began to consider the legalisation of Abortion in Japan.[9][10] One of the reasons this incident was thought to have occurred was as the result of an increase in the number of unwanted infants born in Japan. On July 13, 1948, the Eugenic Protection Law (now the Mother's Body Protection Law) and a system of national examination for midwives were established. On June 24, 1949, abortion for economic reason was legalised under the Eugenic Protection Law in Japan.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b 寿産院事件 (Japanese). 無限回廊. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
- ^ (Japanese) 虐待の援助法に関する文献研究 （第1報：1970年代まで）
- ^ Takashi Koseki. 養護施設の子どもたち・・・・・・児童と福祉に関連するできごと (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ 1948年 (Japanese). Kousinren. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Yomiuri Shimbun. 岩ノ坂もらい子殺し発覚 (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
- ^ 目黒もらい子殺し (Japanese). 誰か昭和を想わざる. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
- ^ yabusaka. 寿産院もらい子殺し事件 (Japanese). オワリナキアクム. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
- ^ Yuriko Miyamoto (1948-01-23). “生れた権利”をうばうな (Japanese). Aozora Bunko. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
- ^ (Japanese) 第1章 少子化社会に至るまでの経緯と少子化問題への対応PDF (103 KiB)
- ^ 第１４７回国会 国民福祉委員会 第１０号 (Japanese). National Diet Library (2000-03-15). Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Article on the incident
- (Japanese) Japanese Wikipedia entry on the murder case
