Japanese Mother Lets Her 2 Children Starve to Death

The arrest in Osaka, Japan, of a 23-year-old woman who allegedly neglected her two children and let them starve to death has sent shockwaves throughout Japan.

Even after learning of her children’s deaths in late June, she left home as if nothing happened.

Media reports said Sunday that her three-year-old daughter and one-year-old son were found dead of starvation at her apartment in Osaka’s Nisi district Friday. Their bodies were discovered decomposed, suggesting that they had died more than a month earlier.

When their bodies were found, her home was filled with a mountain of garbage, including packages of instant noodles and snacks. The freezer had no drinking water let alone food, which showed she neglected her children.

The woman, who works at a bar, confessed to her crime, saying, “I went to my friend’s house and left the children at home in late June.” She said she returned home around 6 p.m. Thursday to find her children dead but left her home without taking action.

She had married in December 2006 but divorced in May last year, and has been working at a bar since January.

changkim@donga.com