With its wealth, good social services and shrinking population, Japan has traditionally 
been a country of few orphans. When foreigners came calling for children orphaned following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, they were told “No thank you. We can take care of our own.”
The aftermath of the disaster, though, has led to growing concerns about Japan’s capacity to in fact “take care of its own.” About 200 children lost both parents in the disaster, and approximately 1200 children lost one parent. Though most of the orphaned are living with relatives, 90% unemployment rates in some of the ravaged areas leaves orphanages as a necessary alternative, according to a July 8 Time magazine article.
The common Japanese attitude toward adoption is complex. Many consider adoption shameful, and Japanese culture encourages children, when grown, to take care of elderly parents. If a family faces financial struggles, or a guardian is deemed abusive, children are at times put into orphanages but not put up for adoption.
“Although they grow up in a facility, it’s expected they’ll take care of their parents or relatives once they leave,” said Sarah Gordon of adoption agency Ai No Kesshin (Loving Decisions) located in Shizuoka, west of Tokyo. “People here have very strong feelings about bloodlines.”
In 2009, of 37,600 children under the age of 18 living in welfare institutions, only 10% were adopted or taken in by foster families, government statistics show. Furthermore, a child abuse prevention law enacted in 2000 has led to an increase of reported child abuse cases and overcrowding in government facilities.
As a married couple, American Leza Lowitz and Japan native Shogo Oketani were solid parental candidates, as Tokyo homeowners in a long-term marriage, to adopt a young child.
“We said we’d take any child available. It was a huge leap of faith,” said Lowitz. “Yuto was an unusual case and the orphanage was very eager to find him a family.” As the only child available out of 100 at one orphanage, he had priorly been adopted and brought back when things didn’t work out.
“Since there are so many children in orphanages who can’t be legally adopted out, the adoption system in Japan needs to change,” said Lowitz. “It’s not serving the children or the society.”
Lowitz cites the need for birth parent counseling as part of the solution for parents that are considering an orphanage or adoption for their child. A statute of limitations on legal parental claim is also needed, Lowitz said. Under the present system, unless a parent relinquishes their legal guardian rights, a child is prohibited from adoption even if they reside in a welfare facility long-term.
“The reality is that very few take them back or even visit,” Lowitz said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”
Japanese orphans are sometimes referred to as “throwaway children.” These children have a stigma attached to them by their culture that is not easy to shake, especially when it is time to leave a facility at age 15-18.
Sayuri Watai, age 27, is the founder of a support organization run by and for “graduates” of child welfare facilities. Her experience is typical of many that face an uncertain future upon leaving an orphanage.
“When I was growing up in orphanages I sensed the staff was fulfilling their responsibilities but I didn’t fell protected or loved,” Watai said. “When I had to leave the orphanage I was all alone. I had no one to turn to.”
A lack of confidentiality also hurts the Japanese adoption system. The Japanese family registry, known as Koseki, contains a form that is sometimes requested by employers, or even potential spouses. It lists all information on marriages, divorces, deaths, births and adoptions within the family. Being identified as someone who was adopted out of a family is potentially embarrassing. It may imply that that child was unplanned or unwanted.
For those that meet the UNICEF definition of orphan–one who has lost one or both parents– the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has put a great deal of stress on an orphanage system already overcrowded before the disaster.
Ashinaga, a non-profit organization, hopes to directly aid tsunami orphans through financial assistance and psychological social services.
“We’d like to never forget about their lives,” says Yukichi Okazaki, Ashinaga’s supervising director for education and international affairs. But the world is already forgetting, he said, unlike the early days of the disaster when his organization’s phone was ringing off the hook with donations from around the globe.
“They start forgetting what happened in Japan,” said Okazaki. “That’s why we are going to visit New York, to ask the international community to never forget.”
The tsunami has forever changed the life of 15 year-old Sayaka Sugawara, whose home was swept away by the tsunami.
“I was in the stairway, and my mother was upstairs,” she recalls. “My grandmother and great grandmother were downstairs with my dog. I heard a huge sound from the ground. Instantly my house broke apart. I thought, ‘Oh I will die now.’”
Sayaka and her mother were pulled by the first tsunami waves 100 yards into an elementary school outdoor swimming pool.
“The rubble was piled on top of me and I could feel the water pulling back. My mother was next to me, alive and talking. Her right leg was under the rubble and she couldn’t move. She told me to go.”
Sayaka unemotionally recounted the moment. “I told her, okay, I’ll go now. “She then said, ‘Don’t go!’ But I still left.”
How You Can Help Orphans Around the World
Orphans don’t have to live in misery and despair. You can make a difference in their lives by doing one or more of the following through the Orphan Coalition, an independent nonprofit orphan support organization located in Colorado Springs, CO:
- Making a one-time or monthly donation as an Individual, Corporate, or Business Orphan Coalition Advocate sponsor;
- Volunteering through the Volunteer Orphan Coalition Ambassador program that mobilizes and facilitates financial support and awareness on behalf of orphans.
Source:
Disaster highlights plight of Japanese orphans (http://news.yahoo.com/disaster-highlights-plight-japanese-orphans-083817268.html). Yahoo News, July 8, 2011
Plight of Japan’s ‘tsunami orphans’ (http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-07/world/japan.tsunami.orphans_1_tsunami-orphans-rubble-mother?_s=PM:WORLD). CNN, June 7, 2011
filming a documentary film that exposed the poor conditions of the Saray orphanage outside of Ankara. The Duchess made the film, “Duchess and Daughters: Their Secret Mission,” for the ITV Tonight program in 2008.
