Yua Funato
The Child Abuse Case that Shook Japan
“It is impossible to imagine the victim’s suffering, sorrow, and despair in the days leading up to her death as her beloved mother acquiesced to the extreme diet regimen.”
Yua Funato, a 5-year-old girl from Kagawa prefecture in Japan died of sepsis on March 2nd, 2018 in Tokyo’s Meguro ward after developing pneumonia which went untreated. Her mother, Yuri Funato, age 27 at the time of her daughter’s death received sentencing on September 17th, 2019. The courts gave her 8 years on a charge of parental neglect. Prosecutors tried for 11, but after her testimony, it was determined she should receive a less harsh sentence due to the psychological abuse she received by her ex-husband Yudai. She repeatedly stated her fear of repercussions which may have influenced her actions or rather lack thereof.
The Presiding Judge, Minoru Morishita said during his ruling, “It is impossible to imagine the victim’s suffering, sorrow, and despair in the days leading up to her death as her beloved mother acquiesced to the extreme diet regimen.”
Yudai Funato, 34 was sentenced to 13 years although prosecutors were aiming for 18 after the death penalty was taken off the table. Certain details of the case limited what they could get since the charges were physical abuse and neglect. He told the court he didn’t realize her life was in danger until March 1st as prosecutors were arguing that he must have known by February due to her illness and severely underweight frame. The abuse and neglect had begun by the time Yua was 4. The couple was married in 2016 and by early 2017 Kagawa’s Child welfare center was already making house calls to check up on Yua. The abuse had been reported by various witnesses to the girls’ screams of pain and not by her mother.
Yudai frequently referred to Yua as fat, forcing her to wake up at 4 am and exercise then she had to perfect her writing skills. When inevitably she couldn’t meet his standards he would soak her in cold water and force her to stand outside on the veranda regardless of the temperature outside. The abuse was reported by neighbors and police gave prosecutors papers on Yudai on suspicion of causing injuries to Yua, but nothing was done by the legal system. However, after being found outside on the night of December 25th, 2016 in only her pajamas she was picked up by local authorities. Yua had marks on her indicative of assault. The child welfare center took her into temporary protective custody.
“Daddy beat me. Mommy was there too.”
In February 2017 Yudai claimed to have “reflected upon” his actions and Yua was returned to her home. By March she would be taken home once again by child welfare despite Yua’s pleas to be returned to her biological father, “My other daddy was better” she told the caretaker. By August 2017 she had bruises on her face and thighs. Yua told her doctor, “Daddy beat me. Mommy was there too.” The latter comment indicating this young girl noticed her mother’s indifference to her suffering. Before child welfare could take her a third time the family moved to Tokyo’s Meguro ward for Yudai’s new job. Yuri, Yudai, and their infant son would take trips to various parks, and as Yuri would later testify, “I could never tell him that I wanted to take Yua with us.” when asked by a prosecutor why her 5-year-old was left home alone.
“My wife and her mother spoil Yua too much, so I hit her to discipline her.”
January and February 2018 would be the final and hardest months of little Yua’s life. The starvation rules became more strict, in court, Yudai admitted he refused her carbohydrates, meat, and fish and there were days she was only allowed one meal. On her one meal days, she was permitted a cup of soup and a tiny bit of rice. He had also made strange statements to welfare workers that “having the figure of a model is ideal” His excuse for hitting her was, “My wife and her mother spoil Yua too much, so I hit her to discipline her.”
Yuri claimed to be too afraid to report any of this abuse and in early February 2018, she prevented a welfare worker from seeing Yua. She stated in court she was worried that in retaliation Yua’s beatings and punishments would be worse. Yuri told the court she was holding out until April when the girl would attend school in hopes they would notice and report it to the authorities.
Yua’s emaciated body only weighed 12.2 kg, the average weight for a healthy 2-year-old girl, but this did not stop Yudai’s rage. He continuously beat her with his fist, choked her, starved her, and soaked her in cold water. On March 1st, 2018, the last full day of Yua’s life, Yuri was bathing her and saw the bruises when she decided to immediately wrap the girl in a towel. She later told the court, “I did so because I felt I had just seen something I should never have seen.”
When medical examiners and police saw her body she had around 170 injuries that occurred during what Yudai referred to as interrogations. Yua who was already suffering from pneumonia had fallen asleep after he told her to study. Yuri testified that he would only allow a trip to the hospital once the bruises healed. Her last week was one of isolation, starvation, vomiting, and abuse. On February 27th Yudai told Yuri, “Yua did not feel like eating it will be good for her.” a statement he made about a 5-year-old girl who weighed probably the same or less than their baby son.
March 2nd, 2018 her condition worsened and they did call the ambulance likely out of fear of being charged with her death. During the call, Yudai said, “Our daughter has not eaten for a few days and vomited, and her heart doesn’t seem to be beating.” In the case to come the defense successfully argued this call proved he was displaying concern for his daughter’s life and should not receive the death penalty. This, they said, was him showing concern for his daughter’s life.
When Yua arrived at the hospital she was wearing a diaper, which her mother claimed was because she had been bedridden. This indicated to doctors she was too debilitated to go to the bathroom by herself. She was immediately pronounced dead. Yudai shed no tears.
Notes from Yua
During the investigation, police found some of Yua’s handwriting practice. These notes are very difficult to read and if you choose not to it’s completely understandable. There is a bit to what I’m struggling to call a silver lining, at the end of the article. Here are her notes:
“I will make sure I can do more things tomorrow than today without daddy (Yudai) and mommy needing to tell me what to do.”
“Really I will never repeat the same things.”
“Forgive me. I will correct what I was unable to do yesterday and what I have done every day.”
“I am sorry that I played so much like a fool. I will stop doing a foolish thing like playing.”
“I will never ever do that I promise.”
A silver lining
Before the cases were tried in court there was enough outcry from the public causing former Prime Minister Abe had to bring it up during a parliamentary meeting. Physically punishing a child in Japan will be banned although confusingly there are no repercussions for the offenders it simply gives child welfare the right to intervene with less red tape. They will increase staff at Child Welfare Centers nationwide so that when dealing with abuse cases there will be Child welfare staff for taking kids into protective custody and a different one for dealing with the guardians. The law will also introduce confidentiality obligations to schools, education boards, and child welfare centers.
It’s not a perfect plan, but a step in the right direction.
