It involved a woman who abandoned her five young children for months, resulting in the death of one.
In Autumn 1987, having met a new boyfriend, the mother placed Child A in charge of the others, leaving him with ¥50,000 (around US$350 at the time) for their living expenses in their Tokyo apartment.
It was determined that the malnourishment was caused in part by the children's diet, which consisted largely of food bought at convenience stores.
As a result of news coverage of the incident, the mother turned herself in on July 23.
[2] The 2004 film Nobody Knows, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, presents a fictionalized account of the incident with various details altered.