Tokyo Mother Admits to Remodelling Closet to Confine Disabled Teenage Daughter

From The Yomiuri Shimbun

May 13 2026

TOKYO – In a case where two parents and an older brother were arrested on suspicion of unlawful confinement resulting in injury for restraining a disabled girl in a closet, it has been revealed through interviews with investigators that the mother admitted to remodeling the closet to create a confinement space around September of last year. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) believes that the confinement became a routine occurrence from that point onward.

The suspects are accused of conspiring in late January to lock the teenage girl, who has a developmental disability, inside a bedroom closet at their home in Tokyo for several days. This resulted in the girl suffering from bedsores on her back and hypothermia. It is reported that her hands and feet were restrained with metal fittings.

Investigative sources said the closet where the girl was confined was about 170 cm wide and about 80 cm in both height and depth. Two sliding doors (fusuma) had been removed, and a wooden board was attached to cover the lower of two stacked compartments. A latch was installed on the outside of the door to prevent her from getting out from inside.

A surveillance camera installed on a nearby pillar captured footage of the family members forcing the girl into the lower compartment. Investigators believe the girl was restrained on her back with U-shaped metal fittings. In addition to the bedsores and hypothermia, medical examinations confirmed multiple bruises and evidence of bone fractures, primarily on her upper body.

Before her arrest, the mother stated that the treatment was for “discipline.” On May 13, the MPD referred the three suspects—the parents and the brother—to the Tachikawa Branch of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.

The investigation has also revealed that a report regarding suspected abuse had been made to the local child consultation center (jiso) before the mother called emergency services on January 28, claiming her daughter’s body was “cold.”

In a phone interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun on May 13, the director of the child consultation center stated:

“We received a notification of abuse on January 26, suggesting suspected physical abuse.”

The director confirmed that the girl was not taken into protective custody until January 29 – three days after the report.

National guidelines require child services to confirm a child’s safety within 48 hours of an abuse report. Explaining the delay, the director stated, “We were consulting with relevant agencies regarding a home visit,” adding, “We take this situation very seriously and intend to coordinate with the police to take necessary actions moving forward.”