Hundreds of people have called an advice hotline since a Japanese hospital opened a controversial "baby hatch," where seven children have been left anonymously, officials and reports said earlier this month.
The Roman Catholic hospital set up the hatch in May in a bid to prevent abortions and unwanted children. It looks like a mailbox with pictures of storks and is modelled on a similar idea in Germany.
Outgoing conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed outrage at the baby drop-off, saying it encourages irresponsibility, but he could find no legal grounds to stop it from being installed.
The hospital has declined to say how many children it has received, but reports said seven have been deposited.
The latest was a week-old boy dropped off last month, Jiji Press and the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.
The southern city of Kumamoto, where the hatch is located, said a help hotline it set up on May 7 amid the controversy had received 357 consultations, with 64 people coming in person.
Most callers talked about unexpected pregnancies or difficulties raising children and many of the people seeking advice were from out of town, said municipal official Shinichiro Yamada.
"It seems that there are women all over the country who are troubled with pregnancy. I hope similar hotlines will be set up in other cities very soon," Yamada said.
Abortion is widely accepted in Japan, where adoption outside the extended family is rare. The country is struggling to reverse a decline in population as more young people decide to delay starting families.
(AFP)
本月初有官員及報導指出,自從日本一間醫院設置了極具爭議的「棄嬰艙」,並收容了七名被匿名遺棄的嬰兒後,已有數百位民眾致電諮詢專線。
今年五月,這間羅馬天主教醫院基於預防墮胎及保護棄嬰的理由,設立了這個「棄嬰艙」。這個棄嬰收容箱上繪有送子鳥圖案,外型像個信箱,構想是效法德國一個類似的裝置。
日本即將卸任的保守派首相安倍晉三曾對遺棄嬰孩行為表達譴責,認為棄嬰收容箱會鼓勵不負責任的父母,但目前沒有任何法律依據可以禁止設置棄嬰艙。
這所醫院拒絕透露目前已收養了多少幼童,但據報導指出,已有七名寶寶被託付。
最近一位是上個月被遺棄、出生僅一週的男嬰,《日本時事通信社》及《讀賣新聞》報導指出。
這個棄嬰艙設置於日本南方的熊本市,當地政府表示,一支諮詢熱線於五月七日設立就飽受爭議,已處理了三百五十七通諮詢服務,其中有六十四人親自到場諮詢。
多數民眾來電述說她們意外懷孕或養育小孩的困難處境,許多尋求幫忙的民眾來自外縣市,熊本市官員山田真一郎表示。
「全國各地都有因為懷孕而不安的女性,我希望其他縣市也能盡快設立類似的熱線,」山田說。
墮胎在日本十分普遍,相對來說,領養來自其他家庭的小孩則相當罕見。隨著年輕人越來越晚婚,日本政府正極力扭轉日漸降低的生育率。(法新社/翻譯:袁星塵)
Taiwanese cuisine boasts a rich culture of thick soups, with various options available at street vendors or high-end restaurants. In English, this style of dish is typically called “thick soup.” Western cuisine typically uses flour, cream, or mashed vegetables to create a creamy consistency, while in Taiwan, thick soups are made by simply incorporating food starch into the soup and creating a smooth and silky texture. Tutuo fish in thick soup is such a soup with fried tutuo fish chunks, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and wood ears. 台灣羹品飲食文化豐富,無論是巷口小店或是高檔餐廳,都有提供羹料理。羹在英文稱作「濃湯」,西式濃湯是以麵粉、鮮奶油、蔬菜泥等達到濃稠的口感,台灣的羹湯用太白粉即能做出濃稠絲滑的湯頭。土魠魚羹就是在勾芡的羹湯中加入炸土魠魚塊、香菇、竹筍、木耳等食材的料理。 boast (v.) 擁有(令人驕傲的事物) consistency (n.) 濃稠度 chunk (n.) 厚塊,大塊 wood ear (n. ph.) 木耳 The star of this
Huge stretches of coral reef around the world are turning a ghostly white this year amid record warm ocean temperatures. On April 15, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed the world’s fourth mass global bleaching event is underway — with serious consequences for marine life and for the people and economies that rely on reefs. WHAT ARE CORALS? Corals are invertebrates that live in colonies. Their calcium carbonate secretions form hard and protective scaffolding that serves as a home to many colorful species of single-celled algae. The two organisms have evolved over millennia to work together, with corals providing shelter to algae,
A: So who were Hollywood’s highest-paid stars of 2023? B: No. 5 to No. 2 were: Matt Damon with US$43 million, Ryan Gosling with US$43 million, Tom Cruise with US$45 million, and Margot Robbie with US$59 million. A: Didn’t Tom Cruise top the list? B: Nope, Adam Sandler was No.1, having made US$73 million, which is about NT$2.34 billion. A: Wow, maybe I should change my career to acting. A: 好萊塢去年的片酬排行榜前幾名是誰? B: 第5到2名是︰麥特戴蒙、4300萬美元,雷恩葛斯林、4300萬美元,湯姆克魯斯、4500萬美元,瑪格羅比、5900萬美元。 A: 冠軍竟然不是阿湯哥? B: 是亞當山德勒、片酬7300萬美元,大約23.4億台幣! A: 天啊或許我也該轉行當演員啦。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
A symbol of purity and cleanliness, the color white is the standard color for coats worn by doctors. While this has been the case for well over 100 years, it hasn’t always been so. In fact, before the late 19th century, doctors wore formal black attire, which was similar to that worn by clergymen. Black was chosen for practical reasons—it hid stains from medical procedures and presented a sense of seriousness. The major reason for the color change of the doctor’s coat was to distinguish qualified, professional doctors from those with little or no medical training. Since medical science