Photo/Illutration Part of bread identical to the one that an infant accidentally swallowed (From a report by an Aichi prefectural government panel)

A foreign national baby boy died after choking on hardened bread at an unlicensed child care facility in Aichi Prefecture in June 2021, according to a panel report into the incident.

The boy was just 17 months old at the time.

The director of the facility, a foreign national, had not registered the facility with the prefectural government.

The facility did not meet the national criteria for the minimum number of staff required.

A panel tapped by the prefectural government to investigate the case drafted its report on the incident by May 9.

As a preventive measure, the prefectural government is expected to provide information on the matter in other languages.

According to the report and other sources, the accident occurred at the facility, which was actually the director’s home, in the Mikawa region of the prefecture on June 23, 2021.

It appeared that the boy had accidentally eaten some bread handed to him by another child, and then he coughed and fell.

The director checked inside the boy’s mouth and found a piece of bread lodged in his throat.

The director transported the boy to a hospital, but his death was confirmed about two hours later.

The director had provided unregistered child care services at the home since 2012.

At the time of the accident, the facility was taking care of seven children aged between 1 and 3.

Under the national standards, a child care facility that cares for six children or more is required to have multiple staff and a given number of certified nurses and teachers.

But the director was not a qualified person and was the sole provider of the child care services.

After the accident, the facility was shut down in July 2021.

Since fiscal 2016, the Child Welfare Law has required a child care facility operator to register their facility to a local government regardless of the number of children under its care.

But the director did not have Japanese communication skills.

The director told the panel, “I learned about the mandatory registration about half a year before the accident, and I was preparing for it,” according to the report.

The report pointed out that if the director registered the facility, administrative advice could have been provided, and “if multiple staff members watched the children, the accident could have likely been prevented.”

The report also said the facility was known among foreign nationals through social networking sites.

A local official told the panel, “Foreign nationals often choose to use unauthorized child care facilities catering to foreign nationals, even when they are qualified to use an authorized child care facility.”

The official said the parents often cite that they have difficulties fitting in at authorized Japanese child care facilities and that unauthorized facilities are likely to take in children for longer hours, which they prefer.

A representative of the prefectural government said most of the information on child care facilities is only available in Japanese.

“We think the prefectural support for foreign nationals, including facility operators and parents, has not been satisfactory,” the official said.

The representative said the prefectural government will endeavor to provide information in multiple languages.

But the panel’s report also warned that children can accidentally swallow food or objects at home or in any type of child care setting, and urged the public to be vigilant.

The boy had eaten a commercially available stick-like bread.

The director served the bread at 8 a.m. that day for breakfast.

It is believed that other children played while holding the bread until around noon, when the accident occurred.

The bread had become dry and compressed by that time, making it more likely to swell up from the boy’s saliva, which made the boy more vulnerable to choking on it.

The report urged child care staff to keep their eyes on children when they eat bread and other food that can easily lodge in their throats.

It said they should manage food products well to prevent children from holding and eating food without permission, except at mealtimes.

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