Minato Ward Issues Unusual Notice of Designated Management Cancellation to Former Motoazabu Celebrity Nursery Amidst Abuse Cover-Up Suspicions

Since its opening, the “Former Motoazabu Nursery” in Tokyo’s Minato Ward has seen over 20 childcare workers leave each year, and has even been embroiled in allegations of covering up child abuse. The Minato Ward has decided to revoke the designated management of the social welfare corporation “Shunwakai,” which it had entrusted to operate the nursery. “FRIDAY Digital” obtained a document distributed to parents of children attending the nursery on June 14th, created by the Minato Ward. Between the Minato Ward and Shunwakai, a contract had been signed until the end of March ’29 as the designated period, but an unprecedented situation arose where it was revoked during this period.

FRIDAY Digital published an article on April 23rd questioning the nursery’s stance for not reporting to the Minato Ward despite concerns about the workplace environment, which led to a suicide attempt by a childcare worker and possible abuse of children. Following this, parents who were concerned about the nursery’s child care practices requested an “emergency parents’ meeting” held on May 23rd. In attendance were the nursery’s director and representatives from the Minato Ward and Shunwakai, the designated management. However, according to reports, Shunwakai and the nursery director did not provide satisfactory explanations to the parents.

In Minato Ward, there has been an ongoing investigation into the activities of Shunwakai behind the scenes. They have been observing factors such as Shunwakai’s attitude towards parents during the emergency parents’ meeting, which appears to have led to this unprecedented decision. They are reprinting the April 23rd article that triggered this decision.

The photo above depicts a party held at a hotel in Tokyo on March 4th, ’23, hosted by a medical corporation. On stage breaking a mirror is Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (66), with Kazuhisa Okamoto (60), chairman of the Medical Corporation Kyowa-kai Universal Medical Service (hereinafter referred to as the Tams Group), on the right. The Tams Group oversees approximately 70 facilities including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and nurseries. This event commemorated the group’s 30th anniversary and included a speech by Prime Minister Kishida, an alumnus of Kaisei High School, who was invited to attend.

Under the umbrella of the Tams Group, the social welfare corporation “Shunwakai” operates the “Former Motoazabu Nursery” in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, which celebrated its graduation ceremony on March 23rd. However, afterwards, parents of children attending the nursery revealed an unusual message regarding staff resignations sent in the name of the nursery’s director.

“Three vice principals and a total of twelve childcare workers, including vice principals, have announced their resignations. The message assured parents that efforts would be made to create a better working environment for childcare workers, asking for their understanding and reassurance. Furthermore, I heard that every year since the nursery opened in ’20, over 20 childcare workers have resigned. While each may have their reasons, it seems like too many.”

According to the “Designated Management Facility Evaluation Sheet” released by Minato Ward, the Former Motoazabu Nursery employs 80 staff members. The number of resignations was 25 in ’20 and ’21, and 20 in ’22. Adding the 12 childcare workers who resigned last year totals to 82 resignations over the past three years.

The Former Motoazabu Nursery accommodates children from infancy to age five, including classes for medically fragile and disabled children, making it the first nursery of its kind in Tokyo’s 23 wards. In order to meet the diverse needs of residents in Minato Ward, the ward sought to utilize the expertise and ideas of private-sector operators. In ’18, they publicly solicited a corporation to operate the nursery as a designated manager. From multiple candidates, they selected the social welfare corporation Shunwakai, a part of the Tams Group, as the designated manager for a term lasting approximately ten years until the end of March ’29. This was revealed by nursery officials in Minato Ward.

“Shunwakai is under the umbrella of a medical corporation group and Minato Ward, which wanted to establish classes for “medically fragile” and “disabled” children within nurseries. Considering the advantages of having facilities such as hospitals under its management, where doctors, nurses, and childcare workers can be smoothly transferred, they selected Shunwakai as the designated manager.

The Former Motoazabu Nursery is located in a quiet residential area near foreign embassies, with a spacious layout spanning approximately 3,000 square meters over two floors. It is said that the land and building together cost nearly 5.5 billion yen. The area is home to affluent households, including actress A, who has appeared in NHK dramas and commercials, veteran actor B known for two generations, and musician C, who has sung the theme song for a drama. Their children have reportedly attended the nursery in the past.”

Despite its advantageous location and support from Minato Ward, why has the nursery experienced an abnormal situation with a large number of childcare workers resigning?

Chairman Okamoto, who graduated from Kaisei High School and Chiba University School of Medicine, originally worked as a radiologist. Nurses with experience working at Kyowa-kai hospitals reveal the following.

“When he was younger, Chairman Okamoto had a patient with dementia who was admitted to a psychiatric closed ward when he went to check on them after hearing about their admission. At that time, patients were often denied admission or medical attention simply because of dementia. This experience raised questions for him, and he developed a desire to create facilities and groups that could care for people throughout their entire lives, from birth to death.”

This vision motivated him to expand from hospitals to rehabilitation facilities and nurseries. In 1993, he opened a clinic in Shinozaki, Edogawa Ward, Tokyo. In 2006, he established a dementia-specialized hospital in Kawaguchi, Saitama. Since then, he has expanded his operations to approximately 70 facilities with about 6,000 employees. However, the constant pursuit of launching new businesses before stabilizing newly launched medical facilities has led to fatigue among staff on the ground.

“The chairman is particularly focused on numbers. He meticulously checks metrics such as hospital admissions, and if, for example, an 80-bed ward is only occupied by 50 patients, he demands rigorous explanations from the staff. Among us, there’s even a joke that patients look like dollar signs to him.” (Staff member who has worked at a Tams Group hospital)