Poor Japanese worker discovers he was switched at birth
Imagine being born in the month of March, in 1953 – this will be 60 years ago in just a few short months. Imagine having your wealthy Japanese mother remembering the clothes of the child she brought home as being different than those she purchased, and imagine her not questioning this piece of information until many years later.
In this situation, the first-born son of a wealthy family in Japan actually belonged to a poor family, in which he would have been the youngest son. Imagine the advantages that the changeling received: he obtained every economic advantage available, was allowed to go to the most prestigious schools in Japan, and became the favourite in a family of four sons, all because of a mistake in a hospital 59 years ago.
This son had three younger brothers, who all looked considerably different than him. Because of the wealth and privilege of the family, all three of the younger brothers did exceedingly well – but not as well as the changeling, groomed for higher things as a first born son, going on to become the head of a successful real estate firm.
But in examining the life of the legitimate heir to their family fortune, it was found that he grew up in a poor Japanese family. The father of this family died when he was two-years-old, and he was brought up by a single mother on welfare, in a one bedroom apartment, with every disadvantage imaginable. His brothers were not able to overcome their dire circumstances, but the legitimate heir worked hard and went to night school. Even with his Herculean effort, the most he could aspire to was to become a truck driver. The changeling of disadvantage was not able to marry because of his dire circumstances, and instead spent his time looking after one of his older brothers who had a stroke.
In 2009, the three younger brothers of the wealthy changeling became suspicious and began an investigation. What they learned would reverberate through Japan, ultimately becoming a major story in 2013. The three brothers learned that the DNA of the older brother was different, and that the hospital had made an incredible mistake. This story came to light because the hospital lost a lawsuit to the brothers, in which they tried to use a 10-year statute of limitations in order to avoid liability. A Japanese Judge ruled that the 10 years would go into effect from the time the mistake was discovered, and not from the year the mistake was made.
If there is a silver lining to this story, it emerges in that the three wealthy brothers wish to have a relationship with the poor changeling. This poor changeling, who has every reason in the world to be bitter about his circumstances, has only been graceful and merciful about the cruel fate he has endured. The poor changeling’s chief regret is that he will never get to meet his birth parents who died, and this reality has broken his heart. This story is Jobian in scope and can be deemed a greater Greek tragedy, making Trading Places or the Prince and the Pauper or even the Changeling, pale in comparison.
This story also seems to prove that your environmental circumstances have an incredible impact on your happiness and quality of living, and this will add a rather intriguing chapter to the nurture versus nature debate. I hope that Canada will learn that every Canadian should have opportunities to maximize their potential and that poverty in such a rich country. This story would make an incredible movie with international implications; bringing to light the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction.