Japanese Truck Driver Tragically Learns He Was Switched At Birth And Robbed Of A Luxurious Life

A now 70-year-old Japanese truck driver has to live the rest of his life with the heart-wrenching reality that he was switched at birth—and his biological parents were significantly wealthier than his non-biological parents. Choosing to remain anonymous, the man shared that he grew up in a poor single-parent household. His father died in 1955, while his mother raised him and two of her real sons on welfare.

Japanese truck | Seiji-Shimbun Sha

Newspaper The Asahi Shimbun reported that the family of four lived in a 100-square-foot apartment. He worked at a small workshop after junior high school and later attended industrial high school night classes. Unable to afford college, he chose to become a truck driver.

In comparison, his biological parents sent their children—including the boy he was switched with—to private high schools and universities.

The man’s biological parents sent their four sons, including the one involved in the mix-up, to private high schools and universities. The plaintiff landed a job at a small workshop after graduating from junior high school. He later attended industrial high school night classes and now works as a truck driver. His biological parents died before the hospital mistake was uncovered.

— The Asahi Shimbun

Public school in Japan, 1968 | Japan Focus

But how did this tragedy even occur? In March of 1953, hospital staff at San-Ikukai Hospital in Tokyo mistook him for the other boy, who was delivered only 13 minutes after him. They sent the two babies home to the wrong set of parents.

According to the ruling, the man was born in March 1953 at San-Ikukai Hospital in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward. The hospital is operated by San-Ikukai, a social welfare corporation in the same ward.

Hospital staff mistook him for the son of a couple whose real son was born 13 minutes after he was delivered. After the man’s ‘father’ died in 1955, his ‘mother’ raised him and two real sons while on welfare.

— The Asahi Shimbun

San-Ikukai Hospital

For years, his biological brothers held suspicions that their oldest brother was not related to them due to his different appearance, which was noticeably unlike theirs. They searched for a long time and eventually found their long-lost brother. A DNA test performed in January 2009 confirmed the mix-up.

The court said the results of a DNA test in January 2009 confirmed the mix-up 60 years ago. The ruling follows a long search by the man’s real brothers who doubted their oldest brother was a blood relative based on his appearance.

— The Asahi Shimbun

DNA test | Mainichi

A court later ruled that the social welfare organization that ran the hospital where the mix-up occurred must pay the truck driver about $317,000 for causing “mental distress by depriving him of an opportunity to gain a higher education.”

At a news conference, he admitted that he wished he could turn the clock back. “When I learned about my real parents two years ago, I thought, oh, how I wish they had raised me,” he cried. Yet despite the unfortunate circumstances, he was noted to have faced the situation with grace and humility.

He says he feels grateful to both the family that raised him and to his birth parents, and he also says he feels no enmity or resentment or bitterness toward the boy who switched places with. He said, ‘We’re both victims in this. I can’t be angry at him.’

— Witness

Meanwhile, the heartbreaking story is reminiscent of the Japanese film Like Father, Like Son, which won the Jury Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Watch the trailer below.