Shige Sakakura was born in 1868 in the Tsu Domain, Japan, the daughter of a mechanic. Not much is known about her childhood, family dynamics, or early influences. As a young woman, she married into the Sakakura family, settling in the Hioki Wakasa area, which is now part of modern-day Nagoya.

Like many women of the time, Sakakura faced the limitations of Meiji-era Japan, where opportunities for women were slim, and social roles were strictly defined. During her adult years, she took on work as a midwife, a common occupation for women in her position. However, what began as a caregiving role soon turned sinister. By 1898, she had moved into the darker realm of baby farming, a practice where midwives and other women took in unwanted or illegitimate children for a fee, with the unspoken understanding that these children would disappear.

Shige Sakakura’s crimes spanned 15 years, from 1898 to 1913. Working under the guise of a midwife, she accepted infants, mostly those born out of wedlock for a fee of 40 to 50 yen per child. In exchange, mothers believed she would care for their babies. Instead, the children were systematically murdered shortly after being taken in.

Her operation was cold and calculated. She repeated the process hundreds of times, often with the help of her two trusted accomplices: Tsuta Oki, aged 45, and Naka Ikai, aged 62. The trio would move around Aichi Prefecture, switching locations to avoid drawing suspicion as the death toll climbed. The period during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) was especially profitable for them. Many women lost their husbands in battle and, facing destitution, sought help from midwives like Sakakura. She exploited this grief and poverty, turning it into a factory of death.

Despite the staggering number of children killed — estimated at around 200 victims — Sakakura operated without interference until 1913, when she made one fatal mistake. A geisha, whose child had been left in Sakakura’s care, regularly visited to check on her baby. When she was suddenly refused access, her suspicions grew. She alerted authorities, who launched an investigation and arrested Sakakura and her accomplices in May 1913.

Within ten days, news of the shocking crimes hit the papers, and the case exploded into a national scandal. Public outrage surged across Japan, sparking massive interest in the case and placing immense pressure on the government to crack down on similar baby farming operations.

On June 29, 1914, Sakakura, Oki, and Ikai were all sentenced to death. The court upheld the ruling on October 21, 1914. On September 9, 1915, the three women were hanged.

On June 27, 1915, just months after her conviction, ten people led by Sushi Sasaki were arrested for the murders of 32 infants in Atsuta, four of them were taking care of more than 170 children at once. Only three days later, another ring was busted in Shiga Prefecture, led by Yosomatsu Nakanishi, a 68-year-old man involved in a string of child murders spanning nine years.