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True Crime Friday: Miyuki Ishikawa, the Demon Midwife Serial Killer


Miyuki Ishikawa was a serial killer. Her body count is bigger than Samuel Little who is known as the most prolific serial killer by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) compared to Gary Ridgway, the Green River Serial Killer. Miyuki Ishikawa murdered over one hundred infants during her reign of terror. She considered herself to be an angel of mercy, but she was a cold-blooded serial killer. Miyuki Ishikawa is known in Japan as one of the most prolific serial killers in their country. True may be the most prolific female serial killer in modern times.

Miyuki was working as a midwife in the nineteen forties. This was pre-World War II in Japan. Being a midwife especially, during this time were considered a Nobel profession. Many parents that could not afford to take care of their children were invited by Miyuki to bring them into her care and she would take care of the children for a small fee until the parents return to get their children. When parents went to retrieve their children, they were told the children had die under mysterious circumstances. But the truth was that the over one hundred babies that she was entrusted to take care of were murdered by Miyuki.

The Early Childhood of Miyuki Ishikawa

Miyuki Ishikawa was born in 1897 in Japan. Ishikawa came from a wealthy family. Prior to 1945, only wealthy Japanese women could afford to attend college. The fact that she attended the University of Tokyo was indicative of her family’s wealth. Not much is known about her early childhood years or her teenaged years. Once she completed college, she was hired as a midwife at the Kotobuki Maternity Hospital. She had arranged to marry Takeshi Ishikawa. They did not have any children of their own. Miyuki Ishikawa was promoted director at Kotobuki Maternity Hospital. She was praised as a midwife. It was said her service to the profession was second-to-none. Her clients reported being happy with her services.

The Early Childhood of Takeshi Ishikawa

Not much has been written regarding Takeshi Ishikawa childhood. There is nothing written about his early years nor his teenaged years. His story seemingly begins with his marriage to Miyuki.

The Victims of Miyuki Ishikawa and Takeshi Ishikawa

Miyuki and Takeshi Ishikawa got away with the murders for so long because most of the infants were born to out of wedlock mothers. Also, the mothers were poverty stricken and could not take care of their children. There was a decrease in foster parents taking care of these children so knowing she was in demand she decided to neglect the children while still collecting the money from parents. Most of the midwife employed by Kotobuki Maternity Hospital resigned their position in disgust. This operation included Miyuki, Takeshi and a doctor names Shiro Nakayama who also received money by falsifying the infant’s death certificates. There are no names of the infants. I have listed the infants’ numbers and burial permits. They are as follows:

The Infant List of Victims

Year Count

  • 1943 8
  • 1944 24
  • 1945 34
  • 1946 40
  • 1947 100
  • 1948 5
  • Total 211

The Burial Permits

Year Count

  • 1943 0
  • 1944 0
  • 1945 1
  • 1946 24
  • 1947 53
  • 1948 6
  • Total 84

Even though Miyuki and Takeshi Ishikawa committed these cruel acts of murder, most of the blame has been assigned to Miyuki. Throughout the world misogyny plays a strong role in who is assigned the blame in society. The couple and the accomplice were wealthy people before they committed these crimes. As usual greed knows no bounds whether the perpetrators are rich or poor. The Japanese Government legalized abortion because of this case. Too many unwanted pregnancies in Japan led to this crime. In 1949, The Eugenic Protection Law was passed to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

Lady Justice

In 1948, Miyuki and Takeshi Ishikawa were found guilty of five murders. Miyuki and Takeshi Ishikawa were sentenced to eight and four years. The couple appealed this discussion with the high court. The court sentenced Miyuki to four years in prison and Takeshi to two years in prison. The public was outraged when Miyuki insisted the children’s parents were to blame for deserting their children. It was later reported that other maternity homes were guilty of the same crimes as in this case. When the couple and their accomplice was finally apprehended the death toll is the highest in Japan to this day. Miyuki Ishikawa remains the most prolific serial killer in Japanese history, and one of the most prolific female serial killers in the world. After she was released from prison she began to work selling soap, cream and fish. Her husband died during this time, and she opened a real estate office in Tokyo. Her former attorney boasted that she was earning a high salary of 100 million yen which in today’s dollars would be 667,260.50. Whose says crime does not pay. It does apparently is you are the perpetrator. Miyuki Ishikawa died at the ripe old age of ninety in 1987.

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