Amid the nationwide struggle to address the dearth of day care facilities, plans to open a new facility in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, this month came to a grinding halt after residents claimed the noise created by the children would be too "annoying," officials said Tuesday.

"If completed, it would have greatly helped the city (to address the day care shortage)," an official in the municipal government's nursery facility planning division told The Japan Times.

The official said there was also opposition to the plan because of fears that a narrow road running along the planned site would be dangerous for children arriving and departing the facility.