Jikei Hospital in the city of Kumamoto was flooded with phone inquiries Thursday, the day it opened Japan's first baby hatch, allowing people to anonymously leave babies there.
Jikei Hospital opened the "konotori no yurikago" (stork cradle) hatch, which is effectively an incubator with access from outside and inside the facility, at noon.
The hatch has been criticized as a way to encourage the abandonment of babies, but supporters see it as a way to save the lives of infants who cannot be cared for.