From a baby expected to be born in October in Osaka Prefecture to one in Tokyo with a due date in July, information of upcoming childbirths is listed on a website run by an Osaka-based nonprofit adoption agency urging prospective parents-to-be to register online.
Named Internet Akachan Post, which literally means internet baby mailbox, the controversial streamlined online matching system was launched last September with the aim of facilitating 3,000 adoptions a year — about six times the number of children adopted in Japan annually.
Founder Genta Sakaguchi, 40, a former owner of an online secondhand PC shop, said the existing adoption process was slow and needed more business-like efficiency. Adoptions usually took months or years to complete.