Japanese man, 60, who grew up poor, finds out he's from rich family & switched at birth

A 60-year-old Japanese man was awarded 38 million yen (S$322,316) in compensation after he found out he was switched at birth six decades ago and sued a Tokyo hospital.

Interest in the 2013 case has been reignited recently following reports in China of abducted children who were raised in poverty, only to subsequently find out their birth family was wealthy, according to South China Morning Post.

What happened

The man was reportedly born into a rich family in 1953 at the San-Ikukai Hospital in the Sumida ward.

He was born 13 minutes earlier than the baby he was switched with.

He later grew up in a poor household with his adoptive family and worked as a lorry driver.

They were so poor that they did not own basic electrical appliances, and he had to work part-time while in school.

People also often noted that his looks did not resemble his parents.

Other siblings suspicious

The case came to light only when his three biological younger brothers in the wealthy family grew suspicious of their "elder brother", who did not look like them.

After their mother's death, the elder brother reportedly withheld the father's share of inheritance in exchange for taking care of him.

But he reneged on the offer and placed the elderly man in a nursing home.

The brothers then recalled their mother once mentioning that the elder child had been returned from a bath in different clothing at the hospital.

In 2009, they sent their elder brother's cigarette butt for DNA testing, which revealed they had no blood ties.

Informed by authorities, but birth parents already died

Authorities traced the lorry driver using hospital records, but by the time he was informed of his true parentage, his biological parents in the wealthy family had already died.

In November 2013, a court ruled that the San-Ikukai Hospital was responsible for switching the two men at birth.

Judge Masatoshi Miyasaka said the lorry driver was entitled to compensation as he had been separated from his biological parents almost immediately at birth and would have never met them.

He added that the man should have been "raised in a financially comfortable environment".

The case has drawn renewed interest alongside similar high-profile birth-switch incidents in China, including that of 27-year-old Xie Qingshuai, whose millionaire biological father reportedly gifted him three fully furnished apartments upon reunion.

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