Since the end of 2005, there have been more than 100 cases of mothers murdering their own children, including six this September alone.

Fujiko Yamada, founder of the Child Maltreatment Prevention Centre, said: "There is a high level of schooling for Japanese women now, and we are taught from a young age that men and women are equal in terms of education, work and society. "But there is also pressure on women when they get married to abandon their career and focus on raising a family," she said.