Japanese father of 13 surrogate children veiled in mystery

A Japanese man who has won legal custody of 13 surrogate children in Thailand has remained virtually anonymous in Japanese media.

Mitsutoki Shigeta is the son of the founder of Japanese telecom and insurance company Hikari Tsushin. As a major shareholder, he earns millions of dollars a year in dividends.

But in Japan, he has kept an extremely low profile.

Aggressive reporting by Japanese tabloids after his surrogate babies were discovered in a Bangkok condominium in 2014 quickly faded, allegedly after defamation lawsuits and pressure were applied by his father's company.

Now he is referred to in the Japanese media only as an anonymous 28-year-old man. Information from yesterday's court decision in Thailand and from doctors and a fertility clinic has done little to lift the veil of mystery.