Ubasute (姥捨て^?, lit. "abandoning an old woman", also called "obasute" and sometimes "oyasute" 親捨て　"abandoning a parent") refers to the custom allegedly performed in Japan in the distant past, whereby an infirm or elderly relative was carried to a mountain, or some other remote, desolate place, and left there to die, either by dehydration, starvation, or exposure. The practice was allegedly most common during times of drought and famine, and was sometimes mandated by feudal officials.