19-year-old arrested for pushing man off train platform

@Kawasaki Green: There is a difference between accidentally bumping your bag and pushing someone onto the tracks

Send the kid to jail for a few years for attempted murder

I'm surprised not more altercations happen with the amount of violent pushing and shoving of people getting on and getting of a train. Glad my train is not so crowded in the morning

@gogogo I totally agree with you! This kid needs to learn why it's not ok to push a person on to the tracks....if this behavior doesn't stop now, he'll do something really bad later.

Wow! Just shows, there are too many people on edge, especially in the morning peak hour rush. I've seen many altercations during this period although, most are diffused without incident.

Too many here are living with out being in control of their pent up emotions, many lack self control and snap at the slightest thing, it happens in other places too. People need to chill and stay ontop of their little life dramas alittle better.

Attempted murder afaic. I hope he gets time in jail to cool down.

... the youngster was wrong if he yelled out loud, which doesn't surprise me coming from a vocational student. Most of those guys are hard core work types with no to little manners if any. The older generation those over 55 had manners, below that it gets less and less. I've been bumped many times just walking and 8 or 10 times no apologies from the younger generation unless their Jr high to elementary kids....

What absolute nonsense. Some of the worst offenders for manners Ive seen in Japan has been people in their 50s and older, and some of the best from young kids.

Yeah, folks, keep your wits about you on those platforms.

There is a difference between accidentally bumping your bag and pushing someone onto the tracks

I think you failed to read this part of the story .... "after the train arrived at Futako-tamagawa Station, the two continued their argument on the platform."

So the train was stationary. And the altercation continued on well past the point where the one guy bashed the other with his bag (you seem to have misread and believe that the younger man's bag was bumped when actually it was the older man's bag which was used to bump the younger man).

Pushing the guy onto the tracks is dangerous and foolhardy. Unfortunately I've seen enough entitled middle aged businessmen to know that some of them deserve a good shove. Too bad for him he bumped the wrong person and was too proud to just say sorry.

The thing of it is, back in the 1990s this type of thing never seemed to happen. It was an orderly sardine can. I suppose the chikan were there but you didn't even hear about that. Have things gotten that bad? It almost seems like orderly society in Japan is starting to fray a little.

People just need to remember to apologize and walk away from a situation like this, doesn't matter if it was your fault or not.

This is how people manage to get along in a crowded urban area like Tokyo without violence. De-escalate. Walk away.

Stupid kid! He is lucky the man did not die!

There is an underlying aggression that I have experienced many times including being attacked by one drunken Japanese salaryman and having my computer stolen, witnessing several punch ups and seeing old ladies pushed over in the scramble to run for the next train. Just to show you this incident is not in isolation see the Yomiuri Daily today where a Japanese serviceman aged 39 threw a 43 yr old salaryman onto the tracks. Here's the link

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20141030-OYT1T50062.html?from=ytop_main7

I used the Dentoshi line every Monday and Tuesday morning and go through 'nikotama' as Japanese love to call it. I was on the train yesterday about thirty minutes before that incident a day later Trains are too crowded in the morning and whether it is loud music emitting from headphones, someone playing a game on their cell phone with their elbows brushing you or someone reading a newspaper .... there are just so many ways people can get on one's nerves. And suddenly there is a loud sneeze and you notice that the person who sneezed all over you made no attempt to cover that sneeze ... but to be honest, I am surprised that there is not more heads rolling in a scuffle at any train station .... In fact, I have not seen a scuffle in a long time.

Still legally a minor, so he'll get a slap on the wrist and a suspended sentence.

No doubt.... so many ways to get irritated... especially when its hard to actually blow off some steam and relieve stress. I'm amazed at the low number of fights. But that said... I did ride crowded NY City Subways for two years and never saw a fight either. In NY... you tend to just keep your head down... plus you don't know if someone is carrying a weapon. Given the choice... I'd rather be on a Japanese train... where chances are quite low that someone is carrying an actual weapon. But I believe Japan will see an increase in altercations. Japan has changed in the last 30 years. People no longer think that "gaman" is a virtue.

Although we shouldn't be pushing people off platforms, I'm not surprised more and more people seem to be exploding with anger these days. So many commuters don't look around at all to see their surroundings. Their heads are in there smart phones. Many men sit with legs wide apart, taking up more space than needed so others can't sit down. I get tempted to say things but it's not worth getting hit for it.

There is an underlying aggression that I have experienced many times

This is so true. Everything appears harmonious on the surface here, and visitors marvel at the politeness and calm of the Japanese people, but anyone who has been here a while can sense the underlying tension. It doesnt take much for them to blow because its been building up for so long and when they do: kaboom.

My work station. Was taihen!

gelendestrasse, I witnessed similar altercations in the 90s, wouldnt say its any worse now.

Without the full story its difficult to be sure but I would speculate its likely the younger guy just lost his rag. While pushing the older bloke was certainly reckless, I doubt the attack was planned so the charge of attempted murder seems a bit of a stretch.

Agreed that people seem to be under more psychological pressure here, which most should have been trained since elementary school to keep under control. In the US, people tend generally to be more casual and laid-back.

Here, if something snags the surface, like a perceived insult, then the whole thing can really blow.

Small point of English.

Glad to see that this article correctly says 'pushed him off' the platform, and not 'off of' the platform. :-)

So anyway, attempted murder? I was think more like reckless endangerment or something. You know. Something that might actually stick in court.

The prosecution wouldn't have a lot of options in this case, and I think they are probably acutely aware of what will 'stick in court'. 'Reckless endangerment' as such isn't codified into Japanese law. The closest you could get is involuntary manslaughter. This can't apply in this case because there is no charge for attempted involuntary manslaughter. And in law manslaughter involves a failure in what the court considers reasonable duties - it most commonly applies to negligent car drivers or teachers etc.

saying his bag had hit him.

REALLY??

...>saying his bag had hit him

Many Japanese are a bit volatile, getting all worked up over nothing. Here we seem to have a prime example. Sure, I also find it annoying when all these so-called 'well mannered' people fling their bags around inside trains, but how are you wired if it comes to pushing a fellow person onto the train tracks, potentially killing them?! That's what's scary over here - many mentally- or semi-mentally ill people walking around like ticking bombs, flipping out over nothing.

And lo and behold many of these blow ups seem to happen in the Kanto area

I take it none of those electric gates at the edge of the platforms there?

Police arrested a 19-year-old youth for attempted murder after he pushed a 53-year-old man off the platform onto the train tracks in Tokyo

wow things are going into thermal runaway...could it be the unseen hot particles are heating tempers up?

reminds me of the stomp down to death at the ramen shop a little while back, So many chips on peoples shoulders, Is Tokyo becoming a place called the "home of a foot in the a_s".

the article doesn't mention if there was an apology or not, either way, the youngster was wrong if he yelled out loud, which doesn't surprise me coming from a vocational student. Most of those guys are hard core work types with no to little manners if any. The older generation those over 55 had manners, below that it gets less and less. I've been bumped many times just walking and 8 or 10 times no apologies from the younger generation unless their Jr high to elementary kids.

So anyway, attempted murder? I was think more like reckless endangerment or something. You know. Something that might actually stick in court.

"There is a difference between accidentally bumping your bag and pushing someone onto the tracks"

How do you know the bumping was accidental and the pushing onto the tracks wasn't? I flunked out of clairvoyance school you see. I don't even having any video footage for help!

The hell of it is that the bag probably did hit him, it hurt and the guy did not even acknowledge it or apologize.

Also, attempted murder seems a bit of a leap. Its not like the teen pushed the guy unexpectedly from behind. They were fighting and his push may not have been intentionally aimed at the tracks at all.

Was there even a train coming at the time? If there was a fight, and one guy landed on an empty road, would there be attempted murder charges?

Was the guy with the bag charged with anything? Was he also pushing?