Police in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, have arrested a 57-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of causing the death of his sick 86-year-old mother by leaving her on a park bench.
Ichiaki Matsuda was the sole caregiver of his ailing mother, Toki Matsuda, Kyodo News reported. Police said Matsuda took his mother to a nearby park on Oct 14 and left her unattended on a park bench.
An anonymous person called 119 and said an elderly woman was slumped on a park bench. The woman, who had no ID on her, was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead due to exposure.
In November, police visited Matsuda's home after a relative contacted them to say there had been no contact with Toki for awhile. Matsuda told police his mother had gone out and not returned.
After further questioning, Matsuda admitted leaving his mother in the park and said he was stressed out from looking after her.
© Japan Today
17 Comments
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Spitfire
Think we will start seeing this more and more as the poor get poorer and the socially inept are faced with caring for ailing and/or senile family members.
The LDP won't care though.
sakurasuki
Even pro elder caregiver they can be exhausted both psychically and mentally , imagine that to people who need to take care elder 24 hours in their home. J Govt just won't care about this.
Concerned Citizen
Poor mother. This is so very sad.
smithinjapan
Another family day here in Japan, I see. Poor mother.
Lindsay
It’s interesting the article has to start with him being unemployed. He was not unemployed. He had a 24/7 job looking after his ailing mother. This scenario is nothing new in Japan and keeps repeating itself with alarming regularity. These people get very little government assistance for the ailing parents who should be in care facilities. They should not be left for the families to care for. I’ve met many people in their 50’s and 60’s who will openly state they are waiting for their ailing parent to die so they can get their life back. Japan is a country that takes great pride in their elderly population but they do bugger all to help them.
Mocheake
OK, I get the part about being stressed out but leaving your mother to die on a park bench is beyond cruel. At that age, he had to have been able to come up with even a few viable ideas. Poor lady. RIP.
Laguna
There ARE options. He was likely not aware of them and probably mentally incapable of seeking them out.
Mark
The 57 years old PARSITE has done again.
Mark
Only the strong and wealthy survives these days
WA4TKG
My mom is 92, and still being taken care of at home…I can see why people do this, and my mom is still able to walk around by herself.
What if you have to do EVERYTHING for them?
Gaijinjland
Most caregiver late middle age children are not parasites. A lot of them quit their jobs to take care of their parents full time. But what this guy did was low.
Jim
Poor old mother must have been so worried wondering where her son went while waiting alone on the park bench. A million bad thoughts must have rushed through her mind during her final moments. The world is becoming crueler and crueler each day.
Mark
Poor lady, should have known she was left in the arms of a PARASITE .
almakukac
I see such news reported in Japan each day! Wifes killing their husbands, husbands killing their sons, and kids killing their mothers. Japanese society is absolutely disgusting in this regard for this reason.
For comparison I don't see such news so frequently reported from European countries (although they have their own mafia, migrant, etc crime related killings and that's similarly bad)
Ah_so
I can appreciate that he was stressed, but this is still de facto murder.