Man dying of stab wounds asks taxi driver to take him to hospital

SmithinJapan, actually, ambulances are usually very quick to arrive and they and intubate while searching for an emergency room; however, taxis are EVERYWHERE, so he probably thought it was quicker than waiting for an ambulance. (Odds are a hospital wasn't so far off, especially if it was in Arakawa.) My experience the one time I had to call an ambulance was very positive.

Reinaert I have been admitted to hospital in emergency situation here in japan after arriving by taxi at night, so they will accept patients any time. Admittedly SOME hospitals may not though.

The driver called 110 for help

And the big white taxi arrived, for at least as of emergency first aid everything is the same, they don't and not even allowed to do anything in the ambulance car to save their lives, just calling hospitals for hours, till they can find one that is willing to accept the wounded. And then comes the funeral.

In other countries special emergency ambulance cars that are sent to special cases can even conduct labor and women giving birth, special smaller life saving surgeries for the wounded etc. in the ambulance car with doctors if it is necessary to save lives.

No problem, until they are 130 millions of them, a few dozens of wasted lives daily, doesn't make any difference. Leastways it seems to me like that.

@Graham DeShazo That applies to you too!

Arakawa-ku is the second lowest in terms of crime . Bunkyou-ku is the lowest.

Between Sept 2010 - Sept 2011 Arakawa had 2053 reported cases. Bunkyou-ku had 1530 cases. Shinjiku-ku had 7042 cases.

http://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp/toukei/keiho/pdf/keiho.pdf

Did this guy die out of a punctured lung or did he just bleed to death? I hope he left some kind of evidence for the police to catch the cowardly perpetrador

Isn't Ueno in Arakawa ku?? Not one of Tokyo's finest areas IMHO.

Readers, please refrain from making inappropriate remarks.

If it was at night the hospital where he could have arrived by taxi would probably have refused him until an ambulance had arrived. Japanese hospitals don't take patients at night who are not carried by an ambulance.

The poor man. 24 is so young, and to die so slowly, in pain and confusion,, probably without a familiar face near yours. I hope the presence of the cabbie and hospital staff helped him a little.

"I do not want to speculate about Arakawa ku not a very good part of Tokyo, that shita machi kind of place, "

Then don't! I live in Arakawa-ku and have for 13 years. It has the lowest crime rate of any Ku in the 23 ward area. Shita machi also means that all the old people keep their eyes peeled for trouble.

Bottom line is that random (or in this case not?) violence can happen anywhere, but some places are worse than others.

Ever heard "better to be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt"? If you don't know, don't type.

I think Mexicano confused it with Adachi-ku, which always competes with Shinjuku-ku for the highest criminality. And Graham, sorry to burst your bubble, but Bunkyo-ku has the lowest crime rate, according to the Police Department‘s statistics for 2011 and 2010. Arakawa-ku is second, closely tied with Meguro-ku and Chuo-ku

Reinaert and Export, my understanding is that in US, the hospital system involves taking the patient to the nearest ER and a triage, but in Japan the ambulances call the hospitals, and hospitals only accept patients if surgeons are available. (I may be wrong about this.) This might be the confusion.

No doubt.... the ambulances in Japan move at a snails pace and rarely seem to try to make smart aggressive traffic moves to get the injured party to the hospital quickly. There have actually been times where I have directed traffic myself in order to get a Japanese ambulance to move quicker. Why have a Siren and Light when you don't make proper use of them.

combinibento wrote:

How ironic that as unfair as life treated him, at the end he was just another fare.

Moderator wrote:

Readers, please refrain from making inappropriate remarks.

Why is this an inappropriate remark? It seems that moderators here have the power to cut out interesting or thought-provoking comments without explanation. But hurry up and read this because it will probably be deleted.

Moderator: The use of the words "unfair" and "fare" is a pathetic attempt at humor on a thread where humor is inappropriate.

What's with all these knifings in Japan anyway? Are so many Japanese carrying knives around for protection or otherwise? Going to an izakaya nowadays may be a little risky especially if there are drunken knife carrying customers who would love to perforate a gaijin's back. Hey the guy got stabbed in the back. He may have been either running away or just attacked from behind without knowing who did it. I guess if he were in a fight, he'd have cut hands and frontal wounds. On the other hand, maybe someone with a grudge got him. Hope the cops figure it out and catch the murderer.

Arakawa-ku is the second lowest in terms of crime . Bunkyou-ku is the lowest.

Is this for violent crime?

I'm not as worried about people shoplifting rice balls from the konbini.

The TV news said that the knife wound penetrated into his heart. I was surprised to read that he lived so long. I hope the police find the perpetrator. By the way, Elbuda Mexicano, it is illegal to carry a large knife or even a medium size pocket knife in Japan. Not long ago, a 70 something year-old elderly American visiting his son in Tokyo was arrested and held for several days for carrying a pocket knife. He walked into the police box to ask directions, and the police, knowing that American men of that age are likely to carry a multifunction tool of some kind, asked if he had a pocket knife on him. He said sure and pulled it out. If he were a young Japanese punk the police would likely have let him off with a warning.

I saw this news on TV couple days ago and I wasn’t paying attention but he is really young!!! No matter what reason you can’t take somebody’s life down for your own good. I didn’t know that!! I don’t know why this happen but all I can say is nowhere is safe for anybody. I thought Japan used to really safe and peaceful country but news like this is on all the time these days. It makes me sad. I hope the police will find out who did it and why did that happen. I think his family need to know that at least.

Watch your backs people...watch your backs....!!! Shanking (slang for knifing) lingers all around us now and leaps when less expected!! I wonder what the fuss between them two was all about though!?

Better than calling an ambulance in this nation. Unfortunately he died. RIP.

I would have definitely called a cab too! Shitamachi rocks!

Sorry, but I do know the difference between Arakawa ku and Adachi Ku, one good friend of mine lives in Arakawa, maybe too many Koreans for my tastes, and Adachi Ku,well my wife was born and raised right next to that ku in Edogawa ku, so not like I do not know Tokyo amigos, anyway, this thing can happen, unfortunately ANYWHERE but come on, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro are all crappy dumps here in Tokyo with way too many crazy people so if somebody is going to get randomly stabbed, my guess it would be in one of those dumps, and this case right near there in Arakawa ku, just hop on the yamanote train and you can be in any of these places in a few minutes if the trains do not stop because of a jinshinjikou etc..right? but any way RIP young dude and I hope they find this criminal ASAP!!

I got knifed in the states. Cops got there first, then the ambulance. They code whatevered me top speed to the hospital for poor people, cutting my down coat off with scissors in the ambulance, feathers flying everywhere.

It doesn't really hurt, kind of like getting punched. Luckily it was viscous bleeding and not arterial bleeding. I wonder why this guy died? If it was like me, viscous bleeding from being stabbed in the back (literally), it would have taken a long time to bleed to death.

I do not want to speculate about Arakawa ku not a very good part of Tokyo, that shita machi kind of place, a fight?? Some dude pulls out a knife and stabs this guy in the back?? Like a real low down snake in the grass?? Nice if big knives could be outlawed in Japan ASAP!

How ironic that as unfair as life treated him, at the end he was just another fare.