The bodies of a 38-year-old woman and her one-year-old twin daughters were found on the ground beside a apartment building in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Friday morning.
Police said it appears the woman, holding her daughters, jumped to her death from the 11th floor roof at around 9 a.m. The woman did not live in the building, police said.
According to police, the woman worked for the Chiba prefectural police department, Fuji TV reported. Sources close to the investigation said the woman had been suffering from a mental illness over the past few years. She was currently on maternity leave.
© Japan Today
63 Comments
Login to comment
Mirai Hayashi
Not again
kimuzukashiiiii
poor daughters. there is much more help needed for old first time mothers like this lady, who are statistically the highest risk group for post partum depression.
TumbleDry
Poor girls. Didn't have time to enjoy life. This so sad.
smithinjapan
Get ready for the pity-party to jump on this thread and talk about how "it was not the woman's fault" and "Gosh! Shucks! Sure what happened might be bad, but she cannot be held responsible and is not in any way at all culpable for her actions", etc. etc.
The weekly mom murderer is in! although really it's become almost daily. Do these women have access to help? YES! Is it not enough? arguably, but the help is there. Knowing the help is there, and not getting it, means they ARE culpable, and only shows that they are all the more guilty of murder. These cowards! If they're so desperate to die and refuse help, that's too bad, but STOP TAKING THE CHILDREN WITH YOU! It's the same with other people who have mental issues who take others with them -- they are murderers, plain and simple. Be they mothers, or co-pilots of airplanes, fathers, or anyone else.
nath
Get ready for the science deniers who think that people who are unable to distinguish right from wrong are still culpable for their actions, and talk about how "it's all the woman's fault" and "Damn this woman, even if she was crazy, she is a murderer and should be punished as such" etc. etc.
CrazyJoe
You can probably attribute this to the emotional instability of the mother or simply her unwillingness to care for the children.
DenTok2009
Wonder if there's an intrepid reporter out there tracking down the psychiatrist or psychologist or therapist who was treating or formerly treated this woman. Was she diagnosed before her pregnancy? What was the treatment? Drugs to keep the demons at bay? Questions, questions, questions...
loiejean
What a sad news. I am also a mom,single mother of twins but I never put my kids on that situation even how tough my life is. Be strong mothers & never give up. Our kids are a great blessings from God. Treasure them 'coz they are our great wealth. Have a happy weekend!
igloobuyer
If one person says, 'this is normal and happens more often in other countries' I will eat my hat right now. Come on Japan - must.do.more.for.mothers!
Andrew Poh
Is there any help in Japan for people suffering from mental illness?
nath
How do you know it doesn't?
Gerard van Schip
I'm a Chiba resident and curios what's up with all these suicides here.
harvey pekar
Absolutely the worst news stories, the senseless murder of children.
slumdog
The article does mention her having a mental illness. If so, it is hard to know how culpable she was without knowing the full details of her condition and whether she was currently being treated.
At any rate, this is a truly sad story.
khulifi
San news ..
Disillusioned
So, she has been suffering mental illness for a few years, but was still alone with her children? Now, they are dead and so is she. Severe depression is rampant in Japan and many people just can't handle it. 27% of Japanese adults have some kind of mental illness, which is one of the highest rates in the world. That's just over a quarter of the adult population. One in four! It's both saddening and maddening to see people take their own lives and the lives of their children. It's very difficult to have any sort of pitty for people who do this. Yeah, it happens all over the world, but only in Japan do you read about it every week!
nath
No they don't. It's 4%.
Kabukilover
The mental health system in Japan needs to be reconstituted and expanded. Probably this woman got only drugs as "therapy."
nath
This is so very tragic, and I agree with those who say that more has to be done to emotionally help mothers. I hear such sad stories like this from everywhere - depression after birth is something we who have never experienced it find it hard to understand but there are always signs and friends and family also have to be educated so they can recognize the symptoms before it is too late. Those poor innocent babies ... and mom, who so needed help. Very sad.
Elbuda Mexicano
Very sad! Poor woman, poor babies and that husband must be devastated too. RIP (did she have a husband??? Was he terrible and part of the problem???)
Jenny Wells
The official rate for mental illness sufferers in Japan is 24%, according to Japan's own government.
http://www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/arts-culture/new-documentary-explores-taboo-subject-of-mental-illness-in-japan
That's pretty much 1 in 4, not 4%.
commanteer
And your solution would be what exactly? Take the children away from any parent being treated for mental illness and stick them in an institution somewhere? That will certainly encourage depressed mothers to seek treatment!
kimuzukashiiiii
dejaboo you are quite wrong. the ideal biological time to have a first child is late teens to early twenties. advanced maternal age begins at 35.that is not my opinion, but medical fact.
and heres a reference, so i cant be accused of pulling things out of my backside.
https://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=advanced%20maternal%20age%20postpartum%20psychosis&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jogc.com%2Fabstracts%2Ffull%2F201409_WomensHealth_1.pdf&ei=KMkfVeP2O4iO8QXXvoHwCA&usg=AFQjCNFfvVSUpRE0l8xfWQUu748xr0jukQ&sig2=lqonDtUrcuMkOiwfJRN97g&bvm=bv.89947451,d.dGc
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/9095812/Older-mothers-five-times-more-likely-to-suffer-from-depression.html
http://www.medicaldaily.com/women-choosing-careers-motherhood-are-more-vulnerable-postnatal-depression-239977
Wolfpack
So basically this is a murder suicide. It is sickening to hear how adults can decide whether or not their babies have the right to live.
Steve Crichton
Not another one. OMG. I am lost for words. Thats 180 years of life taken by this woman. Will it ever end. Surely there is a solution.
JoeBigs
Mother leaps to death with 1-year-old twin daughters
The insane do the most insane things and sadly the innocent seem to always pay for their insanity!
I just wish that the governments of the world would start looking at the actions of the completely insane before they have a chance to infect or victimize the innocent!
Newsman
If the girls were one year old, that most likely means the mother's maternity leave was coming to an end. This is more supposition piling on top of speculation here, but one could imagine a number of scenarios in that situation: overpriced or inadequate child care options, or even (my guess) an inability to square the schedule of a police officer with day care options. Most likely there will be no follow-up to this story, and we will just be left with the unsettling feeling that something is wrong and no one will ever be given enough clues on how to fix things in the future for other people faced with similar problems.
justbcuzisay
Not to be annoying, but the way the article is written, it is unclear wether the twin girls died or not.
were there miltiple bodies or just one body?
Either way, so sad to hear that this mom with two precious little girls was so depressed. I hope we find a way to reduce such sad stories in the future,
cleo
The police department allows women to take maternity leave until the child's third birthday. Mothers who return to work are offered appropriate schedules - no night work, no weekend work, no work that might involve extended hours without notice.
DaDude
I was really upset at this story until I read this comment. I nearly spit out my drink laughing at the ridiculousness of this.
Disillusioned
Ah, I see you read the Japanese news. And, you believe it?
slumdog
How about you give us a reason not to.
smithinjapan
Strangerland: ""it's all the woman's fault"
I never said, nor on all the other "mom kills children" articles so far this year (and there have been far too many). In fact, I've even agreed that society bears PART of the blame for making help not as available as it should be. It's there, and as previous posters on other articles mentioned, THEY sought help when they had feelings of PPD or what have you, so why can't these women? BUT, you guys come on here and say it is NOT AT ALL the fault of the women, with some posters even denying this woman and others like her killed the children (one said, "society killed them" and LITERALLY meant it!). Can you admit this woman killed her children?
And disillusioned is right: "A study last year by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor found that 24% of Japanese people had suffered from some kind of mental health problem. Another report found that one in five adults had considered killing themselves, with actual suicide rates at 51 per 100,000 people — twice as high as the U.S. and three times that of the UK. "
From an article right here on JT, and also listed in other stats. So don't drink any liquid around the computer when reading the stats, DaDude! Repairs will be pricey!
UK9393
Where is the support? Where is the care? Where the professionals to identify the issues that are manifesting themselves into madness?
JFHC. The mind boggles. Too sad that AGAIN... and again and again...
YongYang
@Loeijean, please, do not forget the single fathers too in your reach out to those who need support.
Why? Why again are children are murdered? It's akin to the state murdering them because the parent was not given support to survive and live and take life on. My wife and I would have taken them in, loved them, made them into the people they deserved to be. Just. Too. Sad. Heartbreaking.
UK9393
Mental illness has to stop STOP being taboo in Japan, it's the most common illness amongst uses a species, time to WAKE up to the fact and start helping people. I can just imagine how useful, supportive and pro-active the husband was. So preventable.
Stephen Jez
Japan really needs to revamp their mental health care system.
NathalieB
It IS approximately 27% and it didn't come from the media - the government themselves issued the report a few years ago and there was an article about it right here on JT.
Michael Croson
Post Partum depression probably is the cause especially if she was unmarried. Indeed very sad.I have had respond and document such incidents.
dejaboo
Kimuzukasii, I have no argument that it's biologically ideal to have children earlier. The links didn't work but I'm not sure the telegraph is a source I'd take much from. And the title of the links seem to indicate as I mentioned, there are many other variables for PND than being 'old'. Remember also that in many developed countries, around 30 is now the average age of a first time mother. Reputable medical sources will include advanced age along with many other factors as risks for PND
nath
I just read the article, and it did not say that 24% of Japanese people are suffering mental illness. I think you need to re-read it. If you feel otherwise, then please provide the quote from that article that says that 24% of Japanese people are suffering from mental illness.
Oh, I didn't read that in the Japanese news. I pulled the number out of my butt. I thought that's what we were doing when the poster before me made up the fact about 27% of Japanese people having mental illness.
If the woman is not able to differentiate right from wrong, it IS not at all her fault. That's how insanity works. You can't blame someone for failing to differentiate between right and wrong, when they are incapable of doing so.
Yes. I won't pass judgement on whether or not she is culpable, as I have no idea as to the specifics of her case. I will state that if she was unable to differentiate between right and wrong, then I wouldn't hold her culpable for what she did. Not everything is someone's fault.
But that's not what disillusion claimed. He claimed "27% of Japanese adults have some kind of mental illness". Ignoring that he was wrong with the number itself (3% isn't a huge discrepancy), the fact is not that 24% of Japanese adults have mental illness, only that they have suffered it in the past. The difference is significant.
Heda_Madness
What's 'interesting' about the study that said 24% blah blah is that it was first released in 2008 and journalists have just rehashed the exact same quotes to make it relevant to 2014
There's plenty of evidence on the Web to show that the US has the highest percentage of mental health problems, three times more than Japan according to the WHO.
Indeed. Kind of like saying 100% of people have cold because they have previously suffered from it.
602miko
why taking babies lives ?
Noliving
Could it not be claimed that what he meant was that around 27% of the Japanese population each year will suffer from mental illness?
nath
That's not what he claimed, and it would still be just as inaccurate regardless.
Noliving
Maybe he misspoke?
Would it? It is said that one in five Americans will have a mental health condition each year, considering Japan's suicide rate is higher than that of the USA it does not seem that it would be far-fetched to claim that over 20% of Japan's population will have a mental health condition annually.
nath
Then he is welcome to explain how he misspoke.
Yes, it would
Claims without actual numbers are entirely irrelevant. The number that has been presented as coming from the government is that 24% of Japanese have suffered a mental health condition. The number was not 24% in the past year, it was 24% ever. So yes, it would be inaccurate. And your claim that a number over 20% wouldn't be far-fetched means nothing if you cannot find something that shows that the number per year is over 20%.
Noliving
Really? How so?
Well the suicide rate is something isn't it? So it does in fact mean something.
No that is not true, a lot of laws are created based on claims and not actual numbers. Everyone in the world behaves in was that are based entirely upon claims and not on actual numbers.
But here are some numbers for you as to why it isn't far-fetched that maybe 20% or more of the population suffers from a mental health condition each year in Japan:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2012/02/12/commentary/depression-is-a-national-ailment-that-demands-open-recognition-in-japan/#.VSCwc9yopcY
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/04/us-europe-mental-illness-idUSTRE7832JJ20110904
Seeing as how Japan has a much higher suicide rate than most of the world and considering a lot of the developed world has annual mental illness rates of around 20-40% each year, it is not far-fetched to make the claim that 20+% of the Japanese population would suffer from a mental health condition annually.
nath
Through a lack of accuracy.
It's not a number that describes the number of Japanese people who will suffer mental illness in a given year.
Here is why a claim without facts to back it up is irrelevant. You say 'it's not a leap to think that over 20% of the population suffers a mental illness in a given year'. I say 'yes it is'. Without numbers, there is no way to prove which of us are right, and therefore your claim is irrelevant, since you cannot prove that I am wrong.
Ok, you've shown that some guy has reported that the number may be as high as 1/4 for elementary school pupils. Then you show another number that say something about the prison population. Neither of these are representative of Japanese population as a whole. So while the numbers you bring up are interesting, they do nothing to promote your claim that more than 20% of the population suffers mental illness in a year.
Europeans are not Japanese. So you've brought up another irrelevant statement.
Yes, it is far-fetched, and you have yet to prove otherwise. You've made a hypothesis based on either irrelevant cultures, or extremely limited sub-sets of the Japanese population. Neither of which any scientist anywhere would consider enough to extrapolate the levels of mental illness in the Japanese as a whole over a given year.
justbcuzisay
I was really really hoping the original wording was right and the babies had somehow survived. So sad. RIP
igloobuyer
A lot of people don;t know how to look after themselves let alone children and I mean that in an objective way; there is a lack of role models for healthy thinking and self love.
smithinjapan
Strangerland: "No they don't. It's 4%."
Where's you proof, mister 'you need to back it up with numbers'. So far those who have are wrong and you are right, solely because you say you're right and their comments are 'far-fetched'. And none of this 'the onus is not on me' if you're insisting others are wrong and you are right.
"Europeans are not Japanese. So you've brought up another irrelevant statement."
Not irrelevant at all as a comparison and as a means to gauge, given the suicide rate in Japan (you need numbers for that, too?) and the studies shown in how depressed kids and others are. What's 'far-fetched' is the idea that Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world but has a much lower suicide rate than nations with a higher number of people suffering mental illness, especially we are talking about a woman who is guilty of murdering who two infants along with killing herself due to mental illness (and she is culpable for the murders because she is known to have been suffered for some time and was not getting the help she needed).
nath
I guess you didn't read the rest of my posts, or you would have seen this:
As a comparison it wouldn't be irrelevant. But that's not how the poster was using it. The poster was using European numbers to conclusively determine that more than 20% of Japanese have mental illness in a given year. That conclusion however cannot be logically made through numbers in a completely unrelated culture.
This is a failure in logic. If she truly was unable to tell right from wrong - which would mean she is not culpable - she wouldn't be able to recognize that she needed help, as understanding she needed help would mean she was able to determine that getting help was the right thing to do. The determination of culpability is in whether she was able to tell right from wrong, not on whether or not she decided to get help.
Jason Campbell
A fine reason to stop reading Japan Today for a while. "Oh! A nice new Japan Today to start my Morning. Wonder how Japan is doing. It's ok over here where I am. Kind of happy even. Let's have a read on the front page...wait...A Mother jumps...dead twins...Ok...I'm not happy anymore. Pretty depressed actually. Thanks Japan Today."
lucabrasi
@Jason
You can't really blame JapanToday for what happens out there in the real world.... Stuff happens.
Shanique Smith
Wow! I'm always speechless with news like these. I try to put myself in their shoes in a worst case scenario, but still can't understand how they do it. I can only ask, "Why?" I wish I could be of more help.
nath
I agree, but the other side of that is that if the news depresses you, it's probably better not to read it. That's what my mother does. The news stresses her out too much, so she stopped watching/reading. She's just too sensitive. It's made her a lot happier in life.
Noliving
How is a it a lack of accuracy?
It is proxy number, it is an indication of how prevalent mental health conditions might be in Japan.
Right, proxy populations that are you could almost say are the complete opposite of one another and yet they have mental health conditions rates that are over 20%+, those do in fact promote the claim that it is possible that 20%+ of the population suffer from mental illness in a year.
That is false, the poster was not using the European numbers to conclusively determine that it is more than 20%, just that it is realistic to consider the possibility that it is 20+% more annually, the poster also uses prison population as well as grade school children that shows mental health conditions are afflicting 20+% each year, which further adds weight to the theory that 20%+ of the general Japanese population has a mental health condition each year, it is not being presented as conclusive evidence just something that supports an idea.
When you consider the fact that 20+ European Countries, USA, and Canada all have mental health conditions afflicting at least 20%+ of the population each year it is not far fetched to suggest that just maybe you would find similar rates in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, etc.
If I proved other-wise than it wouldn't be a hypothesis anymore but a fact. I have already shown that there are sizable population subset groups that are the complete opposite of one another that have 20+% mental health conditions. I have also shown that in at least 20+ other developed nations the mental health conditions afflicts 20%+ of the population annually each year. It is not far-fetched to say that it is possible that 20+% of Japan's population also experiences mental health conditions annually. We already know the children of Japan do and we know the Japanese prison population does.
Seeing as Japan's government does not keep a statistic that shows how many people are afflicted on an annual basis the next best thing is through proxies and all we are left with is suggestions of how many might be afflicted.
Jason Campbell
@ Lucabrasi No, they're not to blame. Just tossing it out there as front page news instead of something good and not depressing would've been a nice change of pace. Can't fault them, as it's the same where I'm at. No one cares about anything 'Happy'. The awful things bring in the views. Sadly.
GTB368
There are real chemical imbalances behind mental illness. To call this woman a murderer only shows the ignorance some folk have with the way the brain functions.People far cleverer than us know this! Sure, it's a tragic that she took the girls with her. They say there is no stronger bond/love than a mother to her newborn child. Do you people really think she would do this if she was in full control of her actions. People need to cut this poor mother a break. RIP to mum and the kids.
ratpack
Breaks my heart to think that someone could do that to their own 1 year old twin daughters. They never had a chance to enjoy life...so terribly sad.
nath
These events that take place really hurt me to hear about. Three precious lives are gone now.
chuichi
So sad... those girls were innocent... RIP