13-year-old Tokyo boy killed by train in suspected suicide

So, it was 5pm on a Sunday and he was on his way home from school club? Which club? Let's hope he is not another victim of bullying and abuse by a club teacher. Or, possibly, having to attend school seven days a week was just too much for him.

The problem is not that there is a lack of support for depression or suicidal people, the problem is the image of suicide in popular culture as an acceptable (even heroic) way to solve problems.

The problem is both. Suicide is still, although much less then before, socially accepted as a way out. However, there is also a serious lack of support. I am not referring to the anti suicide campaigns, there are plenty of those, but to the lack of availability of mental healthcare and the existing stigma on mental health problems. If Japan wants to effectively reduce that amount of suicides it needs to remove the stigma on mental health issues and develop a far bigger network of mental healthcare, and place a stigma on suicide.

My heart goes out to his family and loved ones as I know what they must endure...

That poor train driver.

I wonder what would have happened if one of these witnesses, who noticed the boy was crying, were able to ask a simple "Are you okay?"

Perhaps you misread the article. The boy was CYCLING, not crying.

No one should be a statistic at such a young age.

Society here condones the act of suicide

If society condoned it, it would not be in the papers and police would not investigate it.

Society here condones the act of suicide because it removes the burden of having to deal with another misfit who cannot or chooses not to fit in.

Do me a favor and go find a person that approves suicide as the best stress relief.

Society here condones the act of suicide because it removes the burden of having to deal with another misfit who cannot or chooses not to fit in. Except for all but the strongest and most intractable, you must change to fit the society and not the other way around. In cases of bullying, and what are the odds this is another of those, the bully is almost a projection of the society itself, alighting on difference with a view to pollarding it to the set patterns we know so well.

Very pity. He should live longer and enjoy life. If this is a suicide case, there are two possible things happened before he committed such act. He might have suffered depression caused by family related problems or he's just a victim of bullying at school.

With or without help this child was determined . What a shame. A feeling of lonliness , desperation and now a grieving fily

Maybe the fact that on a Sunday afternoon at 5pm he was on his way back from school is not entirely irrelevant. School should be from Monday to Friday.

A few years ago, the singer George Michael wrote a song called "Cars and Trains" and it was a song about a young man that commits suicide because his mother wouldn't give him the love that he needed. Its a great song and I think it tells a lot of truth about teen suicide these days.

Mainly its the Parents that really need to give their kids all the love and understanding wether they are being bullied in school, bullied on social media, or if their kids are failing in life at whatever it may be, just the parents really need to have this understanding because it's so so sad to hear about good kids committing suicide.

Thoughts and prayers to his family.

As a new parent I wish a long and happy life to my children. With the happiness of becoming a parent comes the fear that some accident should happen.

The sad truth is that Japan's society and culture both portrays suicide as heroic and tolerates discrimination and bullying. We don't know enough about this tragic case, but the love and support provided by his parents probably has nothing to do with it. On the contrary, the young teenager probably thought that he was shielding his parents from whatever shame had befallen him.

The even sadder truth is that I can imagine my own little boy facing such a struggle in years to come, and the fear that he will bravely do what he believes to be the right thing .....

RIP, tragic that his life was so short and obviously tormented. Are there publicly funded suicide lifelines in Japan? If not there should be.

Why?

The problem is not that there is a lack of support for depression or suicidal people

can you point me to the latest public service announcement then?

Back when I was 13yo I wanted to kill myself because i felt bad with my grades. Iused to play games until 4am then school at 8am. Haha

More bullying?

Where do 13 year olds learn that jumping in front of a train, or off a high building, is an option? Is it depicted in comic books? Anime? Video games? It must be depicted somewhere in a positive way because it happens far too often in this country. If comic books / anime / video games started depicting great pain and suffering, (to the victim and their family), along with some surviving with missing limbs, crippling disabilities etc. it might make people think twice. It is the media that the kids interact with that has to depict suicide as not being an option.

Rest in Peace to the poor young boy. At that age, there should be no problem big enough that can't be sorted out through support from loved ones. I hope the train driver somehow recovers, as well as the lads family (God knows how they will).

@ KiyoshiMukai - this is not the right time to be having a laugh.

I wonder what would have happened if one of these witnesses, who noticed the boy was crying, were able to ask a simple "Are you okay?"

I know it's not mentioned in the article but assuming that most people just gawk and try not to make anything their business as per usual. Well, until reporters ask them questions that is.

Poor kid. RIP :(