14-year-old girl jumps to death from train platform

Out of the 30,000+ suicides committed in Japan each year why does this one get to have headline coverage?

I agree. I'm very curious about why some get covered and others don't. Last year my student's 14-year-old niece took her own life by jumping off a tall building, but there was absolutely no press coverage at all. Actually I've heard quite a few stories like this in Japan, but rarely read about them - unless they occur in Tokyo or surrounding cities. Could it be a location thing?

Its sad, yes. But why do they include how much time the train was delayed (inconvenience)?

Maybe they tend to report suicides that inconvenience others. The main point (to the reporters/editors) appears to be that many have been inconvenienced, rather than this poor girl choosing to end her life. I hope I'm wrong about this.

It's always the pretty ones RIP

Sad, unnecessary and a complete waste. I know for a fact that in Japan there are many, many situations were parents have almost zero dialogue with their children or with each other. Very, very sad.

Fortunately the number of suicides has been decreasing steadily over the past several years. Of course, news like this is heart-wrenching.

http://www.japantoday.com/mobile/view/no-of-suicides-drops-below-30000-for-third-straight-year

Its sad, yes. But why do they include how much time the train was delayed (inconvenience)?

Out of the 30,000+ suicides committed in Japan each year why does this one get to have headline coverage?

I agree. I'm very curious about why some get covered and others don't. Last year my student's 14-year-old niece took her own life by jumping off a tall building, but there was absolutely no press coverage at all. Actually I've heard quite a few stories like this in Japan, but rarely read about them - unless they occur in Tokyo or surrounding cities. Could it be a location thing?

Out of the 30,000+ suicides committed in Japan each year why does this one get to have headline coverage? Japan should have a separate specialized news site just for suicides to give a chance for all these poor souls to have at least a day in the spotlight.

Those who have decided to end their lives often show no signs or even seem happy, because they've made the decision that will end all their troubles. RIP to the girl. I hope her family is comforted. I know I would go insane if this ever happened in my family. Make sure your kids know they are loved. The greatest honor I've ever received is hearing my grand daughter tell people "I know daddy (in our family papa is papa, and ojichan is daddy) loves me"

Poor kid, heartbreaking. : (

Something similar happened to someone I know a few years ago; the boy, this time, was in an international school, though, so it wasn't the examination hell of the Japanese school system. I doubt there are any suicidal teenagers reading this, but just in case there are: if you do this, you will be famous in your social circle for a week. In a year, you will be forgotten. Except, of course, for your parents, who will carry this with them till the day they die.

That's why it's important for family members to talk

@Dennis711. Good comment.

My daughter and I used to bake X-mas cookies, go trick-or-treating, amusement parks, attend school functions, carpool her buddies wherever they wanted to shop, go out to eat bi-monthly etc. . . . Put "life" into those early years.

I'm NOT saying the poor girl's parents didn't do these things, which I've just mentioned, but simply. . .to create a morale booster now and again for these kids.

I use the same train station. Wish I had been in the area to help out. I get on about 45 minutes later. SAD!

I hope the little one can rest in peace and if the mother is like other Japanese mothers that I know the pressure to do well in school is horrific. As one post put it, a father wrote he heard his wife shouting at his boys for two months. If its not bullying at school, it could very well be the pressure to do well at school from teachers and her mom and this is why the mom probably didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, I say this because, lets assume the mother was pressuring her daughter and she may have not even noticed the pressure she was putting her daughter throughr because for the mom it was constant and no different from any other day.

So very sad. I feel so sorry for her family & friends. Hopefully they will find the support needed to get thru this difficult time....

Johninjapan above is likely right. Many suicides are done on impulse. Remember director itami juzo? Jumped from roof over extra mArital affair with much younger woman. This 14 yr girl likely was in such mental pain over something or other ...that suicide for her was actually a happy way out and exit from her unimaginable mental anguish. She is in better place now .. with Jesus. RIP.

Many suicides we always read.. And we at times quick to blame their parents. But have we analyse that much of the suicide by young students are related to schools and school environments?

Horrible

@Dan Joseph:

I think the answer to your question as to why this train suicide was covered was the age of the individual involved. Most do not involve junior high students.

Just a guess.

Since when did the media start publishing train suicides? There are about 30 a day in Japan.

"The girl’s mother was quoted by police as saying that she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary with her daughter when she left home for school."

No, nothing out of the ordinary, bar the constant testing, and pushing, pressure to do well in school, pressure to fit in, pressure to look cute, etc etc .

Tragic in so many ways.

It is a big exam day today for my 12 yo and 14 yo sons. They have been freaking out with the pressure on them from the schools and especially my Japanese wife who has been shouting at them everyday for months. If this poor girl had as much or a fraction the pressure laid upon my boys, I would say here lies the problem. Death at 06:30 am and I bet she was awake until 2am.

For dcog9065: I was also delayed that morning from Yoga station.

This is the same accident. The Tokyu Denentoshi line connects directly to the Honzomon Line from Shibuya so the delay was caused by this and not a second incident.

High school kids were saying she fell off the platform while looking at her keitai/mobile phone - but if the above report is true, supported by platform camera video and eyewitnesses, then the students didn't have the facts yet (they were late to school due to this, and rumors tend to go viral when 人身事故 or Jinshin jiko - personal injury - is the reason they need to provide when they arrived late to school - and others who were late to their offices).

wish i could have been there to stop her. poor thing.

Very lamentable! How I wish I could be of help even if I have troubles of my own!

easy..find her bf first!

Private junior high schools are a tough place for teenagers and most have just finished the gruelling slog of mid-term exams. If her mother said, she didn't notice anything wrong, it's a pretty safe assumption it is school related. Sad end to a young life.

A tragedy. A young 14 years old girl give up living. A strong message to all of us. Let's pay attention to the people who are close to us. Let us take care of our children.

Victim of BULLY at School, they should have a counselor at school looking for these kind of problems, One life wasted

Very sad end

That's absolutely tragic, I hate to think of what sort of trauma might have led her to this..

There was also a suicide on the Hanzomon line yesterday morning, trains delayed for about 40 minutes or so..

Poor thing.. Her life ended by her own hand when it had just begun.. "It can't rain all the time...."

This sort of suicide is impossible to stop in Japan. Each Japanese person would have to be reborn and reraised in a totally different society and mindset....and that isn't ever going to happen.

so sad.

Just another day in Japan.

As some of the above posts have said it's really hard to know if someone will commit suicide. Those who wish to die will die, there is very little you can do to stop them. That's why it's important for family members to talk. I'm not surprised by the mother's statement. Most Jr. high and high school students are busy seven days a week. They have class and then culb until 7 or 8 in the evening and then commute home. Where they usually eat dinner, take a bath and go to bed and wake up and repeat. I would be asking classmates or teammates what was happening, which is most likely what the police are doing. What a waste of a young life. R.I.P.

It may have been a sudden impulse. I live near this station and find this very sad. I may have seen her walking home from the station from time to time.

Of all the most pain-inflicting ways to kill yourself, what is the attraction to jumping in front of a train?

Potential suicide victims can mask their depression and that's why sometimes suicide comes as such a shock and surprise to people who knew the victim. You may be talking with someone within a few hours of their attempt and everything appeared normal. RIP.

Rest in peace.

Very sad. Here in NY, USA, we have the Samaritans, a very helpful group. I am unfortunately a "survivor" of the passing of my very dear loved one who left us, five years ago, by her own hand. I hope this young girls parents find loving understanding support, they will carry their loss a lifetime. In Japan there are a couple groups that offer such help. See... http://samaritansnyc.org/get-help/ http://www.spc-osaka.org/ http://telljp.com/ but, how to reach out to these young kids? RIP.

god bless her soul, what a sad story, por girl and family

This is the sadest news to read. A young bright soul, snuffed out. RIP.

For a nation desperate to increase the number of children, you'd think they'd do a better job of taking care of those living.

Poor little one..I wish I could have been of help. I wish I knew her or something and maybe just maybe would have made a little difference. It gives me chest pains.

Poor poor girl. What hell she must have been going through to lead to this. Brings tears to my eyes.

The girl’s mother was quoted by police as saying that she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary with her daughter when she left home for school.

RIP young one, such a waste, and it surprises me not one bit that mom didnt notice anything.

(A common thing among parents of children of suicide, come on Mom and Dad pay attention to your children!)