2-year-old boy falls to his death from 25th floor of apartment building in Chiba

2 years old? Home alone? 25th floor? Chair on balcony?

Right....nothing could possibly go wrong. Hopefully the "parents" will be prevented from ever breeding again.

Jeezus christ. What is wrong with people. Sickening. Is there a target painted on those entrance covers or something.

My first thought: Lack of family values and responsibility. RIP young man. It wasn’t your fault.

RIP little man you deserved better!

So so so sad.

Rest in peace little chap.

Blame the Japanese comdos for bad design. Unless the parents intentionally wanted this to happen.... RIP littel fella....what a sad story.

Companies and the government would like us all the blame the parents.

But shouldn't the buildings be build with this kind of safety in mind instead of saving a few yen. No parent did this on purpose. Personally I'm not a fan of railings as they have gaps little people can squeeze through.

This is a horrible story.

@ letsberealistic @5.01pm

Have to agree with you. Generally, a balcony wall would be quite difficult for a 4 yo to clamber over. Camping chairs on average, are lower than a normal chair. There are a number of questions to be asked.

Incredible and incredibly sad. There is absolutely no reason for the parents to have left him home alone. RIP.

The parents left a two year old alone in the apartment. It is 100% their fault he died. They should have been at home.

They are. Have you been in a high rise in Japan? They have similar safety features as buildings in other countries.

This isn’t true. I lived in a 6th floor apartment here with a toddler and had to move out when he was 2 because the place was a death trap. Every window had a dead 6 floor drop out of it. All of them had child locks that any 2 year old could easily open. And because Japanese apartments are so cramped every one of them had furniture or something else nearby that would allow a 2 year old to climb up to them.

And the balcony had air conditioning units right next to the railings that could be easily climbed up, creating a space where a 2 year old could fall to his death if you took your eyes off him for 5 seconds.

Japanese apartments are absolute death traps for toddlers. In this case the parents were negligent in leaving completely, but the exact same accident could happen every time a parent goes to the bathroom, answers the door, etc.

Jovt need to give a mandoary lesson to all of comming parents before birth on how to TRUELY take care of there kids without death involved. It shows from news to news article this sort of happening explains that the Japanese are incapable of taking care of their own children. Its sad to hear this story every other day or week. Please wake up and take some action to this madness rather than blame society for it.

Companies and the government would like us all the blame the parents.

How so? I read the article and blamed the parents right away.

No company or government needs to tell me that a 2 year old shouldn't be left alone.

Again ...Why would anyone in their right mind live in a high rise with small children?

Even in our two floor house we have two safety rails on each upper floor main windows. They are very easily to fit.

Why would anyone in their right mind live in a high rise with small children?

People on a budget. Do you know how expense a detached house is in Japan?

RIP and my sympathy to anyone traumatized by seeing this happen.

The building was only completed in December 2020, so they must have moved in with the child already born. Even small apartments in a brand new tower mansion like this won't be cheap, so the family must have had the resources to live somewhere else. They will be living there out of choice, not necessity. fwiw, many will know the area because its a few hundred meters from Makuhari Messe, and about a kilometer from Costco.

Awful news. I'm so sorry for the family's loss.

I hate these high rise condos. They destroy neighborhoods by making them so stale and antiseptic where no one knows each other because they live on top of each other.

WTF, They left a 2 year old alone at home? Brainless parents. I believe this is not the first time.

I blame the parents. First I don't believe in leaving a child that young at home alone, but in SOME COUNTRIES parents do that. Also if the parents are going to move in such high rise places and having young children one of the most important things to do knowing you are that high up is to install child locks that will make it hard for any child that age to open windows/doors. If parents don't do this then I think they are pretty much leaving themselves open for the impossible thought to become possible. In this case it happened.

I usually get downvoted for this, but I think all these 'falls' are suspicious and should be investigated.

How about reading the article instead of just the headline?

I personally hate such High Rises, even when Kids are at home, accidents can happen.

And for an Adult, imagine the balcony wall breaking when you lean against it... these situations do actually happen.

For a 2 Year Old falling to his Death - I really can't imagine the experience or what may have gone through his mind as he fell - perhaps the wonders of free-fall ? I truly hope, it was not of horror for him, the impact would most certainly have been an instantaneous cessation of everything - lights out, painless... I can but hope that was the situation. But I would most certainly not wish such a situation to befall upon any Parent (regardless how careless they are/were) .

We actually don't know the full details of the story here too, so before being judgmental against the Parents - we should get the real facts. Maybe their own Parents were living next door, and they left their Son sleeping whilst they went next door to attend to another issue... Father's Heart attack, etc... who knows ? But seriously, stand back a moment and look at the situation in all it's sadness, get the facts before being so terribly judgmental.

High rises should have catchment nets installed, staggered and slanted inwards -- so should "items" fall, those items wouldn't reach the ground - imagine a plant-pot being blown off a high-rise and hitting a passer by below during a storm.... then imagine a Kid falling off... had a netting been installed, both could have potentially saved lives.

I guess it comes down to $

@ letsberealistic my 1.5 year old will push and drag a step stool around the house to climb onto the dining table or kitchen counters. He can also climb out of his crib. He also falls off step stools and sofas with regularity. These things happen in the matter of seconds. It's not hard to think an unattended 2 year old climb over the railing and falling.

A great negligence, an avoidable situation, you have to be very wise and take care of the children, never leave them alone and less in unsafe conditions..

Absolutely heartbreaking.......

Jovt need to give a mandoary lesson to all of comming parents before birth on how to TRUELY take care of there kids without death involved. 

Pray tell, what country in the world does NOT have stories like this? Maybe next you'll be advocating for the Japanese government to give mandatory education to people on how to spell before they can write a reply on a web forum?

Pray tell, what country in the world does NOT have stories like this? 

This is a website about Japan, and a new story that happened in Japan. Why do any other countries need to me mentioned? How would educating parents in Peru help avoid situations like this happening in Japan?

REDwhiteBLUE...

People on a budget. Do you know how expense a detached house is in Japan?

Yes, I do. I also know how expensive and valuable children are. That's why parents should wait until they have a suitable safe place and enough money before having children.

Poor wee laddie.

RIP

Yes, I do. I also know how expensive and valuable children are. That's why parents should wait until they have a suitable safe place and enough money before having children.

This is not bad advice, but at the same time given the economic realities of this world if everyone strictly followed it the already low birth rate in Japan would collapse completely.

The parents were negligent and endangered their child by leaving them alone at home. No two-year-old should be left home alone unsupervised. And in a high-rise! The dangers are practically limitless. RIP to the poor baby.

This is not the first time happen something like this . The parents must be sick in the head , if they don't wont a child it possible to give to someone love the child . RIP

Police said the boy’s parents were out at the time and he was home alone. 

Why leave a 2 year old home alone? On the 25th floor to add to it? I've read too many of these cases to be lead to believe that the parents were young (early/mid 20s) and went out to play pachinko, thus leaving the child at home alone. I can't even think of leaving my soon to be 2 year old home alone. Im always within a listening distance or check the baby cam if she's sleeping and I'm doing yard work.

People on a budget. Do you know how expense a detached house is in Japan?

The absolute cheapest apartment in this tower block was 37 million yen. That's plenty to buy a used house.

Really. please stop jumping to conclusions - JT should follow up on this story, with the factual findings. (Sadly, I think that they haven't done so to-date upon other similar stories [I may be wrong] - Though here, Sensationalism is a momentary buzz).

I still say, we do not know the circumstances surrounding the absence of the 24x7 parental surveillance of the Child.