4-year-old boy falls to death from 10th floor of apartment building

If you have children, never leave anything that can be used as a foothold in the balcony.

A decision she'll regret the rest of her life.

When I was a kid in Australia in early primary school, my mates and I use to jump off roofs; hang off moving trains and trams; shoot air guns at each other with steel pellets; swim in unquantifiable rivers etc etc. Sure some serious injuries and even the rare deaths but that's part of growing up and becoming aware of danger . I also know a chick who was tethered to a tree because the parents were afraid she would hurt herself and now her mental trauma has created extreme introversion into adulthood. As parents we can only do so much to protect our children but over-protection is as worse as putting your kid in a box.

What a tredgedy. The poor mother must be absolutely destroyed. With three kids on the go she could be forgiven for a lapse in concentration or thought process. Just incredibly bad timing on everyone's part. I can only guess she needed to go down to the entrance to collect of pass something on. The four year old probably wanted to see where mum was and went to look over the balcony. He may have moved something to the balcony to climb into to look over and may have looked over too far and fell. I can't even imagine how the family must be feeling right now and the trauma it will be causing them agonising over their loss. I hope they can keep it together for the sake of the other two children. My heart goes out to them all especially the little one who lost his life in such a terrifying and frightening way. It's a lesson all of us parents of young children should heed. As another poster mentioned, don't leave them alone for a second!

Every time one of these stories break you get a few loose apples saying, “Never take your eyes off your kids!!1”.

  Give me a break. Every single one of us has had our parents take their eyes off us. Privacy is just as important to a growing child as a hug. And no human on this planet could ever even never take his or her eyes of another human. Get real. Like most of us, I came home to an empty house after school every day for years. When I went to my mother’s work during summer vacation I played for hours outside away from her watching eyes.

  If your advice is to never stop watching a child, you will get downvoted for very good reasons. Stop being idiotic and pay your respects to a grieving mother who is as normal as the rest of all of us in how she raises children.

  Sorry for her unimaginable loss. I hope she can recover soon.

OMG ! Another tragedy...RIP my dear boy.. Really heartbreaking and sad..

RIP poor kid

Hmm too late now but not for others, put up some of that green net like the one my goya grows on, (or just chain the children up).

Mennonite maiden. Have the 14 year old take out the trash, check the mail. Sheesh. And yes, I agree with you about so much UNsupervision.

Tragedy how sad RIP little boy

Hmm too late now but not for others, put up some of that green net like the one my goya grows on.

I agree. Growing up in Cali, there were often incidences of kids drowning in their own swimming pool because parents had no gates around them. There should be some sort of protection out there for balconies. Even a lock at the top of the sliding doors between the apartment and balcony.

IF the mother would have placed a child proof security lock on that door to the balcony this would NOT have happened.

If a child dies in a totally preventable manner is it still an accident?

Strike 1: Home alone

Strike 2: Playing on the balcony

Strike 3: Leaving something on the balcony to climb on

You're out!

It saddens me that this has happened and I do feel for the parents, yet it is preventable even if you have to leave them alone for a moment or two. Perhaps you have very young ones and are the sole carer but need to visit the rest room. Make sure all outer doors are secure and there are no things they can climb on to gain access to potentially dangerous areas. Rip little guy.

@Tahoochi,

Yes. Criminal charges. Ignorance isn't an excuse.

So sad. Leaving a 4-year kid alone is the worst thing a mother could do. The lingering pain would be eternal and the sad memories would haunt her forever.

"Katsushika Ward " is a BIG place, WHERE ? Strange this was left out, I wonder if it's right by Kameari Station where someone I know lives. Wow.

DO NO I repeat DO NOT leave your kids at home alone for even a minute.

I was just thinking the other day I was surprised we don't hear stories about children falling off balconies more often what with the general lack of attention paid to them in dangerous situations. Anyway RIP little boy.

DisillusionedMay. 03, 2014 - 09:19AM JST

If a child dies in a totally preventable manner is it still an accident?

What do you suggest? Incarceration for the mother for murder? That would help the situation.

I really wish Japan would make it illegal to leave your child unattended to at home or in a car.

It is illegal, not that anyone would realize.

As a mother of 4 children between the ages of 3 and 14 years. It is absolutely impossible to NOT leave them alone even for a minute as you will have to go to the restroom or throw out the trash at some point in life...let's be realistic, please.

Oh come on - your must realize there is a huge difference between popping to the loo for a few minutes when your child is sleeping in his bedroom, and leaving 2 children under 5 alone in an apartment while you leave the building. Even if they didnt fall off the veranda, other things can happen - earthquakes, fires, kids finding prescription meds. You are not supposed to leave children of that age unattended.

It is NOT impossible. You take them down with you if your just popping the trash downstairs. Put the little one in an ergo and let the older ones help. 10th floor, means there is an elevator in the building. Its not rocket science- The mother was just being lazy.

She must have known her own kids character - I would place money on the fact that he regularly played on the balcony, and the mother would have known he would do it again.

To be honest I DO think this woman should go to jail. And that 1 year old should be removed from her "care" pretty pronto. We need to start making examples of people who kill their kids because they are negligent parents, not taking adequate precautions for their safety. Accidents do happen, but this was not as much an accident as it was a woman being too lazy to care for her kids properly.