5-year-old boy falls from balcony of 9th-floor apartment

Accident?! What part of leaving a 5 year old boy at home alone was an accident?! At the very least, they should be charged with negligence!

Police are treating the fall as an accident and no charges have been made.

Run that by me again? No charges? Geeeeez! Keystones at their best!

Echoing Hermione...this was no accident! A five-year-old should never be left at home alone. Why is this not a criminal offense in Japan?! I hope the poor boy pulls through and I hope other parents out there are reading this and will think twice when they are about to leave their young child unattended. It seems we keep hearing stories like this but some parents must think-- It won't happen to our child. We'll only leave him for a short time. He'll be fine... --Maybe it would be good if parents who have had 'accidents' like this to speak out and warn other parents of the dangers of leaving a kid alone. Just don't do it!

I just dont get it ... why do people have children to leave them home alone?

I wish the government would make this illegal. Surely It cant be - I dont recall ANY of these parents from these stories leaving children home alone resulting in fire, death or other getting charged?

Clearly by going onto the balcony and hurling himself off shows that a 5 year old was nowhere near responsible enough to be left by himself?

Come on, guys! The fall was most certainly an accident -- he wasn't pushed, and I doubt despite Japanese suicide trends a 5-year-old kid wants to off him/herself. The fact that no charges are being laid, however, is ridiculous, as it was clearly neglect as well as ignoring the laws that led to said accident in the first place.

I swear... parents in this country... leaving kids alone all the time to go do personal errands or have some time to themselves.

I wonder what excuse they have for leaving the kid alone like that? I had to work, there was something I had to do and I couldn't take him, etc. If this were the states, they'd have the book thrown at them!

An accident? If he had been hit by a car while walking, that would be called an accident, but the driver of the car would be charged. Leaving a 5-year old home alone is negligence and also demands charges. I hope he fully recovers and his parents have learned a hard lesson.

i have one word - NEGLECT. apparently not a crime here in japan land.

I don't see the word "Pachinko" in the article but I would be willing to take bets.

Police are treating the fall as an accident and no charges have been made.

Maybe the cops figure that grief is a fitting punishment for neglect. Although, I wonder just how strong their grief is if they were so stupid as to leave a five year old home alone.

Maybe it's time for the Japanese to enact a "wreckless endangerment" law for children under a certian age.

I agree with most of you in that parents shouldn't leave kids at home unattended. However, I can't help but think that a 5 year old kid should know better than to climb over a 120cm fence on a balcony on the 9th floor. Isn't he old enough to appreciate the consequences of a 9 story fall? Didn't the parents teach him about these dangers?

Could be a, "I just popped down to the store for five minutes, I swear!" kind of thing. Doesn't always have to be pachinko. That's more of a "my kid died in the hot car" sort of thing anyway.

It's reprehensible that parents would be so irresponsible, and they surely should be charged with neglect. I see far too many such stories. I can understand bicultural's wondering whether the kid isn't old enough to appreciate the consequences, too, but 5 years old may be a little young to keep the parents' teaching/warning--even charitably assuming that there was any--in mind when something else like curiosity or boredom sets in.

I saw a documentary a few years ago after an older child (she may have been 8 or 9) fell to her death after attempting to walk on the railing of a high-rise condominium's semi-open corridor; psychologists were saying that the combination of high-rise living and lack of experience in playground short jumps/falls has caused children to lose their fear of heights/falling.

I don't entirely buy that, although it might well be so. Even if true, it should be more, not less, motivation for parents to avoid putting their small kids in danger by leaving them unsupervised.

Why was not an accident this was a crime. It's leaving a child alone a crime in Japan? And they wonder why "No. of new adults in Japan totals record low"

bicultural - However, I can't help but think that a 5 year old kid should know better than to climb over a 120cm fence on a balcony on the 9th floor.

Wow! You are off my list af babysitters.

I say Neglect & its happened mutipule times in many countries. But i heard of parent in Nihon getting in trouble for leaving their Kids home alone. is it different in each prefecture? anyone one who thinks a 5 year old Knows Right & Wrong or "should know better" has Rocks in their Head.

5 year old should know better??! Not mine or any other 5 year old I know. My son is currently convinced he can fly if he just jumps high enough and flaps hard enough. It is a parents job to keep them from killing themselves 10 times over on a daily basis. It`s exhausting but it is your responsibility-something that seems to have clearly escaped this pair.

I can't help but think that a 5 year old kid should know better than to climb over a 120cm fence on a balcony on the 9th floor. Isn't he old enough to appreciate the consequences of a 9 story fall?

did you stop believing in Santa at 3 years old? The poor kid is 5 years old and believes anything his fanciful mind tells him.

bicultural: " However, I can't help but think that a 5 year old kid should know better than to climb over a 120cm fence on a balcony on the 9th floor. Isn't he old enough to appreciate the consequences of a 9 story fall? Didn't the parents teach him about these dangers?"

So if a kid does it anyway after you've told him or her so you're going to take the elevator down to the ground and say, "I told you so!"? Five year olds can be pretty clever, but they still often lack the concept of how dangerous something is. What's more, we still don't know what happened in terms of him falling. My guess is, as is usually the case, there was crap out on the balcony that the kid could climb up on. Maybe something shifted and he fell. Or maybe it gave him enough leverage to climb up on the balcony and he lost his balance.

In any case, trying to blame it on the kid is ridiculous -- this is neglect, plain and simple, that led to his death.

And while I agree with Disillusioned that the cops' thinking may fall in line with many judges in japan with the, "They have suffered enough" crap, it's simply not enough! There needs to be clear-cut laws in Japan about leaving children alone (more specifically, NOT leaving them alone), and those laws need to be enforced. I swear nothing will happen in this nation until a leading politician or someone in the Imperial household leaves a young child with someone who runs off 'for a minute' and the child(ren) dies.

Until then, RIP to the kid, and I hope the parents didn't get too much insurance money as 'compensation for their loss'.

Mocheake: "An accident? If he had been hit by a car while walking, that would be called an accident..."

Unless the person hit you on purpose, of course. Then it would not be called an 'accident' so much, in terms of the person hitting you, any way. Now, I'm pretty sure that unless these parents PLANNED for their child to go over the balcony it can be called an 'accident'... or do you think the child went over on purpose? In terms of the situation leading UP TO the child falling over, THAT was no accident, and the neglect here should most certainly be punishable by law. Alas, we are in Japan.

So Japan does not have laws to protect children?