6 die in water-related accidents on Sunday

Ah yes, the weekly Monday report on water deaths over the weekend. Sometimes I think Japanese people shouldn't be allowed anywhere near rivers or beaches (and mountains, too). OK, that's unfair but it is exasperating reading these stories every Monday.

One thing my dad taught me was to never underestimate the sea and I never do.

OK, that's unfair but it is exasperating reading these stories every Monday.

In a country with over 120 million people living in it accidents sadly will occur, and JT just puts them all together on Monday's, most of this is already "old" news as it was reported over the weekend.

Sometimes I think Japanese people shouldn't be allowed anywhere near rivers or beaches

And how do you know for sure if all or any of these people are Japanese? There is no mention of names or nationalities here, and yet you jump to the conclusion that they are all Japanese?

Ah yes, the weekly Monday moronic, crass comment. Show a little respect for the dead and their grieving families.

They were all Japanese.

Accidents will indeed happen, and I too am sick of the inevitable weekly report and wonder why so many Japanese people (and jack o helen in pretty much all cases, if not 100%, they are, so it's likely they were here, too) get into difficulties or why there isn't stricter monitoring at public swimming areas like beaches and pools. I don't know... maybe there's nothing that can be done and it's going to happen anyway, but please be careful, people.

I can understand blaming 'Japanese people', if any of these accidents had happened in a public swimming pool or waterpark. However, all of these incidents happened at beaches and rivers; difficult places to monitor. After all, how can any country monitor all rivers, lakes and oceans? I know for a fact that the U.S. has a similar number of water-related deaths and accidents atrributed to either curiosity, bad luck, childhood bravado, or plain stupidity. How in the world can ll of these be 'monitored'?

What is the percentage in relationship to the general populous that went to any water area over the weekend?

I can understand blaming 'Japanese people', if any of these accidents had happened in a public swimming pool or waterpark. However, all of these incidents happened at beaches and rivers; difficult places to monitor.

There's a major problem with your logic. That problem being that it doesn't allow the haters to hate on Japan. Get with the program.

Time to offer better water-training programs

Totally unnecessary - why isn't the ability to swim considered mandatory in Japanese schools?

Totally unnecessary - why isn't the ability to swim considered mandatory in Japanese schools?

When I was growing up, my school never made it mandatory to learn how to swim; and I lived in Hawaii. My parents had to pay for private lessons. In Hawaii, you either learn from your family, or get private lessons. You never learn it at public school.

You never learn it at public school.

Every public school In Japan has a pool and swimming class.

Very tragic for all the families.

Every public school In Japan has a pool and swimming class.

Yeah, they have English classes too. And I'll venture to say that most of those kids can barely handle the shallow end of the language pool.

I don't think much, if any, money is spent on lifeguards at Japanese beaches, just as zero money is spent cleaning beaches. If you get into trouble you are on your own, so take extra care in the sea.

6 incidents is not that many on an island of 120 million people (plus tourists) where summers are as hot as here. look at the press in the UK and the proportional number is the same....

Every public school In Japan has a pool and swimming class.

Where they learn to paddle in waist deep water, with kickboards. Overall about 4 weeks of the year school pools get used. And when they are, it is for kids to let off steam during PE, and not to learn effective swimming techniques

Um, six people having died in water-related accidents in a day is quite a few. RIP.

After reading the above article, it reminds me of the old days when I was a middle school boy, and I would often swim in a flooded river due to heavy rain. Just the thought of it now makes me shiver.

The schools simply do not teach children how to stay afloat. They just train them to swim a distance. They need to train them for survival and that means staying afloat.

A lot has been said about this unfortunate holiday drowning incidence but still people don't event taking care or staying alert when they're out with their family!! Most importantly, we can't compare "the know to swim in the pool where there is no current at all and the know how to swim in the river & sea where current come and bombarding you in every direction and in different strength..."

Let them do there swimming practice once in the beach or river once in there lifetime( elementary level) with strict supervision from parent and teachers... Experience the real situation...

I just don't see how learning how to swim in a pool (like every country in the world teaches their kids to do) can prepare you for the inherent and not so apparent dangers (undertows, reefs, murky waters, rocks, etc.) of swimming in the wild. People just have to end up using their common sense. Back where I used to live, I couldn't count how many accidents and deaths involving teens and young adults jumping head first into rivers and streams. There were even a large amount of whitewater rafting incidents. I wonder if summer camp accidents happen as much here as they do in America?