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Man hangs himself outside Shinjuku Station in Tokyo

19 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station is the busiest rail hub not just in Tokyo, but in the entire world. With nearly a dozen train and subway lines converging at the west side of Tokyo’s downtown district, Shinjuku station has, by some counts, as many as 200 exits, but one of them became the site of a shocking tragedy on Monday.

At approximately 12:15 on Monday afternoon, a call was placed to 110, Japan’s police emergency number. The caller reported that “a young man with a muffler hooked around his neck [is] about to jump,” with the other end of his scarf tied to a pedestrian overpass that leads over a busy road and connects the south face of Shinjuku Station to an outdoor plaza known as Southern Terrace.

By the time officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrived on the scene, the man, later confirmed to be in his 30s, had jumped and gone into cardiac arrest, and he was pronounced dead by hospital staff at the facility he was rushed to. Police say the man was suffering from mental illness, and an acquaintance, who had been dining with the man just before his suicide, told officers that he had said “I’m going to die after this,” during their meal.

This marks the second time in recent years that the overpass has been the site of a suicide, following a self-immolation incident in 2014.

If you or someone you know is in Japan and having suicidal thoughts, there are people here to help. Click here for more info.

Source: Sankei Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan News via Jin, Hachima Kiko

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Woman kills self jumping onto train tracks, delay causes conductor to jump off tracks at other station

-- Butsukariya: Men who purposely crash into women when walking through Japan’s crowded stations

-- Man in Tokyo slices own stomach with knife near one of the city’s busiest train stations

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

19 Comments
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Very sad.

And for those who have never interacted with those who are suicidal, while it is fair to level criticism at the individual committing suicide ("selfish" is usually the one that comes to mind), it doesn't change the fact that a person actually contemplating suicide is troubled and coming to conclusions that usually reflect utter despair.

Many have analyzed how suicide is committed, in order to understand how to better prevent it and / or counsel those committing suicide.

Some of those who have attempted suicide or contemplated suicide seriously have spoken about their thinking. What is common to many of them is this. They typically choose a method and location that makes this final act of theirs something that, 1) they can go through with, 2) they can do so in a manner they are comfortable with, and 3) they believe somehow makes their death one that has meaning to themselves.

Suicide is tragic and, for those leaving family and friends behind, also selfish. No question. As such, the goal should be to learn so as to figure out how better to prevent future suicides.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Switch the flip and he's gone! Another one who slipped through the gaping hole in Japanese mental health care.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

For all you self righteous saints that are condemning this man and calling him names I hope you never know the pain that led him to do this. OMG, what has happened to compassion?

9 ( +9 / -0 )

This is really sad. RIP.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

How very sad.

"Suicide doesn’t stop the pain, you’re only shifting it onto others."

7 ( +11 / -4 )

For all you self righteous saints that are condemning this man and calling him names I hope you never know the pain that led him to do this. OMG, what has happened to compassion?

Indeed. I've lost several friends over the years to suicide and I dearly hope nobody here ever has to deal with that happening to them.

Suicide is not selfish. For some of us, it's the last resort in an increasingly ugly and horror filled world. A way of ending the pain.

Sorry if your train journeys are delayed.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

"Suicide doesn’t stop the pain, you’re only shifting it onto others."

Sure stops it for the person committing it.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

JT, thank you for adding the contact details at the end of the story. I hope this is a change in policy that continues. If it helps just one person it’s worth it.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

There was this one guy who rented a small house in town with his friend. One day, one of them returned home in the afternoon and there was a note on the table saying he could find him in the backyard, so his roommate went outside to have a look and there he was hanging dead from the tree. The first person to discover him, however, was one of the neighborhood children, a young boy. His mother, I heard, was really angry that the guy took his life in an open setting like that where there were children, especially during the middle of the day.

I knew this guy who hanged himself and was a good friend with his younger brother. This guy who offed himself was a real comedian, so it was hard for me to believe the story when I first heard it.

You never know what's in somebody's heart.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Chelsea

You obviously missed the reference to the man's mental illness....

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Contemplation

To what Hillclimber has said: For example. "Abe urges Trump to __" (fill in the blank) Not "urged."

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Police say the man was suffering from mental illness, and an acquaintance, who had been dining with the man just before his suicide, told officers that he had said “I’m going to die after this,” during their meal.

And they did nothing after they heard this?? Japan needs some serious suicide prevention training...

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

It's so incredibly selfish to kill yourself somewhere where you know innocent people and children will see.

My friend's cousin was found dead by his 3 year old sister. We can only hope she won't remember.

A man jumped in front of the train my great uncle was driving. It broke his heart.

Such a selfish way to go.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Shouldn’t it read “Man hanged himself...”?

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

What a selfish act, traumatizes as many people as he can. Coward.

-32 ( +15 / -47 )

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