Deadly fire raises Japan building safety fears

what a tragedy! now beware the copycats

He said the number of violators could be “astronomical.”

An understatement.

An overstatement, people should fear more about crimes (arsons, murders, suicides, money frauds), as usual authorities are trying to divert public attention by discussing building safety.

hah, like we all didn't know that. But in Japan, people just ignore problems until there is a scandal.

My check list: Have you, or anyone you know, ever... been affected by arson? No murder? No Suicide (is this now a crime?)? No Money Fraud? No

Been in a building which has questionable safety? Yes. Frequently.

So remind me again about what I should fear.

To be honest though (some14some), the adherence to some basic rules on safety is extremely lax, and downright dangerous. Probably not on a day to day basis (where you are right, murder, fraud, etc, are far more likely to affect us), but on those ad-hoc occasions where a disaster affecting 10's if not 100's of people can occur. Check any fire escape of any building, and the chances are that you will see stuff stacked up. I was at a company party where the venue had changed from a place that seats 80-90 people to one that holds 120-150 standing. Guess where the unused tables and chairs were? It was physically blocked. Had there been a fire, it would have been difficult to get all the people out in a reasonable time frame. We asked them to shift the stuff! Sadly this isn't unique, but fortunately times these evacuation routes are needed are very rare. In the case of the video parlour, I'm waiting to understand why so many people died of CO2 poisining (no alarms?) - that seems to be the bigger issue as opposed to lack of evacuation routes.

Appologies for the bad formatting. Looked okay until it was posted.

Police arrested a 46-year-old jobless man who escaped injury in the fire on suspicion of arson and murder.

this is crap. if he was tired of living, why is he alive? I going with drunk, smoking, passed out, forced confession.

Collect fines for violation of safety/health regulations. Great way to increase public revenue for welfare services. No brainer to tax consumption, skim pensions ...

It's cheaper than a hotel. Sometimes I stay and sleep there if i missed the last train. They need to install automated fire extinguishers. I've known this since i came to Japan five years ago. Why does the fire depart inspectors do all day long. Drink coffee and sleep in theie office ? All the major cities in Japan needs more fire inspections. Tokyo Yokohama and places in Saitama are just waiting to go up in flames. Everytime I go to these places, I always see a blanket of dust and poor air quality. IF, IF this guy is responsible, they should put the owners in jail too. Just fining these owners/corporations is just pocket money for the goverment.

The media avoids the smoke alarm aspect of this story. They are cheap and easy to inspect. Cats might have disconected the alarms in the rooms so people could smoke. If 40 people can die without bringing stricter enforcement why will 15 make a difference?

romulus3..its a typical pattern. I want to die so I should bring as much as people I can. In the end they realise theyre too coward to take their own life. Some managed.

Quirinus agrees with Romulus3. If he wanted to end it all ,why didn't he top himself.

This is hardly surprising. While I like Japan for not going to the excesses of the UK (for instance the Health and Safety Executive have all but banned anything that might pose the slightest risk), it's pretty clear that there's sometimes insufficient thought given to building safety, or safety in general. "Pile it high, sell it cheap" stores like Don Quixote are potential death traps. It's not just stores like that, I've seen buckets of hot coals left on the street from yakiniku restaurants. A child or some gormless zombie on a mama chari could easily fall onto them. Even if the regulations are in place it seems that oversight is very lax, and the impression is that it's pretty easy to get away with blocking up fire escapes, having out of date extinguishers etc.

May I suggest that the two government agencies start by inspecting government owned buildings. I cannot imagine the number of times I have been in a city, municipal, prefectural, or nationally owned building with rope locks securely locked on emergency exit doors. If your child goes to a museum on a field trip and it is publicly owned, they are walking into a death trap because as sure as the nose on my face there will be rope locks on all the emergency exits.

So how could this problem come about? Lets start with a total lack of safety awareness among the general population. Then we go on to slipshod construction with no inspections by safety, health, fire, or building code inspectors. Okay, sometimes inspections occur but a little cash or some beer coupons can easily get you through with a passing score. It goes on with police that sit in boxes all day (or stand around ATMs lately) who don't get out and walk around their areas of responsibility. Tragic losses of life like this will be swept under the rug by those who want to keep doing business as usual. What a pathetic state!

The police don't sit around all day. They sometimes run across the street to harass me when they see me coming.

15 murdered, another 10 clinging to life. Had this slaughter been done with a gun you can bet yer booty that the JT crowd would be going on and on about the evils of handguns in society. Yet tossing a match in a crowded building, ala Don Quixote a few years back, gets nary a disgruntled moan and groan. I'll not mince words here, take this dirt ball out back and finish him ! Then go after the slackers at city hall that failed to protect the general public from such a tragedy, and yes this could have been prevented. Fire inspectors mentioned that smoke detectors were in lpace and working during their last check. However, interviews with the staff here make no mention of being alerted by smoke alarms. And what about sprinkler systems ? Ever hear of those ? Once again it just goes to show that living a life in Japan is nothing but a crap shoot ! You stroll down a sunday street in Akihabara and "thwack" ! some loon is slashing bystanders by the multitude. Or, you head into a variety store and "phoosh" the place goes up in smoke, like Don Quixote. This is just another example of the hate and despair out there on the mean streets of Japan. It is safe to say that Japan is leading the world in these "random attacks" ! What a horrible commentary on todays Japan.

this is a shame biggie for Japan. The simple reality of their culture. The XXX for the shy guy, the suicide and then cant top himself, red light districts filled with people trying to get off... Sheesh... even I'm ashamed. However, I do what I can to make help out and keep order.

thepro

hah, like we all didn't know that. But in Japan, people just ignore problems until there is a scandal.

And then some official apologizes and still nothing is done

I want to die so I should bring as much as people I can. In the end they realise theyre too coward to take their own life

Who wants to burn them self to death in Japan? Its forced confession or mass murder. I am sticking with sleepy smoker, dirty building with no sprinkler system, and forced confession. They should arrest the building managers. Where was the anti fire system?