4 family members found dead in Tokyo apartment

I can see where a 28yo and an older sibling can commit suicide. I cannot see how a 9yo and 7yo would "commit" suicide. They were murdered.

Um, a 9y/o and a 7y/o old kid do not commit suicide! This is another infanticide! The only suicide was the mother!

Seriously, suicide is an epidemic in Japan!

By definition, a 9 and 7 year old are unable to commit suicide as they lack the years and discretion necessary to make such a conscious decision. Clearly the mom and/or brother decided to take these poor victims out with them.

It's so sad that family tragedies are epidemic in an advanced nation like Japan.

Japan's suicide rate is horrendous. How many more people in need of professional help are going end up like this? Stop the endless refrain of 'gaman' and encourage people to seek help.

Normally these sad stories don't hit me, but this one did. All young lives, even the mother, to take from this world all too soon only because she needed help. This isn't right. Rest in peace

The article does say it was a murder-suicide. Did they change the article or did you guys miss that?

The story has been updated.

WTF cant this country HELP their own! Way too damned cold on these isles!

Guns, swords, charcoal kills more, but acceptable so at the end of the day, shoganai...empty apartment? At what point does the government panel actually do something?. Probably when they get a 5% pay cut for every suicide, infactide.

She was also unemployed Funny, if she was still married/her husband was alive, she's be called a housewife.

Another mother/family member killing the kids they are suppose to love and protect.... Just another day here in Japan...

And where are all those people on the thread with the same theme the other day saying these things don't happen every week here?

Poor children.

The real crime here is the pure selfishness of the act. Sick.... RIP little kids.

Thanks to movieguy for being astute enough to finally point out the obvious. The article very clearly stated murder-suicide. Unemployed widowed female with no employment prospects, history of depression, source of stability and security commits suicide months before (her husband), in a male dominated society and culture which says ones life is karma, big recipe for what has happened. Hopefully there will be an outcry from the Japanese for the government to seriously look at this and take real steps towards developing programs to assist individuals in these situations. For those of you living there who are citizens of Japan, YOU are the ones who need to be calling, emailing your politicians, making their lives miserable until something is done. As the economy worsens especially under the current US administration, we are going to see more of this world wide.

I hate when the parent kills their own kids just because their going through depression. If you want to die the DIE, but leave others out of it!

As sad as it is to a parent taking the life of their children to satisfy some inner insanity telling them it is honorable, this is Japan and there are a hundred suicides every day! If they wanna kill themselves, go ahead, but don't kill your kids! They have the right to make their own choice you selfish bastards!

Relatives of Nomoto say that her husband committed suicide in January

I don't know what their beliefs in the afterlife are, but wouldn't it seem that if the husband off'ed himself from this world, he probably didn't want to see the family in the next.

I wish that there was some way to see what the actual family dynamic was between husband and wife. Could she be geting at him for leaving her burdened with stresses, feeling that he took the easy way out? Whatever the problems they may have had, did she do her best to help him out or just stood in the way? And why would her brother commit suicide?

Plenty of questions that may never be answered. Such a sad loss of life, especially for the two kids.

There's some pretty judgemental comments here. This women was depressed enough to kill herself. That doesn't suggest cruelty or someone in control. This is the sad pathetic act of someone who saw nowhere to turn.

I wonder why suicide is so rampant in this country.

Sadly, a common way out these days

Her husband killed himself months before, why didn't the city administration come to visit to check how the children were doing? It could be a psychologist, a nurse, anyone just drop to visit, talk to the mother. It could have helped them to manage better the loss of the father-husband. RIP.

I'll start off by saying that of course, I could be completely wrong however, having lived here for a very long time, I have noticed that there are two things that seem to be taboo in Japan: 1) Mental illness and 2) the stigma of being the child of parents who committed suicide. I imagine he mother and uncle may have thought this over very carefully. Would there have been anyone to take care of the children? "Adoption" is also frowned upon in Japan. I am not trying to say either this is right or wrong. I just feel that, as SwissToni says,

"There's some pretty judgemental comments here."

Again?? Fuuuu

"Charcoal was found in the room, and police said that the doors were sealed with tape on the inside, features commonly associated with charcoal-burning suicides."

Something is very wrong with this society if this is considered a "common" thing. Those poor kids. SMH

I still find it hard to believe that a country that prides itself on its socialistic approach to health (and I know for certain since I pay into the kokumin hoken system too) There is no such thing as DFACS* here... After the dad commits suicide, that would automatically assign 2 social workers in some places in the US-- one for the mother, and one for the children. Such a sad thing, to end your own life, but to be compelled to kill your kids too?? I don't get it.

*Department of Family and Child Services

Would there have been anyone to take care of the children? "Adoption" is also frowned upon in Japan.

@FightingViking: I have noticed that myself. It would still be better for the kids in my opinion to be raised in an orphanage than to be killed "in the name of love."

Suicide is so cowardly!

"There's some pretty judgemental comments here."

Of course there are. A mother just killed her kids. I don't care how messed up your life is, how bad your depression is, killing your kids is never the right thing to do. More than happy to state Japan has a serious issue with suicide, child abuse, lack of support for those with depression but don't confuse our condemning of killing kids for being cold hearted. In fact, the opposite. I think all of us are outraged that this problems continues to happen over, and over and over, and over again here.

make this country socialize and noisy, party where ever you go...to prevent suicide...