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Suicide jumper flung back onto train platform, injuring 2

43 Comments

A man was killed after he jumped off a station platform and was hit by an oncoming train on Thursday. The impact flung him back onto the platform where he slammed into two commuters.

According to police, the incident occurred just after 4 p.m. at Sobudai-mae Station in Zama on the Odakyu line. Police said station surveillance camera footage showed the man jump off the platform in front of the Romance Car which was traveling at a speed of about 90 kilometers per hour at the time. The collision shattered the glass window of the observation car.

The man was sent flying back onto the platform where he hit two men, slightly injuring them. One male passenger on the train sustained a light injury.

Police did not release the man’s name and said only that he was 25 and unemployed.

The train was on its way from Hakone-Yumoto to Shinjuku Station. Odakyu Electric Railway said the incident caused a 75-minute delay in train services that affected about 21,000 people.

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43 Comments
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Here we go again! A stupid, selfish person feels the need to kill himself without a thought or care in the world how it will affect others, and two people, as well as the train driver and other passengers, have been scarred for life. I think Japan needs to change insurance systems since some still pay out in the event of suicides instead of freezing funds. Any policy he has, if any, should be put towards paying these people who were injured.

-9 ( +17 / -26 )

@Smith; Actually any payout this man receives (almost impossible he will) will be owed and paid to the train company who will invoice his family or estate for the train downtime, repairs, etc. In the very likely event the insurance company does not pay the invoice (claim) would go to his estate and possibly severely impact his family.

Someone close to me committed suicide quite some time back. The person had diagnosed depression and the severity of it was obvious. At the time he did so I do not believe he was even capable of thinking beyond the internal pain from which he was suffering. It was really, really sad. It took a lot of counseling to get the family through what happened but the end result is everyone recognized in killing himself my very good friend had no intention at all of impacting others.

We should all be really thankful for our health (physical and mental). I am; every single day.

28 ( +32 / -4 )

Police said station surveillance camera footage showed the man jump off the platform in front of the Romance Car which was traveling at a speed of about 90 kilometers per hour at the time. The collision shattered the glass window of the observation car.

I would hate to have been in that romance car. The family will have to pay for this. That may be a motivating factor in some situations.

-4 ( +6 / -10 )

Tokyo-engr, I suffer from depression and sometimes fantisize about how to end it. But I have my two adult children. A dear Japanese friend of mine chose to call it quits as his company failed years agó, leaving behind a lovely eight-year old daughter, and the pain this causes never goes away. I still wish I had noticed the symptoms and had intervened.

19 ( +22 / -3 )

Despite the advertised motenashi and Japanese "kindness" myth, I have seen a lot of Japanese people only complain about these acts and thinking egoistically about their schedule, without showing any mercy or pity for the people who kill themselves.

I understand (since it happened to me as well) that having a train slowed down on the way to work is irritating, but I think we're losing perspective if all we care abut is getting to work on time, rather than thinking about why a man in his 20s decided to kill himself, and what problems in society brought him to do that.

Maybe is this loss of humanity and empathy that brings people to commit suicide...

14 ( +20 / -6 )

@Eleonora

Well in Japan the greater good goes above one person so it makes sense.

If one Person causes many many people to get into trouble then this one is a bad person and needs to be removed from the society ...

You know, now that the guy killed himself his familiy needs to pay lots of money because of what he did even though the Family would probably have enough trouble already.

-13 ( +3 / -16 )

We should all be really thankful for our health (physical and mental). I am; every single day.

This!

@Laguna sorry you are in that spot also don't blame yourself for your friend, we can't always see the signs. Sending you best wishes

7 ( +10 / -3 )

@Laguna; I hope you can find ways to overcome the depression. I do not think we can blame ourselves for non intervention as the issues related to depression, bi-polar disorder, etc. are so darn complex. There are times it seems people are getting better and then suddenly it re-occurs. It is hard stuff and the human mind is complex beyond my comprehension.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

These train suicides happen every day and most days it is more than one. It’s only the exciting or young ones we hear about in the news and, even those are not always reported.

Every japanese adult has a story of a friend or family member that killed themselves. Three of my ex-wife’s friends killed themselves in the last decade. That is not s reflection in my ex-wife.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Sounds really cheesy but society is at fault, not the people that got so desperate they killed themselves. I hope people will one day wake up in Japan and change this crazy work and education system

5 ( +11 / -6 )

Thanks, Tokyo-engr. I don't think there's a way to overcome depression, but one can learn to deal with it.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

This might sound cruel, but you cannot stop someone who really wants to do it, so why not make designated spots? I am not being mean here, but trying to find a way to stop all the trouble it causes for others. States in America do it. Not all but some. Some other countries allow for it as well.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

@ Eleonora

 I think we're losing perspective if all we care abut is getting to work on time, rather than thinking about why a man in his 20s decided to kill himself, and what problems in society brought him to do that.

Maybe is this loss of humanity and empathy that brings people to commit suicide...

I have sympathy with those who feel that there is nowhere to turn and that suicide is their only option. What I have NO sympathy for, however, is suicide as performance art. Why is it necessary to commit suicide in such a public manner? My 14 year old son was confronted with the remains of one these individuals on the platform of Seijogakuen-mae station last year. The staff were mopping his remains off the platform and it affected my son badly. Is that the point? Do they want the world to take notice of them in death the way it didn't while they were alive? If they are going to take their lives, as tragic as that is, why can't they do it in the privacy of their homes? And don't tell me that they aren't thinking straight, they are thinking straight enough to leave home, enter the station and choose their moment. Sorry, no sympathy here...

-4 ( +6 / -10 )

Tokyo-Eng: "Actually any payout this man receives (almost impossible he will) will be owed and paid to the train company who will invoice his family or estate for the train downtime, repairs, etc. In the very likely event the insurance company does not pay the invoice (claim) would go to his estate and possibly severely impact his family."

This is not an age-old practice. In fact, JR was the preferred train line of suicide until about five or so years back because families could not be sued to pay for such costs. Now they can, and so jumpers have spread to other lines.

"The person had diagnosed depression and the severity of it was obvious. At the time he did so I do not believe he was even capable of thinking beyond the internal pain from which he was suffering. "

Did he jump in front of a train and bounce off to hit other people? I'm not talking solely about how utterly pathetic it is for people to kill themselves and not think of others, I'm taking about going steps below that when you KNOW -- and sorry, you absolutely KNOW it is going to impact others if you jump in front of train, jump off a building, or what have you -- it is going to affect others DIRECTLY in front of where your body will end up. Sorry if that sounds callous -- I feel genuinely sorry of people who fall so far that they feel there is nothing left to do but end their lives, and I KNOW this society and others are far from perfect and need much, MUCH more support, but I have no pity for this man -- I have pity for the people he left behind, and those who were hit by his corpse. You should, too. Or, should the people hit by his body just "feel bad" for him? I mean, even you admit the train lines won't put up with mere "inconvenience", right?

-7 ( +4 / -11 )

wish these people would do it at home instead of bothering everyone

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

I met a girl who wants to commit suicide. I talk to her every day. She takes loads of pills for her depression and she said it doesn't work much but it numbs her. Her husband just buys her gifts to try and make her happy. But she just thinks he doesn't actually put any effort into helping her. He usually says she should stay at the hospital. I just invite her for simple dates and she seems to enjoy it more than his gifts.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Smith - I usually agree with you on pretty much anything, but I have to take a different view on this occasion.

If someone's feeling suicidal, the rational arguments you make - which make perfect sense to someone not in the throes of total despair - mean nothing. There is literally no other thought in the mind than the need to end the situation which has driven the sufferer to such a desperate state of mind. The very concept of continuing to live is unbearable.

I speak with some knowledge of these things, as I fell prey to suicidal depression a couple of years ago, when my company closed down my profitable department rather than follow Abe's brilliantly-thought-out Five Year Rule, leaving me, aged 51 with a family to support, unemployed for the first time in my life. I gave 18 years to my company and they didn't even pay me out to the end of my contract. I was literally worth more dead than alive. And alive didn't look like much fun any more. Clinical depression is an opportunistic disease.

For about 6 months, when the logic side of me was telling me that people were depending on me, and the British stiff upper lip side was forcing me to go through the motions of daily routines, literally all day every day - and most of each sleepless night - was filled with calculations of how best to cease. Every tree, every train, even the hardware store was a temptation.

By the grace of God, the love of my wife, and the highest dosage of antidepressants allowed by law, I got through it. This poor chap wasn't so lucky. Depression is just as much a disease as arthritis is, but we don't judge an old bloke for having cracky knees and a stoop.

Yes it's an inconvenience when your train gets delayed. Yes, it must have been awful for the driver and the other commuters who witnessed this. But the poor bloke obviously needed help and couldn't get it, and the disease of depression made him make the wrong move.

Don't judge the poor sod. He must have been in hell.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

@smithinjapan

I agree! The people disliking your comment only care about someone who is now dead. If you want to take your own life, it's your choice. But know that you will make other's suffer & what you are doing is wrong. So people who are mad about him saying this man is stupid & selfish, just know that your depression isn't an excuse to take the easy way out. I am very depressed & done with life but I keep on going every day, give yourself a goal to work towards & you will be happier. For me learning japanese has made me much happier & givin me a goal in life.

Here we go again! A stupid, selfish person feels the need to kill himself without a thought or care in the world how it will affect others, and two people, as well as the train driver and other passengers, have been scarred for life. I think Japan needs to change insurance systems since some still pay out in the event of suicides instead of freezing funds. Any policy he has, if any, should be put towards paying these people who were injured.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Someone suffering from depression isn't in their right mind. I never really understood it until my dad's dementia took him there. While he didn't commit suicide, for a while he constantly yelled that he wanted to die to the extent that we hid all the knives in the his home. I wonder if it might help, for those feeling hopeless, yet still able to work and go to work every day, yet considering suicide, if train companies would open up counseling offices in major stations or have poster campaigns on the walls of stations or inside the trains. Or do they do this already?

4 ( +8 / -4 )

I may be expensive, though Platform barriers are a good start, all stations should have them, they also act to control boarding chaos. Sure a determined person, could climb over one, though that takes physical effort, and that is something that may actually trigger a reverse decision....

0 ( +5 / -5 )

I think a lot of people are susceptible to "Depression" of various levels, for differing reasons. Take the unemployment, lack of money situation - some Families manage to survive in the Parks, others see their Husbands commit suicide before facing such a predicament. What distinguishes one group from the other ? Stupidity , Survivability, or Shame ? I don't really think we understand Depression properly ... the TELL organisation exists here to help with it, but it's not just about talking to someone over a phone, and that in itself can lead to the listener experiencing empathy issues. Sadly, it's either this, or listening to a "Shrink"/"Quack"/"Psychiatrist" that's the de-facto standard at present.... and all are off-putting.

The saddest situation of all exists amongst Kids - the pressures of Modern day life (exams from an early age, over-bearing Parents relating to those exams, and now Social Media Bullying) its all a Troubling trend, and with no real way to deal with it.

Back to the original subject matter - unemployment ,

We often hear a lot of talk about adding Robots replacing many jobs, and a lot of talk about the need for Social Support for those impacted... though the latter is just talk, so I think we will continue to see this situation arising more frequently, and nothing will continue to be done about it, because no one really "cares" properly. And having a social structure in life where everyone ends up equal.. is totally unacceptable to many - so any thoughts/talks about such future Societal changes are just pie in the sky,

Is Japan's Suicide rate really higher than others for probably underlying reason ?

It would be an interesting study here in Japan, so see how much of the population still considers Suicide is an Honorable way out of defeat... and whether the "defeat" term has has been due to television programs that disassociate this with its Military origins to now include personal defeat ?

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

What a horror for those who were injured by and who witnessed this event. I wonder what the affect this will have on their mental state?

Suicide is an act of selfishness. I don’t mean that to be a value judgement one way or another. A person’s life is ultimately their own. Each of us, when we pass, we do so as an individual- alone unto ourselves. We own our own lives as a natural right. Yet our passing does have an impact on others whether it be by suicide or by some other cause.

Mental illness is a real and serious matter for those affected and those around them. But the human mind isn’t well enough understood to make the assumption that people are not in control of themselves enough to function in any given society. No psychologist has a scientific test that can determine whether a person will be able to handle life in any particular society at any particular point in time.

No person is born with or raised without any negative pathological traits and someone’s pathology is not itself a disease like dementia or alzheimers. There are many other cultures and societies that are way more oppressive than Japan’s. A coddling culture is very likely to result in higher levels of suicide because individuals will not learn resilience.

I would speculate that most who commit suicide do so with full awareness of the impact their decision will have on others. It seems to me that many young people commit suicide because they feel desperate and don’t have the experience to know that being in mental anguish today does not mean happiness is not possible later in life.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

The train company in Japan is insane for the way they go after family members for compensation. The family will have to pay lots of money because of this. Seems like a horrible thing to do to a family who has to deal with his death.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Of all the ways to commit suicide, I can't imagine why so many choose to jump in front of the trains.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Maybe is this loss of humanity and empathy that brings people to commit suicide..

Japanese society brings people to suicide. Extremely long work schedules, societal pressures don't make things very easy for people.

I don't for being upset by the inconvenience. I also understand the argument of mental help because it's not talked about very often here even after really bad things happen.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

I would speculate that most who commit suicide do so with full awareness of the impact their decision will have on others. It seems to me that many young people commit suicide because they feel desperate and don’t have the experience to know that being in mental anguish today does not mean happiness is not possible later in life.

Clearly you have never met or even talk to a person that's been depressed.

There are many reasons and I can just tell you one from personal experience but basically it's just that you don't feel anything anymore. Like imagine falling down a hole slowly over time oh, you trying to climb out put your hands start to get weaker and weaker. Eventually you just don't want to climb anymore, because why your arms are too tired anyway. That's what depression has felt like for me.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The train companies don’t go after the families. They apparently can go after the estate of the deceased.

Last time I looked though, it was not even clear if they ever actually did, or to what frequency. Anyone else bothered to check who is making claims above?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I would speculate that most who commit suicide do so with full awareness of the impact their decision will have on others

Fair enough. Unfortunately your speculation is quite incorrect though, when compared with the comments of those who survive suicide attempts.

Interesting speculation though.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Yeah Smithinjapan I'm sure he knew that was going to happen and did it anyway.

Dude is dead, you wanna chastise him? Go right ahead..

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

People see others doing this, which is how they get the idea to do it themselves, and it becomes a kind of epidemic.

People who watch this epidemic from the outside naturally become inured to it due to the sheer frequency if its occurrence.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Smithinjapan reading your next comment it's so completely obvious you have no idea about the state of mind someone has to be in to want to end their own life not thinking beyond the consequences of simply their own demise.. Think about it.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Jpn8 it's usually quick and easy. People will follow others leads in this area.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Derek I think depression is a dis-ease it's actually just how the Human mind or perhaps even in fact how the brain functions. Unsure if it's certain types of people that tend to be susceptibile to this but I read that it's the people who often have the more realistic world views. This is not a normal Human society and those smart enough see this and despair.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Strangerland while the action to go ahead with it may have only been thought about in a short time believe me.. They've thought about it many, many times before.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Tragedy all around. Family should not be made to pay for his damages. We only had one suicide in our family when my cousin's stepson hung himself from a tree in their front yard, nobody saw it coming. I don't understand why people can be on the platform next to a train going about 90 kilometers or close to 60 miles per hour. I remember at least 25 years ago that the shinkansen platform in Atami had gates to keep people away from the edge until the train stopped. Japan needs to invest heavily in security and safety equipment.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japan and suicide have a long cultural history and it is not necessarily due to depression. Many suicides are related to attention seeking. Japanese culture makes people invisible and just another drone in the hive. Their individuality and creativity are drummed out of them through their schooling creating a huge identity crisis. This happens to young people and many never get over it. This is also why Japan’s youth suicide rate is the highest in the world. This person was only young too. The youth of japan have no dreams and cannot see a future for themselves. Perhaps this does create depression, but one should not blame depression. The blame is on a culture and society that promotes it.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Selfish act. Those injured by this loon should sue his family for damages, physical and mental

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

The family having to pay for the disruption is a myth..

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@Do the hustle

Japanese culture makes people invisible and just another drone in the hive. Their individuality and creativity are drummed out of them through their schooling creating a huge identity crisis. This happens to young people and many never get over it. This is also why Japan’s youth suicide rate is the highest in the world.

According to Wikipedia, Japan is number 30. Finland is 32 and the US, 34. There is a difference of less than one person per 100,000 between the US and Japan. You obviously are just talking off the top of your head and don't know what you're talking about.

And your reasoning behind your wrongful conclusion is just as baseless. How could you explain the US, one of the most individualistic countries in the world, be right on Japan's heels?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate

3 ( +4 / -1 )

According to Wikipedia, Japan is number 30. Finland is 32 and the US, 34. There is a difference of less than one person per 100,000 between the US and Japan. You obviously are just talking off the top of your head and don't know what you're talking about.

The claim was about youth suicide rate, not the standard - that said, the document I found on it still shows Japan nowhere near the top: https://www.oecd.org/els/family/CO_4_4_Teenage-Suicide.pdf

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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