11 year old Japanese boy commits suicide by train in protest of school closure

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Adam Westlake in Features, National with 4 Comments
11 year old Japanese boy commits suicide by train in protest of school closure

Police have revealed that an 11 year old boy is dead after leaping in front of a train in an apparent suicide. The tragic incident took place on Thursday afternoon in the city of Daito, near the metropolis of Osaka. Officials say it looks as if the unnamed boy killed himself in protest to plans to close his school.

Investigators say that the boy was witnessed jumping from the platform and down on to the tracks by himself. In addition, police found a suicide note in his backpack that was left at the train station. The young child was reportedly very upset over plans to close his elementary school and send the students to two other institutions. This was part of an effort to combat Japan’s low birthrate by consolidating locations.

Local media has reported that the suicide note read as a request to stop the plans of closing and combining schools in exchange for the death of an innocent person. The boy is also said to have sent a text message to his mother that stated “Thank you for everything. I love you all very, very much.” A ceremony was scheduled to be held this Sunday for the school, but that has now been cancelled in light of the suicide. Japan is seen as having one the world’s highest suicide rates for a developed country, with last year marking the first time in 15 years that the number of instances fell below 30,000.

[via The Star]
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  • A.C.

    The is odd: Normally kids get upset when they are forced to go to school, that’s the first time ever I read about someone getting upset (even killing himself) because he can’t go to his school. Sounds like a bad joke, but of course it’s too serious.

    Some weeks ago there was a headline, that a kid killed himself because of the death of his favourite anime or manga character. – I remember when my Japanese friend tol me about how her brothers daughter, then 11 too, ran away from school trying to kill herself because of some quarrel. They found her in time at the cliff she was standing. My friend told me about this with a smile, as if she wants to say “Some children do such things, isn’t it cute.” and as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

    On another aspect, I once saw the movie “Jisatsu Saakuru” (Suicide Club), which was albeit very metaphoric, seemed to suggest that the omnipresence of suicide as a topic in Media, movies, Mangas (even for kids) and art in general might be too a reason in encouraging people to kill themselves. Japan is not only top ranking in suicides, it’s also a place with a very high suicide rate among children, most cases probably because of bullying at school. While there are many reasons for someone to kill himself, psychological studies have shown that to get to know from news or witness suicides might cause thoughts about suicide in people formerly not thinking about it.

    I know in other countries it is like a silent agreement, that the media keep silence about suicides or keep it very short and factual, if it was a celebrity. The reason for that is that thinking about suicide is seen as a cause for depression, which combined with other factors might even lead to another suicide. I know many people love Japan for all the absence of taboos like this, but people might give these aspects a second thought. Obviously I can not prove it, but I would say such an reaction to closing a school is not in any way a normal reaction of an 11 year old (or whatever age). The question should be, where he got such an idea from, and if it could have been prevented.

    • Whirled Peas

      Very thoughtful post. I know of a number of people who have committed suicide. In one case a step-sister and years later her step-brotherl and in another case a biological sister and a few years later her brother. I couldn’t help thinking that the first sibling to commit suicide in the family almost gave “permission” to the second sibling to use suicide as a way out of his troubles or depression. Whatever the cause, it was so very sad.

      • A.C.

        So many in just one family? Don’t know what to say … very tragic.

  • Hayash

    It’s a suicidal culture, I seriously cannot believe it s nature over nurture , this is learned behavior .