by Mick the Ram

In a shocking incident in the Japanese city of Yokohama, two people have lost their lives after 17-year-old girl jumped from the top of a shopping centre, and tragically struck a pedestrian walking amongst the crowds below.

The teenage high school student and a 32-year-old woman who was innocently with her friends for a normal weekend evening out, were immediately rushed to a local hospital, but the youngster died shortly after arrival, and sadly the woman was pronounced dead soon after.

The rooftop of the commercial facility was freely accessible, and police have launched an immediate investigation into the circumstances that led up to the fall/jump.

In a remarkable official statistic, Japan sees more young people under the age of eighteen kill themselves on the first day of September than any other day of the year – just ahead of the new school term.

Witnessed by hundreds

The disturbing incident occurred at around 6pm local time and was witnessed by large numbers of people who were in the vicinity of the crowded shopping district.

The unnamed teen is understood to have lived in Kimitsu City, and is thought to have literally thrown herself off the rooftop deck – which is 12 floors high – of NEWoMan shopping complex,connected to Yokohama Station, in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Heartbreakingly, Chikako Chiba, a 32-year-old office worker who lived in Midori Ward, Yokohama, was walking with three friends directly below at the time and took the full impact of the fall, dying from her injuries just under four hours later, despite frantic efforts by hospital staff to save her.

School issues could be a reason

At this stage the reasons behind the girl’s apparent suicide are unclear, but the timing is deeply significant.

September 1st has become something of a dreaded day in Japan as statistics have shown that more children under the age of 18-year take their own lives on that day than any other, linked to it being the beginning of the month in which the new school term starts.

Shocking statistics

Teenage suicide is a real problem in Japan. Last year an astonishing 513 took that tragic route, driven in the main by what are commonly described as “school problems”.

Students who dread returning to school have become known in Japan as “futoko”, or simply those children who do not want to go back to school. A host of causes have previously been listed, including family life, personal issues with friends, bullying, and pressure of studies.

In recent times, authorities and media organisations have tried to raise public awareness of the challenges students face around this particular date and the Japanese public broadcaster, NHK, even mounted a campaign on X (Twitter) called “on the night of August 31”.

Not the first incident of this type

Incredibly this latest tragedy mirrors something very similar which took place in 2020. On that occasion two students died after a 17-year-old boy jumped – also from the roof of a shopping centre – and he killed a 19-year-old girl in a busy district of Osaka.

The boy was posthumously charged with manslaughter, which resulted in his already distressed family being initially held responsible and having a compensation demand placed upon them for the family of the victim their child killed.

However, the charge was dropped shortly afterwards.