Boy who jumped to death had written about suicidal tendencies at school

The Mainichi Shimbun
May 9, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080509p2a00m0na008000c.html

A 12-year-old boy who jumped to his death from his Tokyo condominium after attending a graduation ceremony at his elementary school in March had written about his suicidal tendencies at school, education officials said.

The public elementary school in Itabashi-ku that the boy attended and the Itabashi Ward Board of Education apologized to the parents of the student.

"We should have given him more guidance," said one of the officials.

The boy wrote during a physical education exam held on March 7, "I will commit suicide when I think I cannot carry on any more," according to officials. The answer was to a question that asked students what they were going to do with their lives in the future.

On March 19, when the school distributed a questionnaire in preparation for a yearbook, asking graduating students what they think they will be doing in the future, the boy wrote, "I will be dead (in hell)," according to officials.

(Mainichi Japan) May 9, 2008

6th-grader found dead after apparent suicide leap

The Yomiuri Shimbun
March 27, 2008
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080327TDY02306.htm

A sixth-grade primary school student was found dead Tuesday after apparently jumping from a condominium in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, where he had left what appeared to be a suicide note, police said.

According to the police, the condominium caretaker found the boy, 12, lying on the ground below his home on the 14th floor of the building at about 1:30 p.m. The police believe the boy jumped off a balcony.

At a press conference Wednesday, the boy's school principal said he had been a good and capable student, but had behaved oddly at the school's graduation ceremony, held that morning. At the ceremony, the students were to pay tribute to the school, with each one taking it in turn to say a few words of a speech. The boy was supposed to say, "The school I love," but instead said, "The school I hate." The principal asked the boy why he changed the phrase, and the boy said he had made a mistake because he was nervous. The principal refrained from pressing the matter further, he said.

The police found a B5-sized piece of paper on a table in a living room of the family's apartment. On the paper was a one-line note: "I'll apologize by killing myself."

(Mar. 27, 2008)

Boy, 12, jumps to his death from condo on graduation day

The Mainichi Shimbun
March 26, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080326p2a00m0na006000c.html

News Photo: The condominium in Tokyo's Itabashi-ku, from where the school boy apparently jumped off, is pictured on Tuesday night.

A 12-year-old boy plunged to his death from his condominium in an apparent suicide after returning from a graduation ceremony at his elementary school in Tokyo, police said.

A scribbled letter that appeared to be a suicide note was left at his home. Police are trying to determine the motives behind the boy's actions.

According to police, someone called for an ambulance at around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, saying that a 12-year-old boy who attends a public elementary school in Tokyo's Itabashi-ku had jumped from the 14th floor of his condominium in the ward.

The boy was rushed to a hospital, but was confirmed dead about two hours later from massive injuries.

According to Shimura Police Station and the Itabashi Ward Board of Education, the boy attended a graduation ceremony at his elementary school on Tuesday morning. He apparently jumped from the condominium after he came back home, officials said.

The elementary school where the boy attended and the board of education will hold a press conference on Wednesday to explain how the boy leapt off the apartment building.

The boy was described as being quiet and hard-working. He was scheduled to enter a public junior high school in Itabashi-ku in April.

The condominium sits in a residential area about 1 kilometer from Kami-Itabashi Station on the Tobu Tojo Line. The Arakawa River runs to the north of the condo, separating Tokyo ward and Saitama Prefecture.

The area is dotted with more than 10 medium- and high-rise condominiums that were developed in the 1970s, as well as elementary, junior high and senior high schools and a junior college campus.

(Mainichi Japan) March 26, 2008