18-year-old arrested for pushing man to death from train platform at Okayama
OKAYAMA —
An 18-year-old man was arrested for allegedly pushing a 38-year-old man off a platform and to his death at JR Okayama Station in the city of Okayama late Tuesday, police said Wednesday. The victim, Kuniaki Kariya, an Okayama prefectural government official on his way home, was hit by an oncoming train and died early Wednesday of hemorrhagic shock, the police said.
The 18-year-old man, from Daito, Osaka Prefecture, was quoted as telling the police, ‘‘I can go to prison if I kill someone. It didn’t matter who it was. I just pushed the back of the first person in front of me.’‘
A railway police officer rushed to the scene after hearing the horn from the train and arrested the youth, the police said. The police are now investigating the incident as a murder case.
The man—whose identity has been withheld because he is a minor—had graduated from an Osaka prefectural high school earlier this month. He had a fruit knife on him when he was arrested, the police said. ‘‘I was going to stab someone,’’ the boy told investigators, according to the police.
According to the investigation, the man is suspected of approaching and pushing Kariya onto the railway track from behind as a train was about to arrive at the platform at around 11:05 p.m. Tuesday.
Kariya was waiting for a train to return to his home in Kurashiki, Okayama, at the time. According to West Japan Railway Co., Kariya was standing in front of about 20 people who were queuing up in a double line near a newsstand. The platform was crowded with more than 200 people.
According to police, the 18-year-old man lived with his parents and a brother. He went missing from home Tuesday morning and his parents asked the police in the evening to search for their son.
The suspect told police he arrived at the station around 7 p.m. and wandered around, thinking about stabbing someone, but could not make up his mind to do so.
He was carrying a knife in his shoulder bag and had a train ticket for 140 yen’s worth of travel from Okayama station. He had 3,560 yen in cash.
His classmates and high school staff said the man was an American football player when he was in junior high school and was well-built. But he was very gentle and bullied at times in junior high, they said. He was commended for a good attendance record during his senior high school years, missing only two days.
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44 Comments
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romulus3
what an absolute scumbag. note to self. mind your back and stand 3 lines back in the cue.
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nutsagain
Perhaps we're in for a lot more of this as summer nears. This is a society that pays little more than lip service to mental health issues. A poster somewhere in a post office etc., will suffice as it is after all; 'tannin no mondai' or the problems of another. And with that ever pervasive and deeply engrained attitude those that really need help are unlikely to seek it. Maybe they already they know full well that save platitudes, there's not much of it around.
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greenteaonsens
Name and shame this scumbag. 18 is old enough to be responsible for your actions.
P.S. I always look over my shoulder to check what kind of person is there if I'm at the front of the line and a train is pulling into the station
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southofreality
Next time someone says 'Amerika ni ikitai kedo, kowai kara ikanai,' shove this headline, or one of the countless others (Ibaraki mall stabbings, Hyogo schoolgirl stabbed in front of her house, Shinagawa shopping arcade stabbings) in his/her face and ask 'Nihon wa anzen na kuni da toiu koto desu ka?'
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nigelboy
‘Nihon wa anzen na kuni da toiu koto desu ka?’
Yes.
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bushlover
What a w@nker. then steal a police car or slap a cop and you'll get your jailtime. coming up behind someone and pushing them is the cowards way out and affects others not only yourself.
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Proffessor
sick
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Hughgarse
"The suspect, who cannot be named because he is a minor," 18 is no friggin minor.. he new what he was doing and should have the book beaten over his head.
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junkdna
Technically he is a minor as he is under 20, but that is why some politicans are rallying to see the legal age dropped to 18 -- a move I support.
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Patrick Smash
He shouldn't be named anyway, but no one is really a minor at 18. I hope he gest his wish about going to prison, and can get to share a nice cell with Mr. Big for the next 40 years as he learns to regret his actions.
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timorborder
Is this a joke? It defies belief!! Are the planets in alignment or something because all of the crazies are coming out of the woodwork. You had this guy slicing people last week, and now this moron. What is going on?
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eastokyo
"Are the planets in alignment or something because all of the crazies are coming out of the woodwork."
It's been this way for a while now, but has gone up another notch since Pluto was given the boot.
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eastokyo
誰でも良かった is looking like the new phrase in 2008. Pity it can't be squeezed into one character to make kanji of the year.
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hachmike66
I agree that he is not a minor, but the law that is being debated is only to reduce the voting age from 20 to 18. It has nothing to do with lowering the age of majority. Kids will still have to wait until they are 20 to legally smoke drink, and be considered adults.
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Taka313
"I just wanted to go to prison."
That old saying about being careful about what you ask for leaps readily to mind.
My condolences to the family of the victim and to the poor driver of the train, who will likely be haunted by this for the rest of his days.
Taka
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roomtemperature
Nigelboy, I don't see the use in suddenly writing in Japanese. This is an English website. You want to show off or something?
In general: Whenever I'm first in line on a platform and a train is approaching, I always look behind me.
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roomtemperature
Nigel, sorry. Of course this was for southofreality
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jeancolmar
I've said it before. Random attacks on strangers, usually by young male knife-wielding maniacs, is now an epidemic in Japan. It time that someone did a study. Meanwhile, I'll be looking over my shoulder when I go out.
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Gloobey
This is what years of repression gets you...and incidents like this and the recent knife atacks are just gonna increase. Japan is changing right before your eyes, folks!
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lipscombe
I would gladly beat this person to within an inch of his life, a bit Charles Bronson but he would deserve every blow
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Desiderata1967
It's high time they did away this not naming crap!
He killed someone, he should not be given the right to anonymity. But he should be given the right to the end of a short rope.
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Ivespoken
OMG!! I feel so bad for that guy (the murderer and the victim) who knows what he was going through to have the guts or the ordasity to push an innocent man off a platform! His family must be.... traumatized!
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southofreality
"誰でも良かった is looking like the new phrase in 2008."
It's a phrase that's been big for years, baby.
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eastokyo
southofreality, I just wanted to be a big man by throwing in some Japanese. No, not really, I mean it is news about Japan, right? If I wrote some Korean or something it would be more inappropriate. I applaud you for your efforts.
The reason I wrote "誰でも良かった is looking like the new phrase in 2008" is cos this young lad uttered the very same words that that guy did just a few days ago after knifing 8 people in Ibaraki. There's nothing like copying someone else. Wouldn't be surprised if we hear it again in the next few days.
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natsukomitsuki
This is so stupid, now I am careful when I will be visiting Japan in the future.
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umbrella
This government official worked until 11pm. Totally insane.
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franz75
clearly stupid...
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tashidelek
most of Japanes thy dont know what is the Peoples and the Country,country for the Peoples by the Peoples,looks like thy dont love Peoples,i see no Freedom in japan peoples with no Head to chang right! Do thy know Human right. FREE Japan
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stormcrow
First of all, I hope he's tried as an adult. An 18 year old who does something like this should be in prison or a mental hospital for the rest of his life. Secondly, it's a scary thought but maybe this young man has done something like this before. Also, I wonder how often this kind of thing happens where the killer walks away and melts into a crowd, especially on those crowded train platforms in cities like Osaka & Tokyo. The police have probably closed some investigations as suicides, which would just add more anguish on the friends & relatives of the victims of such crimes. I suppose barricades would be too much cost and trouble for train stations to consider, but this kind of crime has occurred before and will unfortunately occur again.
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notimpressed
'18-year-old arrested for pushing man to death from train platform at Okayama' '12-year-old boy jumps to death off condo building ' 'Stabbing suspect says he intended to attack school kids'
So much of this type of bizarre and pointless tragedies happening im Japan every week. Its long been known that the pressure to conform within Japanese society is to much, and cries for help like this still go unnoticed. How can Japan stop and take a look at itself, and start an open dialogue with each other? Feels like an impossibility. This is something where Japan really needs to admit theres a problem, followed by admittting to a whole string of other things. Japan seems to mistake its biggest weaknesses for its strengths. Honnae and tattemae is nothing to be proud of anymore. The world is getting crazier, and we all need to admit its not a walk in the park, is that so hard? Get some help Japan, Where China used to be called the 'sick old man of the east', Japan seems to be the 'batty old oyaji that everyone tries to pretend is someone elses problem' Downward spiral...
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southofreality
"The reason I wrote “誰でも良かった is looking like the new phrase in 2008” is cos this young lad uttered the very same words that that guy did just a few days ago after knifing 8 people in Ibaraki. There’s nothing like copying someone else. Wouldn’t be surprised if we hear it again in the next few days."
eastokyo, I knew what you meant, and I meant that the whole 'daredemo yokatta' statement has been uttered by many a batshyte crazy murderer over the years. Cheers!
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Tahoochi
Notimpressed, "Get some help Japan..." "...Japan seems to be the ‘batty old oyaji that everyone tries to pretend is someone elses problem’" Yes, Japan is getting worse for crimes like this, but how are you going to change the social culture of a small island country with a population of 130 million, occupance since 30,000BC, and a formal national state since 700 AD??? "Get some help Japan"??? I hope you're not American because I shouldn't even have to start to remind you what crime is like in the US. Freedom is one thing, but shootings, drug raids, and car chases everyday is another... I hope Japan never becomes like that.
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umbrella
Yes, some citizens just can't the social pressure to conform and they explode. This will always happen, there's nothing to be done about it. The price paid for this aspect of japanese culture. Err I think I believe what I just wrote.
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umbrella
that should be "can't HANDLE" the pressure to conform"
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flammenwerfer
I still dont get why an 18 year old is considered a minor here, it really is ridiculous
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cwhite
well, one sick crime a weeks isn't too bad in figures. What does scare me is the day these types of crimes become so common place like many other countries it's not even considered newsworthy. Lets see what hits the news this weekend as the drunk ones scamper around the cherry blossoms.
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stormcrow
What's really tragic about this murder is that the victim was a father with a wife and young children at home. This murderer will probably be sent to a special prison for boys and released in a few years with a new identity and no record whatsoever.
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Blue_Tiger
When there are no consequences for bad choices and bad actions in the home for 18 years, this is the result. This young man was likely no more concerned with this gentleman's death, and his family's loss, than he would be with offing a video game opponent....
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cosmo13
Next time anyone gets any funny ideas, SEE A PSYCHIATRIST
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lipscombe
aaah the old video game argument. blue-tiger, think for yourself eh. personally I blame socks, cmon, think about it! everybody has them! must be a connection.
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flammenwerfer
I was just thinking about this chaps comment "I can go to prison if I kill someone" I was thinking more along the lines "you can go to hell if you kill yourself".
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xxBiscuitxx
...why I dont stand in the front of the line at the train station...
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notimpressed
Tahoochi "I hope you're not American ..."
No I most certainly am not. I mostly wish that Japanese had an outlet for thier frustrations and help for psychological problems. I would love to see a stronger network of social services, whioch comunicate between disciplines*ie. medical, psychiatry, social workers, councilling, education. No one is talking to each other. Individually and corporate. Or should I say everyone is talking alot but not saying anything. Your right, its not easy for them to change a whole culture, but I hope they can take some small steps towards seeing there is an issue that needs attention.
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