Father and son found dead in minivan in Osaka in suspected murder-suicide

Friday 17th April, 09:08 AM JST

OSAKA —

A 47-year-old unemployed man and his 9-year-old son were found dead in a van parked in the grounds of a shrine in Sakai City on Thursday in an apparent murder-suicide. Police suspect the man forced his son to commit suicide with him after finding burnt coal briquettes inside the vehicle.

A passer-by noticed the man and boy slumped in the front of the van at about 3 p.m., and notified police at a nearby police box. Police said the van doors were locked and that they found the coal briquettes in the back of the van. Police also found a note in which the man said he had lost the will to live.

Kyodo News Service

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Latest 15 of 39 Total Comments Show All

sakura29 at 03:15 PM JST - 17th April

Japan is a very progressive and advance country, but this kind of incident shows that some Japanese people are still "ancient-thinking". It shows how weak the people are when face with problems... they all do is end their life.

Japanese people should see how people cope up with difficult life in poor countries..
nandakandamanda at 04:39 PM JST - 17th April

So much we don't know.

Just one scenario...

Imagine that he owed a huge sum of money to loan sharks. Westerners may say that the son should have absolutely nothing to do with it. Loan sharks in Japan however, would hound the son just as ruthlessly as the father.
SaitamaGaijin at 05:49 PM JST - 17th April

Rest in Peace for the Child. This is wrong. The child did not have to die with him. Ahhhh, I hate people who does not respect the lives of others.
jewel at 07:37 PM JST - 17th April

Womanforwomen, Im not saying this was the best solution, Im just saying I can sympathize with the dad. It seemed to me that ppl were quick to call the dad a murderer w/out considering how difficult a decision this may have been for him. Its not the typical case where a parent kills a child in rage or to get even with an ex. This is a case where the dad may have weighed what he felt were the only 2 options available and decided which he felt would cause the least pain to his son. He was seeing things as hopeless for himself and bleak for his sons future. Even if his son became an orphan, the gov. would only take care of him through jr. high school. Then what would become of his son? This was a 47 y.o. unemployed man seeing how things turned out for him and not being able to see a better future for his son. It doesnt say how long he was unemployed, but I imagine long enough for his benefits to run out and his bank account to perhaps be drained. Do you know anyone in their 40s or 50s who is unemployed? I know several and not a single one of them are getting any job interviews partly due to the economy and partly due to ageism being legal in Japan. They are also having to live off their savings b/c unemployment benefits dont cover all their basic expenses. So to say ppl "cant wait for someone to give them a solution" is missing the point. Perhaps this father had been desparately searching for any job and no one would hire him. We dont know. And a dad can only give his child so many glasses of water before the child starves to death. Besides what dad can tell their hungry son night after night "just drink water". I dont know if you have children but as a parent that would break my heart to watch my child starve and my only answer would be "go drink water". I think the situation had to be more difficult than ppl are suggesting. If one is well fed, its easy to pass judgement but if one has a child depending on them for food and shelter and all efforts have failed to provide, one may think the best solution is suicide. Again, Im NOT saying thats right. I`m just saying I can sympathize with a father in such a desparate situation that never should have been. If Japan has billions to spend on other countries and wasteful spending, then it should first set aside money to create decent paying jobs for anyone out of work or facing poverty.
womanforwomen at 09:56 PM JST - 17th April

I did mention that I can think of many of my Japanese friends who should decide this way to end their lives. This means that I know many in their 40s and 50s who are struggling and find it hard to survive. Yes, I would explain to my child my situation and how hard I am trying to keep him alive. I would not say "go drink water"..I have done this before and I know what it is. I am from a third world country. It is a struggle. easy to do the most ancient and easy profession for women. But I chose the hard way. Literally killed myself to be educated and sacrificed many things in life. Now I have a name and a profession... do not throw away money on absurd things like branded cloths. Support a couple of Japanese people in their struggle to survive.No, I am not Mother Teresa. As one poster mentioned earlier, help each other and let your friends and others know that you are struggling. Little things mean a lot. Share and be generous. So don't tell me that I do not know what pain is. Survive..persevere...
stipend at 10:50 PM JST - 17th April

SaitamaGaijin

The child did not have to die with him. Ahhhh, I hate people who does not respect the lives of others.

So it's alright if the father dies then? Because maybe he was a loser, in your view? There really is nothing to stand in the way of this problem then is there?

A woman standing on a bridge.. You going to yell "jump"? Not directly to SaitamaGaijin but everyone. That person was loved, has or had family that care about them. Every person has potential to lead a meaningful life.

Stress, depression, illness, a kid prescribed Tamiful. It's no different from catching a cold. Is it ok to let people die because they catch a cold?

Hmm.. maybe we can send some of the people on the board to local hospitals..

"Don't know that guy but he's like a loser, a life not worth living. Kill him before he infects someone. I might hate him for that."
Midnightpromise at 03:07 AM JST - 18th April

Stipend, we all appreciate your attempt to make us feel guilty for this guy killing himself, but it won't work. Suicide is not normally contagious, unless you have a loving father such as this one. I wonder if the van has low miles and will be up for sale soon?
buddha4brains at 06:30 AM JST - 18th April

Tragic and sad indeed.

How many of you who heap scorn on the dad are willing to reach out and help such an individual? Or adopt an orphan? Thought so. And probably so did the dad.
GJDailleult at 07:59 AM JST - 18th April

As timorborder said above, what he did was inexcusable. I can sympathize with people who lose the will to live, but as a parent myself, the idea that someone would feel they have the right to take their child with them is a disgrace. The ultimate failure a human being can become in life, being someone who does not protect their child.
bakabaka at 11:45 AM JST - 18th April

Japan is not a compassionate country. As a culture it's values are rather shallow and materialistic. Humanity is trained out of them by the school system. Solving problems is discouraged, and emotional knee-jerk reactions are encouraged.So this story is not at all surprising...
jewel at 02:53 PM JST - 18th April

My point exactly Buddha4brains expect you are able to say it in a few words! This man was in a position of scorn whether he lived or died and as bakabaka mentioned he certainly wasnt in the right country for compassion. Womanforwomen, I can greatly respect what you have done for yourself, but I imagine being from a 3rd world country, you were used to seeing poverty and hopefully ppl helped each other, but thats not the case in Japan. I imagine in 3rd world countries ppl dont scorn their neighbor when in poverty b/c everyones in the same boat. This mans situation and struggle was different. He was not in the same boat with anyone. He probably felt all alone in his struggle and didnt know where to turn for help. I wish he had the strength of you to perserve but not everyone has that inner strength and hope. For the weaker ppl like this man, I can have sympathy, but I hope the government looks at cases like this and realizes it needs to make better use of tax payer money by investing it in citizens.
womanforwomen at 09:36 AM JST - 19th April

so in the 3rd world countries people help each other and in others they don't. Food for thought. Whatever the world is, the problems are the same. They are to do with humans.
jewel at 04:13 PM JST - 19th April

Actually Americans help each other tremendously, and in my hometown I can say positively no one would let a person starve or go homeless. I grew up always seeing people give even when they had little to give. So helping isnt restricted to 3rd world countries but Japan is a country where the culture states we are not to burden others and if hardship comes to us then we have to accept it and bear it on our own. If we do accept help from others, then we owe them; so the burden of owing someone is sometimes worse than going without. I really like what Elie Wiesel, a survivor of Auschwitz, said. He said he can not judge or say anyones suffering is less than his own. He survived one of the most horrific horrors man has known yet he was saying who is he to say the housewife with the cheating husband doesnt hurt as deeply or worse than he did, or the kid bullied in school, etc. What he was really saying is every human is an individual so we have to look at their pain and circumstances individually rather than comparing them to our own. He could have said, "Hey, I survived the Holocaust so you shouldnt moan and groan about your circumstances. You should be strong". But he has a much wider, compassionate heart. I dont know this man in the article but obviously there is more pain to his story than just unemployment. Where were his parents? Where is the mother of the boy (did she die or leave them)? Was the boy being bullied in school because he was poor which was also ripping the dads heart out? What sort of a childhood did the man have? Did he have any friends? If a man is poor but at least has family or friend support, it can carry a person a long way, but when a person feels completely alone and trapped, they can give up. So again, I can feel sympathy for any person or parent that reaches this point.
stipend at 07:00 PM JST - 19th April

Midnightpromise

Stipend, we all appreciate your attempt to make us feel guilty for this guy killing himself, but it won't work.

Man I'm just saying, weigh it out.

If you knew a guy, failed to see the signs or failed to act well, then, my heart goes out to you. Intervention, right?

It's not a burden I would ever want to carry.
stipend at 07:35 PM JST - 19th April

Midnightpromise

Suicide is not normally contagious, unless you have a loving father such as this one.

I was speaking metaphorically. In the literal sense as you have taken it I'll say, yeah, it is contagious. How may cases in Japan are there of otherwise strangers, who've met online through desperation and carried out group suicide? Hmm.. and now today:

Mother, 2 children found dead in apparent suicide:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/over-three-quarters-of-japanese-born-after-world-war-ii-census