Woman jumps to death from bldg; 1-yr-old daughter found dead in bedroom

Wednesday 17th June, 01:35 PM JST

TOKYO —

A 32-year-old woman died on Tuesday after apparently jumping from the 14th floor of an apartment building in Nerima Ward, police said. Her 1-year-old daughter was found dead in the apartment, and police believe the woman strangled her daughter before jumping from the building.

Natsuko Yumoto was found lying in the apartment building car park at around 10.30 a.m. by one of the building managers. Yumoto was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after. She lived with her husband and daughter in an apartment on the 4th floor, but police said they found a bag belonging to her in a corridor on the 14th floor, and believe she jumped from there.

Yumoto’s daughter, Akari, was found dead in the 4th floor apartment with strangle marks around her neck, believed to have been inflicted with an electrical cord. A note was found nearby, which said sorry in addition to some other comments not made public. Police said the Yumoto’s husband was working on Tuesday.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 39 Total Comments Show All

kirakira25 at 05:01 PM JST - 17th June

So sorry. Wish she had consulted some doctor about her problem. Poor little daughter.

My friends sister did, when she had a young baby and severe post-natal depression and was told to "ganbatte". Her friends refused to talk to her about the problem and things only improved when I got involved and told her that all the prettiest mums (outside Japan) are on Prozac! now she's found a great doctor and is happy as anything!

But my point is there is very little emotional and social support for these mums beyond the usual helplines that tell you to "gaman" and the stupid pamphlets that tell you how to feed your baby properly.
Potsu at 05:50 PM JST - 17th June

Japanese culture for you.
BBLeo at 06:59 PM JST - 17th June

What is all that about: '...in addition to some other comments not made public.??? Another secret? And where was her husband at the time? There is something fishing here, I wonder what cops are hiding?
BurakuminDes at 10:25 PM JST - 17th June

Rest in Peace, poor baby - you will go to a much better place than the hell you had with your evil mother.
BurakuminDes at 10:26 PM JST - 17th June

I'm really surprised the media have not reported this baby as having committed suicide! R.I.P.
Beerplease at 11:09 PM JST - 17th June

What's become of these suicide stories of late? No mention of the shoes?
norinrad21 at 11:38 PM JST - 17th June

I wonder what tomorrow is going to be like.
knews at 12:08 AM JST - 18th June

Criticizing someome you have just read ten lines about and have never met is rather stupid. Obviously the woman had mental issues and thought this was the only way out. I guess it is hard for anyone else to understand if they haven't been there but, then again, none of us can live anyone else's life so don't be too quick to judge. Some of the comments made above make me more worried about the human race than what this woman did!
Molenir at 12:16 AM JST - 18th June

On the one hand, I'm like some of the other posters, who think what this woman did, is just inexcusable. On the other hand, I'm aware of how serious post natal depression can be, so I can understand, if not excuse the behavior, to some extent. I'm sorry for the woman that in her confused state, she felt this was the only way out. Sorry for the daughter, and for the husband, who should have seen this coming if he was any kind of husband, and tried to get his wife the help she needed.
Tosaken at 01:10 AM JST - 18th June

All we know from this story is from the point at which the child was killed. What led up to this, what was the woman like, the husband like, was the baby well or not, where do the respective families live? We have nothing except the presumption that the mother killed own child, very likely but by no means guaranteed. The family could be from elsewhere in Japan, no close by family & friends. The husband could have started an affaire while the woman was pregnant & is now unwilling to end it, the child could have been disabled. Add anything else you can think of because we don’t know. We certainly don’t know enough to damn this poor woman to hell or disgustingly talk of urinating on her grave. To kill a child is wrong, yes, but we need to give understanding to a distressed person lost in their own damaged world. Maybe you have never been so emotionally lost, maybe nobody you know has ever been so lost, then you are so lucky, too lucky to stand in judgement on others. What happened here is just incredible sad. If this had been Europe or the US we could reason that the state had failed her, but it isn’t, it’s Japan. Their culture is part of the reason most of you live in the country, sorry, but nothing in life is perfect, you will just have to accept that there are things about Japan you will never learn to like. Find the balance & live with it, they are not going to change to suit you (or me).
dbuurman at 01:31 AM JST - 18th June

I agree with "knews" - who are we to judge. Obviously, this poor woman needed help. We don't know the depth of her despair or loneliness, or feeling of isolation perhaps. There are a lot of sick and lonely people out there, and not just in Japan, but everywhere. Life is hard and not all cope in the same manner. We need to have more compassion and be aware of our neighbours and if they need help - offer more help; not criticism.
mnemosyne23 at 02:17 AM JST - 18th June

I'm sorry you feel that way, Tosaken. I don't think there's anything wrong with encouraging a society -- any society -- to alter it's social attitudes to create an atmosphere of understanding rather than a wall of silence around certain issues. I don't know if this woman was suffering post-partum depression, if her husband was having an affair, or if she was just selfish, but I think that anytime a parent feels justified in killing their own child there's a problem somewhere. When it happens enough that everyday seems to bring a new tragedy to the headlines, I have to question the society. In a country with a steadily shrinking, aging population, there should be SOME kind of structure available to parents who are on the edge of desperation, regardless of the reason. It could be free counseling at local community centers, or "coffee clatch"-type gatherings of neighbors and fellow tenants. It could be a doggone book club, for heaven's sake! People need to have the sense that they are members of a caring community, without -- this is key -- WITHOUT the fear of stigma when they reach out to that community for help.

Family has always been the pillar of Japanese society, and family members could often provide this kind of support. But the modern world is not the world of ten years ago, and it's certainly not the world of fifty, sixty, or seventy years ago. The definition of a family is different now than it used to be. A family might have two working parents, or one parent, or children might be raised by their grandparents, aunts and uncles, or even older siblings. Yet society hasn't grown to reflect these changes. Financial hardship, depression, unemployment -- these are all still considered shameful, dirty little secrets. What hope do suffering people have when they know that looking for help is going to stigmatise them as troublemakers, bad mothers, layabouts, NEETs, or worse? Japanese society still hasn't gotten past the bushido mentality that the only honorable way to atone for your "shameful" actions is to throw yourself on your sword; death before dishonor.

This is hardly a Japanese-only trait -- it's common throughout the world. But in other cultures -- I can speak for American culture at least -- warning signs, when recognized, aren't ignored. Someone might ask a friend if he or she is feeling okay, "Because you seem a little glum today. What's wrong?" Parents will encourage their children of all ages to seek help if they've noticed a change in their behavior. There is more concern for an individual's health and well-being than for their public image; this is why Hollywood celebrities can go into rehab for drug or alcohol abuse and STILL HAVE A CAREER when they get out.

Is it a fool-proof method? No. There're still employers who will stigmatise depression as laziness. There are still parents who don't want to admit that their perfect son or daughter might have a problem with alcohol. There will always be the unfortunate few who fall through the cracks because no one wanted to speak up and they felt too useless to save themselves. But what's important is that supports DO EXIST. People CAN TALK about these things and GET HELP without having to feel like they've failed themselves, their family, and their society. Even if they go into a situation feeling that way, they eventually can emerge feeling liberated.

I don't want Japanese society to change to suit me. But I want the Japanese people to understand that they as individuals are valuable, and that there's nothing wrong with seeking out help when the future seems bleak. Maybe then we'd see a few less headlines of "Mother kills baby, then kills herself," and a few more headlines of... nothing at all.
Tosaken at 02:49 AM JST - 18th June

mnemosyne23 (at 02:17 AM JST )

There is no contradiction in this, I do agree with almost all you say. What I was reacting to was the extreme, almost bitter comments posted earlier. I spent ten years living with someone who was incredibly ill, I did everything humanly possible to stop her killing herself. Yes, I failed, eventually she did manage it. Given time and distance from that I now cannot be sure that all I did was the right thing to have done. I cannot even be sure that keeping her alive wasn’t cruel & selfish of me. That is rubbish of course, but we see with both intellect and emotion, and after ten years in a little world that had it’s own strange rules it’s hard to say now what was and wasn’t right. I know all the battles I went through, night after night after night. I know all the professionals that were so NOT helpful. You would believe that in Europe and the US we have all the support services, at least until you come to use them, then you find that politics and dogma dictate and getting help that actually amounts to help is almost impossible. And even in Europe families hide their sick children, or if they can, hide from their sick children, if there is somebody else to take on the responsibility. Sorry my lost war on mental illness makes me angry with fools like many above that have no idea of what they are talking about and condemn a lady that is just as dead as her child. The same illness killed them both and they need our respect and understanding. Not what is written by the ignorant above.
Himajin at 06:49 AM JST - 18th June

Someone might ask a friend if he or she is feeling okay, "Because you seem a little glum today. What's wrong?"

Oh, people ask here too...but the person asked will most likely cover it up and say they're 'fine', unlike people in the US being willing to admit they have a problem...
Jaycee at 08:18 AM JST - 19th June

another pitiful story.... RIP