8-year-old boy falls to his death in Fukuoka
FUKUOKA —
An 8-year-old boy fell to his death from the balcony of his 13th-floor apartment in Fukuoka on Saturday, police said Monday. According to police, the incident occurred just prior to 7 p.m.
Police said they received an emergency call from the apartment’s adult tenant, saying the child had fallen from the balcony. The boy, identified Yuki Shudo, was confirmed dead at the hospital a short time later.
Police said the boy had been left alone in the apartment, and apparently had managed to climb over the 1-meter-high balcony railing.
Compiled from news reports
Order by Time Order by Popularity
14 Comments
Login to comment
-3
NetNinja
Let me guess, Single Mother, probably went to work at a hostess club. It doesn't matter. It's all speculation. Nevertheless, the MONSTER that neglected this child should be arrested for negligence resulting in the death of a child. You NEVER NEVER leave an 8 year old child alone.
Must be the worst mother in the world. Why do I think it was a mother? Daily, I see mother's with daughters and sons. Women always neglect the boys. Sometimes allowing they to roam over 5 meters away from them on a main street with heavy traffic. The boys in this country are neglected way too much by mothers.
This is just another case where it resulted in death. I really want to know the full story. Where was the mother?
2
BurakuminDes
Awful news. Reminds me of the famous Eric Clapton song "Tears in Heaven" about his son who tragically died the same way. Rest in Peace.
2
Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land
@NetNinja
Both my parents worked when I was 8 and us neighborhood kids would run wild for 3 months straight during summer vacation. It was awesome and the freest time of my life.
Maybe you could be a little less judgmental. Doesn't really seem like you know what you are talking about, but that isn't stopping you, is it? All the mothers I see are minding their kids pretty well. I would say the boys are doted on (spoiled a bit even), just like the girls, not neglected.
3
miamum
netninja - do you actually have children? This is not a 2 year old we are talking about, but an 8 year old boy. Kids that age go to school every day, often along major roads, and are more than 5 metres away from an adult. They spend regular periods unsupervised in the classroom. They are often left at home for short periods. Why? Because at that age they are old enough to assume a certain level of responsibility for themselves, and for most of the 8 year olds I know (and I know a lot - my daughter is that age) that would include having the nouse to not climb over a balcony on the 13th floor.
What happened here is tragic, no question of that, and I concede that 8 year olds can be pretty stupid - especially boys at times. But you can hardly blame the mother in this case - she may have been simply taking the garbage out, something I do all the time, and sometimes I leave my daughter at home while I do it. I am neither a monster nor a bad mother. From when they start school, it is impossible to expect to be able to watch them all the time, unless you stalk them!
0
Ayler
it doesn't matter indeed, so don't bother
0
Spidapig24
And you have to ask the question why arnt decent balcony railings/fences required by law. Much as pool fencing is required in other countries, maybe then this sort of thing would happen as often as it does.
0
Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land
How often does it happen? Reading the articles here everyday gives one a somewhat skewed view of Japan, I think. I don't think things like this really happen all that often.
0
Spidapig24
I would say that once is too often but if you look back it has happened a few times in the past year.
0
Zenny11
Happens often enough.
Problem is not that the rails, etc are low but many Japanese use the Balcony as an extra storage space so there are boxes that can be climbed on, etc.
An 8yr old quiet capable to bring a chair to make looking out easier, after that a small slip/mis-balance and .....
0
Spidapig24
Stranger,
What do you mean reading the articles here gives a skewed view, l cant put it less bluntly than this. The poor kid fell to his death, as have others. What is skewed about this???
0
Cricky
A 8 yo managed to clime over a railing, it has happened before, the building code needs a review. If the child was suicidal not much we can do. But I have to ask, how can this happen?
0
Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land
@SpidaPig
Wow, didn't think I needed to explain this one, but...
This site is not Japan and I don't think it really presents a balanced view of Japan. It favors sensational stories and reading them all the time can make people think Japan is a more sensational place than it really is, like kids are falling off balconies left and right, and every school teacher is a chikan trying to take pictures up girls' skirts on the train, and every cop is a lazy sub-moron, etc....ad nauseum.
My experience here doesn't bear out the view of Japan many people here express. It seems like a fairly normal place to me where people get up in the morning, go to work, get married, have kids, watch tv, etc... A fairly mundane place. Of course, there are some weirdos, and things do happen, but in a nation of 125 million, accidents are bound too happen. So, a kid falls off a balcony, suddenly everyone is criticizing the shameful height of the Japanese balcony railings and of course it's the Japanese's fault for not making higher railings. Rubbish. All the railings I've ever seen in this country were of a normal height and I would like to suggest that it isn't the height of railings in Japan that is the main force at work here, but rather some of the people on this site's zeal to lash out and criticize anything and everything Japanese.
I wasn't referring to the kid at all when I said "Reading the articles here everyday gives one a somewhat skewed view of Japan" as should be obvious since I didn't mention him/her. But, I will say this: I have a hard time imagining an 8 year old that doesn't have the sense to not climb over the balcony railing of a 13 story apartment. But, he did. He climbed over it, by himself. I don't see him as a victim and scapegoating the railing, or the mother, is just so much nonsense, imho.
0
miamum
Gotta say I
m with stranger on this one. The height of the balcony railings? The building regs need reviewing??! The mother shouldnt have left him alone???!!! How high should they be to contain an 8 year old intent on harming himself?I`ve seen 8 year olds scale 6 ft walls! Should I not allow my daughter to do her homework in her room alone anymore, just in case she suddenly does something stupid like go out onto the balcony and climb over it?
This is a terrible tragedy, caused by an 8 year old doing something totally stupid. It
s not a Japanese thing. I have seen many British 8 year olds do stupid things too. We all did it as kids too. My blood runs cold when I think of the rope swing that went out over the cliff edge I used to get such a thrill out of as a kid. Its a miracle some of us are still here, and sadly for this little guy he pushed things too far.Japan does have a lot of weird, freaky things going on, some of which make it totally fun to blow off some steam and bash them around a bit on here. But in this case, I see nothing more than a tragic accident that could happen in any country anywhere at any time.
0
shogun36
The problem was, the kid probably wasn't too bright. We all were 8 years old once and done stupid things. But to live on the 13th floor and to be playing on the rail like that (assuming he was just playing around,) even at 8, you have to realize that it's dangerous.
At 8 years old, I wasn't a genius or anything, but I knew not to play in the middle of a street or play by the edge on the 13th floor. It's simple common sense.
Don't get me wrong, It's always a heartbreak when anyone dies, let alone someone so young. But when kids do things completely ignorant (like walking backwards in the middle of a street in Japan,) then all you can do is shake your head.
Back to top