Express train knocks suicide jumper back onto platform, injuring woman

I don't care how bad things are, taking one's own life is the most selfish thing ever. And this idiot wound up hurting someone that had nothing to do with his misery.

these people choose shin-koiwa because of the trouble and delay they can cause. They are sure they will make it to the headlines. They also delay the flights as Narita will adjust flight schedule to accommodate the delayed passengers. SHinKoiwa needs a barrier now.

Talk about a plan back-firing.... oh wait.

Somehow I doubt becoming a topic of debate among foreigners is high on the list of priorities of suicidal people, but I agree Shin-Koiwa needs a barrier. It's ridiculous that in "safety Japan" you can have trains whiz past you at 80mph millimetres from your face with nothing there to stop you in case of accidents. I have to go there tomorrow, hope nothing happens.

If you want to commit suicide that's fine, it's your life and death. We are all going to die anyway, you're just going a little earlier. But don't ever involve other people. Just take a bunch of bills and slip off...

Bills??I think Umbrella meant PILLS?? But anyway, I think this is all very sad and tragic, horrible and a waste of not only human life but if suicide were LEGALIZED here in Japan, etc...think of all the suffering people who need hearts, lungs, eyes, kidneys etc..who would benefit from the despondent ready to suicide and donate off their good healthy body organs.

Sorry Elbuda yes I meant pills! Still early in the morning!

I'm sure hurting someone else was not his intention. I'm sure he isn't considering any kind of notoriety or fame, because he will be dead.

Suicide is terrible.

Why shin-Koiwa station? It's no different to many other stations on stretch of track yet has attacked a string of jumpers.

You would think that after the woman a couple of years back went flying into a kiosk and injured people that JR East would have done something like put a barrier in place, but alas, that would require spending money you can't sue a bereaved family for. TWELVE such incidents in TWO years! Much of this could be prevented if JR were not so cheap and run by incapable fools. I'm glad the woman's okay, and I hope she can find some grounds to get compensation from the railway company.

I can't imagine you can survive a sudden to 120kph in the opposite direction. You wish people would find a different way to kill themselves.

In Japan about 700 people commit suicide yearly by jumping into the path of an oncoming train. The majority (about 20,000) of suicides in Japan is by hanging.

omg! japan should invent a huge bubble cushion barrior on their trains so that people bounce back!

Must have been horrifying for the woman.

The difference is that suicide in shinkoiwa is often published in newspapers and discussed in TV and that in effect guarantee for people who wants to commit suicide to end with a bang. Ive seen people literally jumped on the tracks in my stay here, can even remember their faces, seen blood spilt on the platforms while they carry the lifeless body with blood dripping on the floor. Ive seen death and its ugly.

In the past two years, Shin-Koiwa station has been the site of at least 12 such incidents. In 2011, there were five suicides at the station over a two-month period. In one case, a woman in her 40s jumped in front of a Narita Express train and her body was sent flying against a enclosed kiosk on the platform, shattering window glass and injuring four commuters

And still no barriers?

Why can't the railways protect the countless thousands like mikihouse forced to witness this?

Perhaps because, for some reason, that particular station is particularily depressing.

Completely selfish. If you're going to kill yourself do it in a way where you won't hurt people nearby.

wipeoutJun. 29, 2013 - 10:00AM JST

's ridiculous that in "safety Japan" you can have trains whiz past you at 80mph millimetres from your face with nothing there to stop you in case of accidents. Yes. They remind me of roads.

... stop trying to kiss passing cars?

On the pavements you don't have hundreds of other commuters trying to shove you from behind as the train pushes up so that they can get nearer to the front and get that train.

This wasn't a problem in the past, but last time I visited Tokyo I was astounded by how often I was pushed and shoved by other commuters jostling for position just before the train pulled up, mostly school kids who use their bags and backpacks like battering rams.

Mikihouse- can't believe your story was in the plural. You've seen that stuff more than once

Tamarama-There are many reasons why ppl commit suicide. There are psychological profiles also for the way in which ppl commit suicide. It is generally thought that committing suicide in front of others, especially places like on train tracks where a lot of ppl will be inconvenienced, shows a grudge against ppl, or society in general, was a part of their reason for dying. (Like someone who has been restructured, can't find a new job, felt like they had sacrificed for the co/ society, and were now being ignored. As opposed to someone who was restructured, can't pay the bills for his kid, is sad about that, and hangs himself).

If as others say, it is true this station will get you on the news, I would say more than being famous, they want to let someone know of their death. Like an estranged loved one they can't contact, or maybe someone they hated who will be embarrassed or otherwise humiliated by the suicidee's death if it is public.

I imagine bouncing back and injuring someone was not part of the plan but with grudges you never know. That sounds absolutely horrific.

I hear all train station platforms will have barriers in another couple of decades.

That woman may be OK physically, but there must be quite a high likelihood of psychological problems. Having a torn-apart dying body splattered against you is probably an image that won't go away for a long time. Those who decide to end it all in this manner must have a desire to "get back" at society, by affecting as many people as possible. they know full well that train drivers and witnesses (which could also include young children) will all suffer with those sickening sights in some way for the rest of their lives.

mikihouse, sorry but I have to call you out on this one. They never carry the lifeless body with blood dripping everywhere. First thing they do is bring out the "blue sheet" which is basically tarp and cover the scene. You won't see the body or any blood after that.

So many aggressive and destructive comments directed against one poor bloke who may well have been far beyond any kind of reasoned or logical reaction to his own depression, confusion or grief - is not a good way to protect others from the mind shattering effects of public, or even private - suicide. Better, instead, to consider ways to spot potential suicidees on stations, and how to talk them out of it, or prevent them from doing it, without risking ones own life or anyone elses. Perhaps some kind of volunteer suicide patrol - or dedicated edge of platform cctv camera - or notices on the stations that offer help to people who feel desperate ... None of you have the smallest idea what was in that guys mind, but my guess is - a few kind words might have got him to behave less destructively - to himself and to others. Where's your humanity? You think you are all indestructable?

The news publicizes the death. People can see in the news that someone did it and it was a success at that location. So it becomes a popular place because it works, not because the dead person will be famous after the fact.

It would be pretty easy to climb over a barrier if you wanted to. Barriers prevent accidents, not suicides.

sushilover-

The barriers around here are floor to ceiling, so they are walls, and they have extra sets of doors, so when the subway car doors open, the barrier doors simultaneously open too.

Some of these suicides must be so traumatizing for other people to see. At least have the decency to do this in some other way instead of inconviencing other people. I've heard that the family is charged something ridiculous amount like $10000 for every minute service is interrupted.

None of you have the smallest idea what was in that guys mind, but my guess is - a few kind words might have got him to behave less destructively - to himself and to others. Where's your humanity?

If someone has mental problems leading to suicidal tendencies, such as bipolar depression, a "few kind words" is just not going to work. They need constant care and medication.

http://www.suicide.org/bipolar-disorder-and-suicide.html

And do you also think we have to have some humanity for the hundreds of innocent people (including children of all ages) traumatized (possibly for a lifetime) by having to witness such a spectacle? Imagine your young kids were on the platform at the time. Of course, any suicide is extremely sad, but couldn't it be assumed that those who commit such an act by jumping in front of a speeding train have made a prior, calculated decision to distress as many other humans as possible? Do you think that this could possibly be the reason why some people tend to moderate their feelings of "humanity" for the deceased in these instances?

@wipeout and disillusioned

Shin-Koiwa is popular for suicides precisely because trains are doing 80mph when they go through it as it is one of the few station where the Express runs right next to the platform when it goes through the station, as opposed to running on tracks away from thej platform as it usually does at most other stations

from:< http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8456816.stm>

so I'll retract my previous comment about the "kind words"...seems I may be wrong about that, according to this Samaritan*

"There are about 200 suicides per year on the railways," says Rachel Kirby-Rider of the Samaritans. "But in terms of the cost and emotional impact, it's much higher for suicides on the railways than other forms of suicide, because of the effect on witnesses. All suicides are tragic but some train drivers never go back to work afterwards. More research is needed into why people would choose this method above others, say Ms Kirby-Rider, but the common profile is middle-aged men who are unemployed or struggling financially, she says. And there are more incidents in areas of social deprivation. She believes that if people thinking about throwing themselves under a train can get to the Samaritans - maybe referred by a vigilant member of rail staff or because a poster on a platform tells them that help is available - then their chances of recovery are greatly increased."

wipeout

You can usually stand back, yes, but sometimes there is no choice. At the point in the platform where the stairs to the concourse are there is often only 2 foot or so of platform space. If 2 people try to walk past each other you're literally millimetres away from 80mph worth of train. Even on the normal part of the platform itself you soon get pushed very close to the front if it gets crowded to any extent. I just think maybe there's a false sense of resignation when it comes to rail safety. If it was a road cars would be told to slow down or there would be barriers if they were driving past hundreds of people a couple of metres away, but with trains we don't think about it because of course we have to get on and off them.

Barriers won't be much help, because people who really want to commit suicide are usually successful. They would just have to find a different way to do it.

@sensei

You're right. What's to stop them from doing it at a railroad crossing?

So why don't Japanese commit suicide in a toilet- it would be dead easy to enter those and take poison or hang yourself. Noone would notice for ages.

I say scrape up the "bits" and dump them in the deceased's family's genkan...so sick of these feeble individuals mucking up my morning commute!