4-year-old boy falls to death from fifth-floor apartment window in Shiga

Friday 04th September, 09:57 AM JST

SHIGA —

A four-year-old boy died on Thursday after falling from a fifth-floor apartment window in Otsu City, while his mother was in the next room, police said. Serio Takahashi fell from the window sill, which was about 120 cm high, just after 5 p.m., hitting the ground some 13 meters below and suffering serious head injuries. He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after.

His mother, Yumiko, 26, was reportedly in the next room at the time, and Serio was playing with his younger brother. Another resident of the city-run apartment complex, who was parking her bicycle on the first floor at the time, told police she noticed the boy standing up on the window sill. She parked her bicycle and heard a thud, and saw the boy lying on the ground, police said.

News reports

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 35 Total Comments Show All

burro at 01:26 PM JST - 4th September

OK I'll bite - figure what out baboohat?
kokorocloud at 01:26 PM JST - 4th September

I agree that sometimes things like these happen and it's very easy to say, "Well, I would have never let that happen to my child", but it's always possible. I wouldn't call this woman a horrible parent for leaving her kids in the next room (instead of, say, leaving them completely home alone or in a locked car in a parking lot on a hot day), but I'm sure she has learned a very painful lesson from all of this. That is punishment enough, it seems, knowing that her child is dead.
FryingMonkey at 01:38 PM JST - 4th September

Wicked sad! Hope the mom can find peace. RIP little man!
levinea at 01:55 PM JST - 4th September

Obviously, people saying parents should always be watching their child and make sure the whole house safe never raised a kid or never had a dynamic one. You do not need to be in a different room. You just have to open a cupboard looking for something. In the meantime, your 4 y.old kid took a chair and less than 30s after, was on the table jumping and smiling by the time you look back. You think you can prevent all possibilities a kid can endanger him/herself? You are fooling yourself. Accident happened and will happen.
peachy871 at 02:57 PM JST - 4th September

Based on what information is in the story above, I do feel horrible for that mother. She did not leave her toddlers home alone while she ran out to the conbini, she didn't leave them in a car in sweltering heat while playing pachinko...she was in what she thought was the safety of their home, in the next room.

Most of the stories that I have seen on JT before about kids dying were due to horrible negligence on the parents' part. But there was nothing in this story to indicate that this woman was negligent in the least. She was very nearby. She very well could have been negligent but there is nothing in the story to indicate that. The stories on here usually seem to have more detail about what the parent was doing if he/she was being negligent at the time. We don't know what she was doing. She could have been getting them a snack or a drink. She could have been getting things out for their dinner. She could have been in the loo. There are a million uneventful, routine everyday things that every parent has to do that causes them to take their eyes off their children for a moment. A vast majority of those times, nothing happens and all is well. But, there are some occasions when, no matter what precautions you put in place, no matter how careful you are, an accident will still happen.

This was a horrible, tragic accident. My heart goes out to that family.
tokyokawasaki at 03:00 PM JST - 4th September

Having 3 kids myself, I understand how difficult it is to keep an eye on them all of the time. However, this does not mean that a parent should avoid the obvious dangers.

I am still amazed by the fact that nearly every J family I see out for a drive in the family car that allows their kids to climb over the back seats without wearing a seat-belt. When will these clueless parents realize how dangerous their ignorance is to their kids...

How about a series of new parent classes sponsored by the government and/or short public information movies in-between the mind numbing 'tarento-less' TV programs teaching the parents of the not so obvious (to them) dangers to their kids and what they can do to ensure their children's safety (in the house, pools, beaches, in the car etc, etc). I just find it so sad and traggic that so many little angels lose their lives because their parents were not aware of the sometimes obvious dangers...
timorborder at 04:32 PM JST - 4th September

I am still amazed by the fact that nearly every J family I see out for a drive in the family car that allows their kids to climb over the back seats without wearing a seat-belt. When will these clueless parents realize how dangerous their ignorance is to their kids...

A very good point indeed. It seems that some people find my view of things a bit cold and heartless. Indeed, my views might be a result of my background, which saw me do a medic's rotation as part of my military service at a major hospital casualty department in Perth, Australia many years ago. Seeing kids on slabs does not do much for me. Seeing kids on slabs as a result of parents who did not take minimal precautions against events such as car accidents (no seat belts), burns (flammable clothing and lack of supervision) or falling out windows (a lack of child-proof locks) makes me mad. The facts are that a 4 year old is dead because the parents (the mother and father) did not have the foresight to realize that it is not a question of if, but when will accidents happen in the home. Living above the ground floor and not taking steps to child-proof your windows is inexcusable. A couple of months ago it was a kid climbing over a veranda rail and impersonating Icarus on the way down, this time it was a kid falling out a window. Where will it all end? It is not merely a case of watching your kids 24 hours a day. Rather it is a case of running all the simulations in your head as to what may possibly happen and addressing such issues so they do not occur. It is also a case of hearing what has happened to other people and making sure that it does not happen on your own watch.
namabiru4me at 04:58 PM JST - 4th September

@ timorborder There has been and always will be senseless deaths of children even if the parents protect the home. What is a parent to do, protect their children from every possibility in their young life? Impossible!

True negligence should be dealt with appropriately, however in life there are tragic accidents. This seems to be one.

Many times in apartments there are no safety screens. The windows are set into concrete. In addition, there may be lease clauses against modifying anything in your "mansion."

For those of you who have or have had 4-year olds...they are very creative, determined and can adapt to most countermeasures an adult creates.

This was a terrible accident.
bcbrownboy at 07:04 PM JST - 4th September

Hindsight is like that, and kudos to those parents out there who thought of the windows first. BS, as I visited my friend in a high rise, I was amazed that her two boys had easy access to a balcony on the 17th floor. The FIRST thing I thought was, make it inaccessible, and these weren't even my kids. If they were mine, I'd NEVER let them anywhere near that balcony. BS, that mother is 100% at fault, and if it were up to me, she get a long stretch indoors to think about it. Stupid!
farhaan at 08:19 PM JST - 4th September

Blame it on Japanese buildings. Japanese buildings never has window grills. just sliding glass windows without any safeguard. I am living in 9th floor of a new apartment, it has big sliding windows which I am always thinking it is very dangerous for childrens.
Disillusioned at 10:59 PM JST - 4th September

city-run apartment complex

So, a city run complex with windows that open enough for children to fall through. Pure architectural genius at work! As much as I feel sorry for the mother she should have had the forethought to realise a four year old boy will climb out an open window whether it is 1.2m off the ground or not. I bet she doesn't leave the window open in the future.
Akaminekoji at 01:44 AM JST - 5th September

You don't blame the mother for what has happened to her son death, but they should sue the owner of the apartment complex for poor construction made building. Becuase, every building should have safty window to protect children from this horrible incident.
Speed at 02:23 AM JST - 5th September

LFRAgain, hear, hear! Couldn't have said it better myself.
Davin at 07:00 AM JST - 5th September

"sue the owner of the apartment"

Suing the Japanese Government would get you absolutely nothing!
elbudamexicano at 10:35 PM JST - 5th September

I hate high rise buildings! I feel so sorry for this poor family, who could not afford to have their own house. RIP little boy and may other parents, from all over Japan and all over the world use this as a lesson on trying harder to protect our innocent children.