High school boy commits suicide in Saitama park after argument with father

Monday 02nd February, 11:00 AM JST

SAITAMA —

A 17-year-old boy was found dead hanging from a park slide in Konosu City on Sunday morning, police said Monday. Police received a call at about 2 a.m. from a university student on his way home who saw the boy. Police rushed to the scene and found the second year high school boy hanging by a bag strap which was tied to the handrail of the slide.

Police said the boy had left home on Jan 29 after an argument with his father. The father told police he scolded his son for being too passive and meek and that he should be more active and assertive. The boy didn’t come home that night and the father notified police on Friday. Police have not yet determined where the boy spent Saturday.

The principal of the high school said he was a quiet boy who kept a low profile, and that he was not bullied.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 34 Total Comments Show All

jackfish at 12:20 PM JST - 2nd February

After reading a 2 paragraph article on a young boy's suicide, there's alot of quick judgment spilling out in the comment section here.
telecasterplayer at 12:51 PM JST - 2nd February

The father told police he scolded his son for being too passive and meek and that he should be more active and assertive.

Yeah.. it didn't work now did it? He's got to live with it now.
shreeree at 01:45 PM JST - 2nd February

He showed his father that he was much stronger than daddy thought. Takes guts to kill yourself.

I disagree Yeinats it takes more strenght to live that is why the strong survives and that which don't kill you makes you stronger. Dying is easy something that you can do at any time in your life. If you live 24-48 longer then you planned then you will see what you would have missed by dying.
dennis0bauer at 03:16 PM JST - 2nd February

It was assertive of the boy, but i would do something else to piss my father of instead of killing myself. R.I.P.
pointofview at 03:28 PM JST - 2nd February

I wonder if he was informing his dad of a bullying problem and his paps told him to get tough with whoever they were and deal with it. But if he was shy, felt helpless, lacked confidence, couldnt defend himself, and received no help from anyone, he might have given up and felt suicide to be the only other option. Nothing new. If there was a bullying problem Im sure the Principal/school/BOE did or would have done nothing about it.
samsarks at 04:12 PM JST - 2nd February

i remember those days when i was 15yrs at boarding high school.i endured several kinds of bullying from seniors.putting me in a locker sometimes for been traunt but yet i did not commit suicide.as somebody said above"these kids cant live a second outside Japan".cos been a gaijin makes you strong.i think they should employ more foreign teachers into their educational system.maybe,suicides might reduce.
shiuu at 04:16 PM JST - 2nd February

High school boy commits suicide in Saitama park after argument with father

That. Settles. That.
Disillusioned at 06:55 PM JST - 2nd February

he scolded his son for being too passive and meek and that he should be more active and assertive.

That is so typically Japanese! I can just imagine how it went down. When all else fails use character assassination to belittle your teenage boy. That will work, NOT! If you wanna know about teenage suicide in Japan just look at the idiot parents.
Maff at 08:33 PM JST - 2nd February

Why does the Japanese media report suicides? I don't know of any other country in the world where you get straightforward suicides reported on national websites, TV stations, etc. It's just not news.
norinrad21 at 11:53 PM JST - 2nd February

Sad to see him go but all his dad was doing is giving him the tools to survive out there. Too bad he took it the other way by offing himself.
usaexpat at 12:42 AM JST - 3rd February

Well the father was onto something, this kid obviously was weak. If your reaction to an argument with your father is to hang yourself you aren't strong enough to make it in our ruthless world. RIP son, you should have stuck around a little longer to see if maybe life was worth living.
shouganaika at 02:19 AM JST - 3rd February

Why does the Japanese media report suicides? I don't know of any other country in the world where you get straightforward suicides reported on national websites, TV stations, etc. It's just not news.

it's happening on a scale here that most other '1st world countries' can't comprehend. outside of the eastern bloc Japanese are the leaders in offing themselves, 100 a day and rising. obviously the Japanese media don't report them all...they would need a daily 2 or 3 page spread. some cases however get plucked out by JT just to let us know they are still doing it and as a warning not to scold any Japanese too harshly in case they take it the very wrong way
kokuryu at 05:47 AM JST - 3rd February

Sounds like he was being bullied by his dad... But wow that is one weak argument for killing yourself. I almost feel that his dad did it and we are looking at a possible murder and not a suicide.
TheMusician at 12:42 PM JST - 3rd February

That's so sad. What a tragedy, really! I feel bad for his parents, too! It does not sound like he was being bullied by his dad. He was reported to be quiet. Probably wasn't the most social person ever, but his dad isn't a bully.
SmithUS at 10:00 AM JST - 5th February

Even though hindsight is 20-20 and everyone has an opinion, people are still not perfect. Yeah there is a tradition of suicide in Japan, but who knows what was wrong with that kid. There are seemingly perfect kids who commit suicide in western countries.

But to relate a story, I knew this girl whose boyfriend threatened to commit suicide if she left him. Well, she left and he killed himself. As she was crying her eyes out, she said he knew he could hurt her and he did. Other than revenge, who knows what influenced this guy’s decision.