Senior Imperial Agency official Haraguchi dies while climbing

Monday 05th October, 05:11 AM JST

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sakurasuki at 08:27 AM JST - 5th October

Koichi Haraguchi, grand master of ceremonies at the Imperial Household Agency, died Sunday while mountain climbing in Niigata Prefecture, police said. He was 68

I know Japanese elder has long age, but this guy is pushing his luck further than that by climbing the mountain.
bogva at 09:34 AM JST - 5th October

sakurasaki, what do you mean by your comment? My parents are 76 and they go for mountain walk every weekend. Initial health condition is no related to age.
Nessie at 10:33 AM JST - 5th October

This is how I want to go.
Smythe at 10:41 AM JST - 5th October

Yes I must agree with bogva & Nessie. Koich Haruchi was out excersising to injoying it & so many should be doing & so many are not. So his time came & like some of us THAT is the way we to would like to pass away in time.
inakaRob at 12:06 PM JST - 5th October

he died if illness?!?!? what in the world does that mean. that could be 1 of several million or billion differnt things. and what illness is so deadly yet so unnoticed that you would climb a mountains simply to die at the top.

he is beileived to have died of illness. well no rocks fell on top of him. he wasnt shot or stabbed. i guess he caught cancer somewhere on the way up, and by the time he reached the top his organs where just too far gone.
zhazam05 at 01:41 PM JST - 5th October

Im sure he would know if he were ill,maybe he wanted to see those mountains once before the END.or IS IT ????
sakurasuki at 03:35 PM JST - 5th October

Initial health condition is no related to age.

It's only case by case but in average physical stamina and performance get deteriorated with aging process.
ca1ic0cat at 09:05 PM JST - 5th October

There are a lot of "illnesses" that could be brought on by climbing but I'm sure that the IHA isn't going to make much public. Not that it matters. At least he died doing something he enjoyed.
Nessie at 10:08 PM JST - 5th October

It's only case by case but in average physical stamina and performance get deteriorated with aging process

True for a randon sample, but mountain climbers are a self-selected sample. In my experience in Japan, the higher the mountain is, the older the summiters are. Old climbers ---the ones with experience, not like the punters who died in summer storms in Hokkaido this year--- kick major butt.