Warning: This article contains details that readers may find disturbing.
Two people have died in the Japanese city of Yokohama after a teenage girl jumped to her death from a shopping mall, landing on a pedestrian below.
A 17-year-old high school student jumped from a building in a busy shopping district, hitting a 32-year-old woman who was out with friends on Saturday night.
The two were rushed to hospital at around 18:00 local time (09:00 GMT), where the girl died an hour later. The woman also died shortly afterwards.
It is unclear why the girl committed suicide, although according to official statistics, in Japan, on September 1 – just before the new school term – more people under the age of 18 commit suicide than on any other day.
Last year, 513 children committed suicide in Japan, with “problems at school” cited as the most common cause.
Students who do not want to return to school are called futoko, or “non-schoolers.”
According to a previous survey by the Ministry of Education, the main reasons these futoko avoid school include family circumstances, personal problems with friends and bullying.
In recent years, governments and media organizations have tried to raise public awareness of the challenges students face at this time of year.
For example, Japanese public broadcaster NHK launched a Twitter campaign called “on the night of August 31.”
The most recent incident in Yokohama echoes a similar incident in 2020, when a 17-year-old boy jumped from the roof of a shopping mall to the ground, killing a 19-year-old female student in a crowded district of Osaka.
At the time, the boy was charged with manslaughter, meaning his family would have to pay compensation to the family of the victim he killed. However, the charges were dropped shortly afterwards.
So far, authorities have not indicated any signs of foul play in connection with Saturday night’s death.
While the suicide rate in Japan is decreasing among the general population, it is increasing among young Japanese.
Japan is the only G7 country where the leading death rate among teenagers is due to suicide.
Additional reporting by Chika Nakayama in Tokyo.
