Junior high school boy leaps to death from condo in Sapporo
News On Japan via Mainichi -- Sep 06
A junior high school student leaped to his death from his condominium here, leaving a note saying he was "bullied," police said.
The 12-year-old student at a municipal junior high school was found collapsed in front of his condo in Shiroishi Ward, Sapporo, shortly after 7 a.m. on Sept. 5. He was rushed to hospital but died shortly afterwards. Hokkaido Prefectural Police officials suspect that he committed suicide after a note saying he wanted to die due to bullying was found.
Upon receiving a request from his bereaved family, the Sapporo Municipal Board of Education conducted an emergency questionnaire on all students at his school and interviewed some 85 students, including his classmates.
According to education board officials and sources close to the investigation, the suicide note was apparently scribbled on his student handbook and contained descriptions about bullying and a message to his elder brother and younger sister, saying, "Thank you."
This Monday, members of the seminal metal band X Japan were in Odaiba rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and AKB48′s Yuko Oshima. The catch? They were all made out of wax. (Japan Times )
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced that it intends to draw up a set of unified rules for the use of baby strollers on buses and trains. (Japan Today )
A man stabbed his ex-wife on a street in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday morning, and then caused a car crash while he was fleeing from the scene. (Japan Today )
Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the arrest of a broker of Thai females for violating immigration laws by employing the women as masseuses. (Tokyo Reporter )
The parents of a nightclub worker killed in an arson fire three years ago filed a suit in the Nagoya District Court on Monday seeking damages against top members of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group. (Tokyo Reporter )
Kyodo News said Monday that it has dismissed Satoshi Kondo, 51, deputy chief of its general administration bureau and former personnel affairs division chief, for meeting individually with a female student searching for a job and doing an inappropriate act.
(Jiji Press )
Saitama and Okayama prefectural police last week arrested the manager of an online porn DVD operation that specialized in films featuring children. (Tokyo Reporter)