The last thing Japanese do before jumping to their death
He was a good boy, a good student, and wasn't bullied.
After club practice he parted with his school friends at about 6:40 and climbed the stairs instead of going home.
He remembered to write a suicide note, then did the last thing a Japanese will do before jumping to their deaths…this time from the fourth floor.
He took off his shoes.
The 13-year old was discovered by a teacher at around 11pm.
He was confirmed dead 30 minutes after an ambulance took him to a hospital.
So, why take off their shoes?
I have never asked a suicide victim, but I can imagine that as a Japanese takes off their shoes before stepping up into their home each night, the same feeling is present when they make the final step to what they hope will be a better place, a permanent and peaceful 'home.'
Why do you think a Japanese might take off their shoes before jumping to their death?
Post a new comment
April 19, 2007
I’ve studied the uchi-soto dichotomy and other commonplace anthropological constructs for understanding Japanese society. The shedding of shoes is sometimes thought of as the shedding of the dirty or contaminated in preparation for the pure or clean. It’s also interesting to note that the Japanese entry hall creates a physical divide between the inside and outside, requiring one to ascend in order to enter. It leaves the dirt on another plane, so to speak. I don’t know if any of this enters into someone’s mind before suicide. It’s a really profoundly sad event. I always wish that they could have found a better way.
As a curious afterthought, I can’t help but wonder whether or not those who end their lives by jumping in front of trains remove their shoes or leave them on. Writing a note and removing your shoes seems to be a strange, interesting social courtesy of sorts. Those who jump in front of trains usually do so to make a point…or so I hear.
May 17, 2007
I think Deas hit the nail on the head. It’s somewhat like Western suicide notes – no matter the method, most suicides have notes. Why? In American culture (or my experience of it, anyway), I’m very used to writing notes and buying cards(since I’m under 25, email ^_^) that say. among other things, “thanks” or “sorry”, which these suicide notes contain. I guess a suicide note would be a natural extrapolation of note-writng (why hasn’t the greeting card industry jumped on this?). The Japanese have the tradition of death poetry, composed by samurai prior to committing seppuku…so maybe suicide letters are somewhat universal. As far as the shoes thing, it’s just natural for Japanese people to take off their shoes prior to entering a place, so taking off one’s shoes before jumping off a building seems natural enough.
August 2, 2007
They take their shoes off to prove they weren’t pushed and it wasn’t an accident.