The Takashimadaira Housing Complex Incident
December 1, 2009 by Juergen Specht · 2 Comments
Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. In the last 11 years, it exceeded annually 30,000 suicides versus just 7,000 car accident victims. Its in fact 4.2 times more likely to die of suicide than getting killed in a deadly traffic accident.
Don’t climb up – Sign inside the Takashimadaira Housing Complex
Over the years there also seem to develop rather strange behavior patterns in Japan, especially related to the way and location of where people choose to end their lives. There is for one the famous “suicide forest” Aokigahara, Tokyo’s Chuo subway line and then there was the Takashimadaira housing complex incident.
The Takashimadaira housing complex
More than 10,000 people live in the 14 story apartment buildings in Takashimadaira near Ikebukuro in Tokyo, which became famous for a creepy series of suicides.
Parking lot at the Takashimadaira housing complex
Immediately after the buildings opened in 1972, a series of mysterious suicides took place here, over 150 people committed suicide by jumping off the roofs. This series was rather unexplainable, especially the fact that not one of the people killing themselves lived in Takashimadaira itself. They came from all over Japan to find their end here.
View from the top of the Takashimadaira housing complex
While in Judeo-Christian traditions suicide is seen as a major sin, in Japan there is virtually no stigma attached to committing suicide and there is also very little done in terms of suicide prevention and psychological care. So in the typical Japanese pragmatic way, the government stopped the series by adding safety nets and fences to the building, making it impossible to enter the roof or jump out of the windows.
View from the top to the safety nets inside the building
However, these architectural additions create an even more depressive, almost jail-like atmosphere.
View down with sign saying ‘Don’t step on the safefy net’
View from the 9th floor
Close-up of the safety net
All windows are fenced
The Takashimadaira housing complex
Dead tree in front of the Takashimadaira housing complex
The upper floor
Looking down
There is almost strange beauty in the symmetry
Hardly any light reaches the lower floors
The view from the 1st floor
The fenced off roof top
Another view of the fenced off roof top
View from the top
Everything is fenced off
the first floor picture has a strange mesmerizing power…
the other pictures are plain creepy. they look like a 60’s russian mental hospital!!!
Actually the place is kind of fascinating and in weird way beautiful, but I would not for a moment like to live there! Even all the people I met while walking around looked like ghosts :)