2 men awarded for stopping teen boy from jumping on train tracks in west Japan

AKASHI, Hyogo — Police here have awarded two men for stopping a junior high school student from jumping on train tracks.

Saburo Musha, 65, and Junichi Aramaki, 66, both employees of JR West Maintec Co. Akashi office, were given Hyogo Prefecture’s good deed awards by Akashi Police Station on April 23. According to police and other sources, Musha spotted a 14-year-old boy outside an overpass fence on his way to cleaning a train from his office near Nishi-Akashi Station at around noon of Feb. 22. He told the boy to get back inside the fence before going back to the office to call out for help from his colleagues, while also signaling an oncoming train to stop.

Aramaki, who was in the office at the time, rushed to the scene and talked to the boy, saying, “It’s going to hurt real bad if you fall. Come a little closer to this side,” before grabbing the boy’s school uniform and holding him. When Aramaki said to him, “You’re all right now,” the boy apparently cried out loudly. He was then handed to an emergency rescue team.

Musha recalled the moment, saying, “All I thought was, ‘I have to stop him. I want him to stop.'” To those who are struggling, Aramaki commented, “When you’re going through a tough time, I want you to send out an ‘I’m struggling’ yellow signal. Once it turns red, it’s over. Before you start worrying, find someone you can talk to and ask for help from those around you, and create opportunities to vent.”

(Japanese original by Yuria Kiyama, Kobe Bureau)

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