Japanese Woman, 23, Killed by Suicide Jumper Who Survived as 45,000 Back Father's Demand for Murder Charge

About 45,000 people had signed a petition by 11 October backing a Japanese father's demand for a murder charge after a man jumped from a building in Nagoya and fatally injured his 23-year-old daughter, Hora Inaba.

The man survived and was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence resulting in death. Her father, Kenji Inaba, argues that the suspect accepted the risk of killing someone below, but that claim has not been established in court.

Family Had Planned Dinner the Following Day

Hora was walking along a pavement with a friend in Nagoya's Sakae district when the incident happened at around 1am on 19 July. Her family had arranged to meet for dinner the following day, their first such gathering in about nine months.

In a message before her death, she had asked whether she could visit her father's home to eat. Mr Inaba said he had been looking forward to seeing her.

He received a call from her sister about an hour and a half after the incident and went to the hospital, where his daughter did not respond to his voice.

He described Hora as kind to everyone and said many of her friends attended her funeral.

Father's Petition Draws About 45,000 Signatures

The family launched its petition on 21 September, asking prosecutors to pursue murder rather than gross negligence resulting in death. TV Asahi's Good! Morning programme reported on 11 October that it had attracted approximately 45,000 signatures.

Mr Inaba said he had met the suspect three times and received an apology, but did not consider it sufficient.

In the petition, the family says the suspect answered affirmatively when asked whether he had jumped without caring if people below lived or died. They argue that his responses demonstrate awareness and acceptance of the danger.

Those exchanges are the family's account of their meetings with the suspect, not an independently verified admission of murderous intent or a court finding.

Murder Charge Demand Centres on Accepted Risk

Mr Inaba bases his argument on mihitsu no koi, a Japanese legal concept concerning awareness and acceptance of a possible prohibited outcome. The family argues that the suspect recognised the possibility of killing someone below and accepted that risk.

The petition describes the area beneath the building as a brightly lit pavement in a busy entertainment district. Mr Inaba has repeatedly returned to observe pedestrian traffic and said nearly 300 people passed in less than two hours around 1am, the time of the incident.

Those observations form part of the family's campaign. They do not establish what the suspect saw or understood before jumping.

A lawyer interviewed by TV Asahi cautioned that establishing murder would not be straightforward. He said uncertainty about whether someone jumping from the building would strike a pedestrian raised a separate question about whether the conduct met the requirements for murder.

The legal question therefore remains unresolved, regardless of the number of people supporting the petition.

Suspect's Criminal Responsibility Under Assessment

The 29-year-old suspect initially suffered life-threatening injuries and was unconscious before recovering. He was arrested in August on suspicion of gross negligence resulting in death.

A report published by TBS NEWS DIG on 9 October said Nagoya prosecutors were conducting an expert assessment of his criminal responsibility, with detention for that purpose scheduled to continue until 13 January 2027.

That assessment does not establish guilt or determine by itself whether a murder charge could be pursued. The reported detention period concerns the assessment process, not a sentence.

Family Plans to Submit Signatures to Prosecutors

Mr Inaba said he would continue campaigning for his daughter and to prevent another family experiencing a similar death. He does not want her death treated as an unfortunate accident.

The family says the collected signatures will be submitted to prosecutors alongside a written statement. Their petition also asks investigators to continue examining the suspect's awareness of the danger to pedestrians.

If existing law cannot adequately address what happened, Mr Inaba wants changes that place greater weight on victims and bereaved families.