A man who jumped to his death Tuesday from the roof of a department store in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward seriously injured a passerby in the fall, police said.
Ken Mamada, 39, a resident of Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, died after plunging 30 meters from the top of Keio Department Store.
Shinya Obata, a 27-year-old company employee from Nakano Ward, who was walking down the street, was seriously injured when Mamada struck his right shoulder, according to police.
The incident took place at 10:45 a.m. in an area bustling with commuters entering and leaving Shinjuku Station.
According to police, Mamada left his shoes and a suicide note on the roof of the store and apparently climbed over a 4-meter-high fence surrounding the roof before jumping.
Pop composer dead
Tadao Inoue, composer and former member of the defunct band Blue Comets, apparently committed suicide at his Tokyo home by hanging himself, police said Tuesday.
Inoue, 58, was found hanging from a ladder on the landing between the second and third floors of his house in the Roppongi district.
His wife found his body at around 5 a.m., according to police.
He was reportedly worried about problems with his eyes and left a scribbled note to his family saying "Sorry, it's incurable."
Police suspect he committed suicide because of his ailment.
Inoue joined the Blue Comets in 1960 and the band rose to fame during the next decade. Their single "Blue Chateau" composed by Inoue sold more than 1 million copies, winning for the band the ninth Japan Record Award in 1967.
After the Blue Comets disbanded, Inoue composed many popular songs for commercials and other bands.