The arrest June 22 of a high-school student on suspicion of arson and murder in connection with a fire at his home that killed his stepmother, half brother and half sister highlights the straits in which many students preparing for entrance exams may find themselves. The incident serves as a warning to the parents of such students.

The boy's father, a medical doctor, had placed his hopes in the son's future enrollment in medical school. This case seems to be one in which a parent's high expectations exerted such unbearable pressure on a child that the child made a desperate and fatal move to escape the burden.

Early on the morning of June 20, the two-story home of the 47-year-old doctor, in the town of Tawaramoto, Nara Prefecture, burned down. The bodies of his 38-year-old wife, 7-year-old second son and 5-year-old daughter were found in the debris. His oldest son, 16, was soon reported missing. At the time of the fire, the father was reportedly working the night shift at a hospital in neighboring Mie Prefecture.