Man killed by Shinjuku train identified as ex-Japan national blind soccer player

TOKYO -- A man who was fatally hit by a train on the JR Yamanote Line at Shinjuku Station has been identified as a former member of Japan's national blind soccer team.

Police identified the blind man, who was killed at the station in the capital's Shinjuku Ward at around 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 2, as Hiroyuki Ishii, 47. He was also a former vice president of the Japan Blind Football Association.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Ishii was seen descending onto the tracks and lying down just before the 11-car train arrived at Shinjuku Station. There are no platform doors installed for the Yamanote Line at this station.

Ishii lost his eyesight at the age of 28. He had been involved in activities to prevent accidents in which people with visual disabilities are hit by trains after falling off platforms.

(Japanese original by Tomoko Igarashi, City News Department)