Student commits suicide

TOKYO (Reuters): A student at a prestigious Japanese university died by jumping in front of a train on Saturday in an apparent suicide triggered by his inability to find a job.

The 21-year-old man, a fourth-year student at Waseda University, left a notebook on the train platform which police were examining, a police official said.

"We have not made any final determinations yet but we are treating the case as a suicide," he said. Police did not name the student.

According to local media reports, the student told his parents and friends that he was distraught because he could not find work even though he was about to graduate from one of the top universities in the country.

Admission to one of Japan's top universities traditionally led to employment at one of the country's blue chip companies or a powerful posting in the bureaucracy, but that has changed because of the country's worst recession in over 50 years.

Japan's suicide rate among middle aged men has increased significantly because of the country's economic slump, which has also led to record highs in the unemployment rate.