Japanese Youth Has Been Asleep 2 Years

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30265, 18 October 1963, Page 11

Japanese Youth Has Been Asleep 2 Years

(N.ZP. A.-Reuter—Copyright)

TOKYO, October 17. The “Mainaichii Daily News,” an English-language Japanese daily, today reported an 18-yeair-old youth in northern Japan had been asleep tor two years and a half.

The newspaper quoted doctors art Hirosaki University Hospital as saying that it was not certain whether the youth, a high school student, would awaken in the future. The boy first visited the hospital in the autumn of 1960, complaining he was unable to concentrate on his studies. After being treated at the hospital for three months, he recovered almost completely. His mental illness recurred in May, 1961, and he received insulin shock treatment at the hospital. He fell asleep in response to the treatment and has not woken up since, the newspaper said. The doctors said: “His health is well maintained with an intake of 2500 calories per day. His pulse is normal. He shows clear responses to external stimuli.” The doctors said that if the boy did awake it was uncertain that has mentality will be normal.

Visiting New Zealand.—A delegation of the USS.R.New Zealand Society, led by the society’s president, Professor Kuzma Ivanov, prorector of Moscow University, left Moscow by air for Wellington yesterday. Tass reported.—Moscow, October 17.