14-year-old Saitama girl commits suicide after being bullied online

Monday 19th January, 04:08 PM JST

SAITAMA —

A 14-year-old school girl committed suicide last October after being bullied by her classmates on the Internet in Saitama City, the prefectural education board revealed Monday. According to officials of the education board, the girl hanged herself at her house on the morning of Oct 10.

She left a note in which she said she wished she could get revenge on the classmates who posted insulting messages on her online profile site.

The officials said the girl transferred to a junior high school in the city from Yokohama last June. Her two classmates posted insulting messages about her last July, but later apologized to her, according to board officials.

The girl’s parents said they first thought their daughter committed suicide because they scolded her on Oct 9 over her test results. They didn’t find the note until November.

The education board officials denied that the cause of the girl’s suicide was bullying.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 51 Total Comments Show All

kokuryu at 02:40 AM JST - 20th January

I think that the bullying must be more intense in Japan than elsewhere. I was bullied as a kid, but only became stronger because of it. In the end, I ended up ending all bullying in the school by becoming the one person nobody could ever mess with - no bully won any fights against me in the end. And it only lasted to the end of elementary school. After that, no more bullying at all.
OhioDonna at 03:58 AM JST - 20th January

I was bullied as a child. Bullying should not be allowed either on the playground, in school or online. Violaters should be prosecuted.
TheMusician at 05:43 AM JST - 20th January

She left a note in which she said she wished she could get revenge on the classmates who posted insulting messages on her online profile site.

I hope she knows she can't get revenge when she's dead. Unless there's some sort of crazy Japanese curse I haven't learned about yet.

The education board officials denied that the cause of the girl’s suicide was bullying.

Are you SERIOUS?
bushlover at 06:38 AM JST - 20th January

Being bullies verbally is pretty mild in my books. I had it all through High School and I put an end to it. In Japan with their heiwaboke and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Rose Colored Glasses etc are not equipped to deal with anyone who directly confronts them verbally. I've seen this in people not able to face you when there is a problem, and those are adults, as well as in personal relationships as well. Japanese in general (Whoops would hate to generalize...everyone says its a sin.) can't deal face to face with a problem and this is why mere verbal bullying succeeds. Once they can learn to deal with problems and fight words with words then maybe their society will get better. Until then this will happen more unfortunately. The bulliers should get the ratan cane.
MHiromi at 06:49 AM JST - 20th January

Not quite. While bullying probably happens across most cultures, kids in the West seem to have a stronger sense of self, stronger social skills and more access to social/mental services than Japanese kids.

Why do you think that is?
GJDailleult at 09:18 AM JST - 20th January

Bullying happens everywhere and Japan is not special or unique.

Seems the question here is whether bullying in Japan is a just a behavior problem, or if there is a cultural part to it too. If usaexpat is correct and Japan is the same as everywhere else, then the solution is for people, schools etc, to get their heads out of the sand and deal with the problem. If others are right and bullying is part of the culture, then nothing is going to change unless people start to examine some of Japan's cultural beliefs and attitudes (ie. what exactly is "harmony"?). And that level of self-examination probably doesn't happen in any country, not only Japan.
Faderkinta at 12:38 PM JST - 20th January

I am sorry I heard what the two girls wrote her and if that is enough for her to kill herself then I am less sympathic. During my school days I got Oreo wrappers, spit in the face, pushed down stairs, and having to fight usually a gang of people, how about giving a little more backbone to kids here. There was no way I was going to end my life for any stupid kids. Maybe, school needs not to be everything in a kids life. For all the crap I got at school my extra-cirricular activities kept me sane. I thank the YMCA and Four H clubs, also AYSO and ll the rest. The only time I bowed out was when a friend of mine took four baseball bats to the head and his attackers the next day told me I was next. I got straight on train to my Mom's work and told her I wouldn't step in that school again no matter what. Not all kids are the same but really a little more iron in the back would be nice.

Still the translator could have mis-translate what the e-mail messages said. Though two news reports said the same thing.
khemet at 01:08 PM JST - 20th January

Saitama got it bad. It must one of the most violent places in the world, up there with the Middle East, Afirca, and Brazil!
khemet at 01:11 PM JST - 20th January

Keeping in mind that everyone is not the same. I believe bullying makes kids stronger. Hell, bullying doesnt stop at being a kid so if you cant hack it at a young age you are in for a treat as you get older.
medievaltimes at 04:20 PM JST - 20th January

MHiromi - A variety of reasons. In short, different cultures have different values.

Group thinking seems to be the norm in Japan. People spend a lot of time worrying about what other people think. Even most adults I talk to are extremely sensitive to what people think/say about them. They seem to have little self confidence. Perhaps these are by-products of a shame culture.

Students are so busy going to school, studying for entrance examinations, joining a club, studying more at juku and dealing with the parents mantra of "study study study". It leaves little time to actually figure out who they are as an individual, figure out what makes them happy, develop interpersonal skills, learn how to deal with failure, figure out their strong/weak points, develop a strong relation with parents (of course dad is at hostess bars drinking until 11pm) etc.

There is also a lot of "amae" in Japan. The culture almost seems to encourage immaturity.

As for social/mental health services...its no secret Japan is very far behind in this area. Most Japanese I talk to think people can overcome mental illness by simply "doing their best". Also shame and denial are factors that prevent most Japanese from asking for help.

Im sure there are more factors, as it is a complex issue, but these are the ones that come to mind.
JapanHusker at 04:33 PM JST - 20th January

"Bullying happens everywhere and Japan is not special or unique."

Yes, but the SHAME culture of Japan IS unique. Thus, it can be deducted that, though bullying happens across the globe, bullied kids' reaction to said bullying here is also very unique.

So, I might add, is the lack of recognition and prevention/punishment for bullying here.
ChrisBiggins at 04:38 PM JST - 20th January

Bullying is evil, i should know i suffered as a little boy. I was called poof duck, because i was obvioulsy gay and overweight.

If my parents and grandparents didn'T support me 100%, i would have considered suicide. This story is so sad, a young death always brings tears to ones eyes.

I hope measures can be taken, so others like this poor young girl can get some support.RIP.
kirakira25 at 05:43 PM JST - 20th January

This is a topic very close to my heart for several reasons, as a victim, as a parent, as a teacher and as a sister of a victim who badly suffered well into adulthood.

But any comments I have to make would probably start a war so I would just like to say "Medievaltimes for Prime Minister"! your posts have summed up beautifully everything that is a factor in this scourge on society.
CMEANDU26 at 11:51 AM JST - 23rd January

I guess I am confused too. I was bullied while growing up. It was always by older kids. It stopped but growing up it was just part of being a kid. I don't think there is one person that can say they were never bullied. What confuses me is how normal that every one here is making it sound. I am sure that Parents, Schools, Teachers, let me just say every one knows that Bullying in Japan is a big problem. Why are we not hearing about what is being done to prevent this? I mean this is Japan. I am used to there being a solution to any problem. I mean I don't care if it is a knee jerk reaction. It doesn’t make sense to me to say that it is normal in Japan that a child that is bullied kills themselves. If it is then when the next child does it there shouldn't be any cry of out rage. It makes no sense to get all upset about it as a society if nothing is being done about it. Where are the parents? Are they active in the child’s life? Do they have a relationship with the child other than feeding them and giving them a place to sleep? Something more needs to be done.
saborichan at 01:21 PM JST - 23rd January

Part of the problem is precisely that spread of the word 'ijime' across the TVs and internet. The more the word gets spread around, the more of a phenomenon it appears to be, more of a thing that is either there or not, black and white - when in fact it is an amorphous thing that can be subtle or blunt. In fact, ijime doesn't mean 'bullying' in the western sense of beating on someone or teasing them; it also means isolating them socially by whatever means.

I had kids playing Monopoly, and one had a bad streak of luck and went to jail twice or three times in a row. He said be was being 'ijimerareta'. Being bullied by the universe? Come on. This kind of misuse of a term reflects poor understanding of the responsibility and effect of bullying, and in turn leads to ineffective measures against it.