Student hangs himself in Hokkaido; note hints at being bullied

Tuesday 29th September, 08:41 AM JST

YUBARI —

The Yubari Board of Education announced Monday that a 14-year-old boy hanged himself at home on Sunday, and said that bullying may have played a part in the death. Officials are currently interviewing fellow students to get more details.

Yuukichi Fujimoto, principal of the school, said at a press conference on Monday evening that the boy’s body was found by his mother at around 11 p.m., hanging from a rope that was tied to the guard rail on the top of a bunk bed. A handwritten letter was found in the room saying “I often thought people laughed at me to show that they hated me.”

The boy was reportedly a cheerful student who was active in both his studies and after school activities.

Fujimoto said of the tragedy, “This is really heartbreaking for all of us, and we’re putting our utmost effort into understanding the details behind it.”

News reports

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Latest 15 of 35 Total Comments Show All

Midnightpromise at 02:24 PM JST - 29th September

Sad story, but it appears that in spite of what his note may have said, no one hated him as much as he hated himself.
bamboohat at 04:43 PM JST - 29th September

understanding the details behind it.”

I'll tell you exactly what was behind it. Kid had fears, pain, anxiety, emotional trauma, and NOBODY he could turn to (teachers, PARENTS) who would do anything other than say "Ganbare!"

If this kid could talk to his mom and dad about his problems, this wouldn't have happened.

I can understand lonely, ALONE, people that kill themselves, but a kid in a good should NEVER feel alone.

Sounds cold, but SHAME ON THE PARENTS. It's your job to take care of your kids, not just hand them over to the machine called Japanese society and hope they turn out ok.
BlackOut at 04:48 PM JST - 29th September

bamboohat , i couldn't agree more!
tuneintokyo at 07:00 PM JST - 29th September

If the bullying doesn't stop....FOR CRYING OUT LOUD stand up for yourself and do something about it

Unfortunately, this is terribly unrealistic.

What's unrealistic about bringing an older cousin, or a baseball bat for that matter, to the playground? If not physically solved, then surely someone at school would have helped if they were properly informed. Every problem has a solution. Unfortunately these kids are not being taught how to solve problems.
tuneintokyo at 07:02 PM JST - 29th September

@naruhodo1

I totally agree with what you said!
helloklitty at 09:32 PM JST - 29th September

Going in too hard is better than having to cut your kid down after they have hung themselves.

The mere fact that you are in their corner will make all the difference in the world.

I'm a high school teacher and I embarrass the hell out of the bullies. I figure if they hang themselves, nobody's gonna miss them.
LoveUSA at 10:13 PM JST - 29th September

“I often thought people laughed at me to show that they hated me.”

Same happens to me, people bully me and i feel sad, but this is life... He should have asked for help firends, relatives, counselors etc. Suicide is the worst choice for anybody.
Cliffy at 10:28 PM JST - 29th September

It is too bad. Bullying also happens in North America, at least when I was in high school and teachers used to ignore them until the Columbine instance. I used to be bullied by others when I was in school. Since I was in an all boy school, so we played really rough. After a while, I learned one thing, preemptive strike. After that, they stopped.
seggahme at 12:58 AM JST - 30th September

it is sad but maybe he wasn't really bullying? it didn't go further laughing. if people find you jerk, it's sad for you, but they have right for their own point of view. the boy was too cheerful, it wouldn't last long. but he decided to stay as he was, already forever.
mnemosyne23 at 01:08 AM JST - 30th September

I agree with just about every comment I've read on this story, which might be a first for me!

There is NO excuse for Japanese parents ceding the responsibility for their child's welfare to a school or a teacher. Teachers have dozens of students that rotate year to year, but parents will only have ONE little Billy, or Amy, or Yuki, or Ken. It is the PARENTS who are responsible for making sure their child grows into a productive, confident member of society, not the schools. The schools teach the math, the history, the grammar; they teach the kids to be good students. But it should be the PARENTS who teach the children how to be good people.

Everybody's busy and time is always at a premium, but just making the effort and letting your child know you're SINCERE in caring about his or her welfare will do immeasurable good. It's one thing to offer lip service and a jovial, "Ganbarre!" and quite another to actually LISTEN to your child's problems, offer support, advice, and reassurance, and actually take action when necessary. Admitting to fear, sadness, worry, or depression is SO hard, and even the most secure, self-confident person in the world can have trouble asking for help when they need it. But a child should know that they can ALWAYS go to their father, mother, brother, sister, grandparent, uncle, whoever, and get the love, support, and help they need, no strings attached. I'm not saying this unconditional love wasn't available to this boy, but if it was, he didn't know how to use it. If someone had asked him, "Son, how was school today?" maybe this wouldn't have happened. We'll never know, and I can't begin to understand the pain and trauma his mother must have felt when she found him. It just breaks my heart.

While we're talking about reforming family attitudes, let's not forget the parents of bullies as well! For every bully who is made into a bully by a bad family situation and/or role model (timorborder, that sounds like a contributing factor in your case with that thug father!), there is another bully who is the product of coddling parents who let their little darling get away with blue bloody murder without a lick of proper discipline, expecting the schools to take care of it for them. That's failing your child, and failing every other child your bullying son or daughter will pick on until someone finally takes the little brat to task. Parents are just that -- parents. You aren't there to feed your child's ego. You are not your child's best friend. You have a responsibility to teach them right from wrong, and that means making them own up for their bad behavior, not indulging them. Just as parents should listen to their children and support them through difficult times, they should also observe their children's behavior and correct it when necessary.

Please note I'm talking about DISCIPLINE, not abuse. Too often people make the mistake of believing the two are synonymous, and nothing could be further from the truth. Discipline is the correction of negative and/or anti-social behavior through punitive measures that are reasonable in relation to the offense. This means that if your child throws a tantrum because he or she doesn't want to eat peas for dinner, you send the child to bed without dinner, or you don't let them have dessert. You do NOT give them a black eye and a split lip. Any reasonable person should know the difference, and if you DON'T know the difference then you shouldn't be allowed to have or keep your children.

Poor child. RIP, ototo-kun.
dolphingirl at 01:17 AM JST - 30th September

mnenosyne23: You've summed it up very well.
KitsuneYoukai at 03:53 AM JST - 30th September

dolphingirl..You read all that. I thought it was heading towards a dissertation; too wordy.

Bottom line, this kid is one more that slips past the radar of society. No one he felt he could turn to. Masking his pain with smiles and joining activities when he clearly was not happy. I'm not really sure there is a 100% fix for this.
Delarapier at 02:58 PM JST - 30th September

Suicide is too common in Japan these days.
Ukhti at 04:00 AM JST - 2nd October

Lots of good points raised here! I definitely agree that parents should make it a point to be there for their kids to talk to, but unfortunately most parents don't have that kind of relationship with their children. Sometimes you really do just have to step in as a parent and put your foot down! Of course, ideally, we'd like situations to be resolved as peacefully as possible, but sometimes the bullying party involved doesn't make it that easy, and children sometimes have to physically defend themselves as well.

My children are the victims of bullying, and I always make it a point to tell them to stick up for themselves, because if they don't the bullying will continue, possibly even progress. There's "supposed" to be a tough no-bullying policy at the school. One of my sons told me a kid in his class pushed him at school, even spit water and then food at him. I told him to report it to his teacher (because that's proper protocol, right?). He said he did, but nothing was really done about it. I then told my son that if that kid pushes you again, push his a** back! He said the teacher told him that if he did, he'd be suspended or expelled even. I feel like this, that if a kid can give a lick, he can sure as hell take one! I told my son not to allow anyone to put his hands on him, and in the event he gets in trouble for defending himself, not to worry about being in any trouble with me because I have nooo problem in letting the school or the parents of the bully know where I stand! Damn that!
Blue_Tiger at 03:30 PM JST - 3rd October

When I was in Junior High, there were between six and ten people who bulied me every day for an entire school year, and most of the bullies were girls. Is it possible to survive being bullied when seemingly nobody will listen to you when you report it? Well, I did. This bullying actually went on from my 8th grade year until my sophomore year of high school. Did I think of suicide? MANY times. However, there were people around me who encouraged me, prayed for me, and helped. My Dad suggested that I pray for those who were bullying m,e. Now, I know what a lot of the people on Japan Today think about God, prayer, and anything Christian or Religious, but I will tell you that praying for these six-to-ten people every day for three years worked. Today, 2o years after we all graduated high school together, all ten of them are friends. Yes, there is help waiting for anyone who is being bullied. All you hafta' do is ask, and He'll be there. Yes, I did take my frustrations out in other ways, and other avenues, such as weight lifting, football, and biking, but the key was praying for those bullies. Doubt what I'm saying? I DARE anyone to try it....