Even I'm starting to feel depressed reading this....
Education minister gets 2nd letter warning of suicide
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/389908
Friday, November 10, 2006 at 05:00 EST
TOKYO — Education minister Bummei Ibuki received a letter Thursday supposedly from a student threatening to commit suicide because she is being bullied, following a similar letter on Monday apparently from a male student, ministry officials said Thursday.
The second letter, addressed to the minister, was postmarked Wednesday and reached the ministry Thursday morning. Besides threatening suicide Saturday, the letter says, "I cannot condone those who bullied me. I will kill them," according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The letter also suggested that the person was motivated to write after a TV report about the first letter. The first letter said the writer would kill himself on Saturday.
17-year-old girl jumps to death from junior high school building
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/389967
Friday, November 10, 2006 at 06:59 EST
KITAKYUSHU — A 17-year-old girl who graduated from a junior high school in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, died at the school on Thursday in an apparent suicide by jumping from a building, police and local officials said.
The girl was found lying on the schoolyard of the municipal junior high school in Kokurakita Ward at around 9:15 p.m. Police believe she apparently jumped to her death from a window on the building's fourth floor. No suicide note was found. Police said she arrived at the school at around 8 p.m. by taxi.
5 more letters threatening suicide sent to education minister; police to boost school patrols
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/389994
Friday, November 10, 2006 at 18:52 EST
TOKYO — The education ministry, struggling to deal with cases of school bullying, received five more letters Friday purportedly from students threatening to commit suicide because they have been bullied, ministry officials said.
The five letters were addressed to Bummei Ibuki, minister of education, sports, culture, science and technology, and were similar to two others he received earlier this week, the officials said.
Of the five letters, one bore a postmark for "Machida" and another for "Seijo" — both located in Tokyo — while a third was stamped "Amagasaki-Kita," which is located in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. Comments included, "I've been bullied" and "I'm killing myself," according to the officials.
The officials did not disclose details about the two other letters Ibuki received Friday, as the names of schools and teachers were mentioned in them and the ministry has already instructed the principal of one of the two schools to deal with the alleged bulling.
During a session of the House of Representatives Committee on the Fundamental Law of Education on Friday, Ibuki urged students thinking of writing such letters not to follow suit.
"I want students in real trouble to consult teachers in schools and their parents to protect life. I ask those students to refrain from writing letters that can only confuse such people," Ibuki said.
Meanwhile, three police stations in Tokyo's Toshima Ward have decided to boost patrols near schools, as a letter the education minister received Monday from a student threatening to commit suicide over bullying bears signs that it was sent from the ward, officials said Friday.
The Ikebukuro, Mejiro and Sugamo police stations will carry out patrols near elementary, junior high and high schools in their jurisdictions on Saturday, the day on which the sender of the letter threatened to commit suicide inside a school because of bullying.
Ibuki got the letter which appears to have been written by a boy in elementary or junior high school. The envelope had a postmark indicating Toshima Ward.
Ibuki received a similar letter Thursday, purportedly from a high school female student who said she would commit suicide Saturday as well, also because of bullying at school.
2 adults, 3 girls die in suspected murder-suicide in Yamanashi mountains
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/389778
Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 16:41 EST
KOFU — Two adults and three girls were found dead in and around a car parked on a mountain road in Yamanashi Prefecture Wednesday morning in what appears to be a murder-suicide, police said. A man was found collapsed near the vehicle and a woman and three girls were found unconscious inside the car by a man from Yokohama who was taking photos in the area, police said.
Police believe the man and woman were in their 30s and the girls were aged 10 years or younger. The car bore a license plate for Omiya, Saitama Prefecture, and briquette charcoal was found inside the car. No suicide notes were found.