4 people found dead in Osaka, murder-suicide suspected

A resident of a condominium unit was found collapsed in front of the condominium building in Osaka's Higashiyodogawa Ward on Friday afternoon and later confirmed dead, while a woman and two children were later found dead in the condo, police said. A custodian of the building found the man just after 1 p.m. and called for an ambulance, the police said. The man was identified as Nobuyuki Hirota, a 34-year-old electrical engineer who lived on the third floor of the nine-story building.


In a room of the condominium unit, the police later found the bodies of Hirota's pregnant wife Kazue and their two children Sora, 5, and Nanami, 2. All three showed signs of having been strangled and were lying side by side with both hands placed on their chests, the police said. A mobile phone found near Kazue's body contained an unsent text message that said, "I've decided to die after consultation with my wife. I can no longer take it. I am sorry for the children." Kazue was expected to give birth in September. The police suspect the man killed the three before committing suicide by jumping from the top floor of the condominium building. Hirota had a debt of several million yen, the police said.

Suicides in 2006 top 30,000 for 9th straight year

More than 30,000 people killed themselves in Japan in 2006 for the ninth consecutive year with suicides among students marking a record high, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The total number of suicides came to 32,155, down 1.2% from a year earlier. Those believed to have died because of financial difficulties, however, declined by a sharp 10.1% to 6,969. The agency attributed the drop to the impact of the economic recovery.

Reflecting a spate of children's suicides reportedly triggered by bullying, suicides by elementary school pupils doubled to 14 in the reporting year and those by junior high school students rose 22.7% to 81, the agency said. Nearly half the overall suicides, 15,402, were attributable to health problems, topping the ranking by cause of death, followed by financial difficulties. Home and work problems came third and fourth at 2,960 and 1,919, respectively.

14-year-old Saitama girl found dead in apparent suicide

A 14-year-old girl died Wednesday night in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, in an apparent suicide by jumping from the apartment building where she lived, police said. She was found lying on the ground of the apartment's premise.

Police found what appears to be a suicide note at her apartment. She was quoted as saying in the note, "I am tired of life." Police said, however, she made no reference to her school life or bullying.

Principal of school with extortion trouble hangs himself

A 56-year-old elementary school principal in the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, was found hanged in a forest Sunday afternoon in an apparent suicide, police said.

During the past year at the school, eight fifth-graders had extorted some 100,000 yen from a female classmate, and the principal, Kenji Nagata, was criticized for having reported the incident to the city education board merely as "financial trouble." His family asked the police to search for him earlier Sunday.

12-year-old girl apparently jumps to her death in Osaka; leaves suicide note

A 12-year-old girl was found dead in the compound of a public housing building in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, on Sunday morning after apparently jumping to her death. Police said they believe the first-year student in junior high school jumped from her room on the eighth floor of the building.

She left a note, saying, "I will commit suicide. Goodbye," according to police. While she did not refer to bullying in the note, some of her classmates said she had been teased about her body shape when she was a sixth-grader in elementary school, police said. The school she was attending said it cannot yet confirm if she had faced bullying and that it will investigate her suicide through questioning students.

14-year-old boy found dead in Nara in apparent suicide

A 14-year-old boy was found dead in an apparent suicide at his home in Nara City on Monday evening, the local fire department said.

The boy, a third-year student at a local junior high school, was found hanged around 6 p.m. His heart and lungs already ceased functioning when rescue workers arrived, officials said. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The principal of the junior high school said he was "not aware of any evidence of bullying, and both the parents and the school have no clue."

Ehime school principal kills himself amid curriculum chaos

The 60-year-old principal of a high school in Niihama, Ehime Prefecture, was found hanged at his home in the city Monday, leaving a note apparently asking the prefectural education board for instructions over a curriculum problem, authorities said.

The incident is the second known case of suicide of a schoolmaster over a widespread scandal about high schools found providing insufficient education curricula following one by the 58-year-old head of a high school in Ibaraki Prefecture who was found hanged Oct 30. Recently, numerous schools have been found to have evaded curriculum requirements to focus on better preparing students for more specific university entrance exams.

Two girls jump to death from school building in Saitama

Two female students at Nihon Pharmaceutical University in Ina, Saitama Prefecture, were found dead Monday morning after apparently jumping from a school building, police said. The two were identified as a 20-year-old and a 19-year-old, both medical pharmacy majors.

A 12th-floor window in the college's research lab building had been removed and a suicide note signed by the two students was found nearby, police said.

Chiba teacher kills himself after suspected harassment by headmaster

A 50-year-old teacher at a junior high school in Chiba committed suicide last month after suspected harassment from the headmaster, the education board said Tuesday. The 58-year-old headmaster was witnessed yelling at and castigating the male teacher, who was in a managerial position, the board has found out from inquiries with his colleagues.

The board will question teachers and other people related to the matter and determine whether the headmaster's actions resulted in the suicide. The teacher was found dead after diving off a bridge over an expressway in Chiba's Midori Ward on Sept. 6. No suicide note was found. The headmaster had taken sick leave since mid-September.