Twenty-five days after Hayato’s suicide, the chairman of Kaisei Gakuen, the school’s head, finally appeared before the bereaved family.

Hayato, took his own life because he couldn’t bear the bullying that he experienced at this school. Yet, there has been no apology whatsoever.

Instead, what came out was a suggestion that missed the mark.

“As a school, we would like to organize a memorial service that meets your wishes as much as possible. Since this is a Catholic school, we would like to hold the memorial service in a Christian setting.”

Chairman Masachika Tsuboko made that remark while sitting back deeply on the sofa.

At a parent information session where the bereaved family was not present

Around 1:00 p.m. on May 7, 2017, Hayato’s father, Daisuke, received a call on his cell phone. It was from the vice principal, Shinichiro Takegawa.

It was about the parent information session on Hayato’s suicide, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. that day.

It appears that the program is limited to parents of students who have attended Kaisei since junior high. Out of a total student body of about 1,500, this amounts to only about 40 students.

The bereaved family has repeatedly asked the school to announce to all students and their parents that Hayato took his own life as a result of bullying. They also provided copies of his suicide note, notebooks, and other personal writings in the hope that the school would read aloud all of Hayato’s thoughts as he suffered from bullying.

However, the bereaved family is not allowed to attend the briefing. When Daisuke visited the school with his wife, Saori, the day before, Takegawa had told them, “Normally, the bereaved family doesn’t attend.” Saori insisted, “But I want you to tell the facts. If you only share parts of the notebooks or the suicide note, that will become the truth.”

Daisuke hung up the phone, hoping that the facts would be conveyed accurately.

That evening, he received another call from Takegawa. He reported that the briefing had concluded.

There were about 40 participants, which was far from the number of parents of all students that the bereaved family had hoped for.

Even so, Daisuke felt a little relieved upon hearing Takegawa’s report that “I’ve read aloud all the suicide note and  personal writings.”

A lie

However, the reality was different.

After Daisuke finished his phone call with Takegawa, Saori received a call from a friend who had attended the information session. She was the parent of one of Hayato’s classmates.

After her friend offered her condolences, they exchanged a few words. But for some reason, the conversation just didn’t flow.

Her friend wasn’t aware of the contents of the personal writings, such as the suicide note and notebooks. When Saori asked about the details of the briefing, it turned out that only parts of the suicide note and personal writings had been read.

Furthermore, it was apparently explained that “at the request of the bereaved family, the death had not been made public until today.”

This was not true. After Hayato’s death, the family attempted to invite the students to the funeral, explaining that it would be a final farewell between Hayato and his friends. It was Kaisei that stopped them. Kawashima, the junior high school vice principal, arrived at the funeral home and told the family, “Let’s not invite the students. If we do, the information will inevitably leak to the media.”

Pressure from Vice Principal Takegawa

On May 9, two days after the parent information session, a separate session was held exclusively for the approximately 40 students who had been attending Kaisei since junior high. The bullying against Hayato occurred across multiple classes and spanned the period from junior high through high school. Although the bereaved family had requested that the school hold an information session for the entire student body, this request was not granted.

Only some parts of the suicide note and personal writings had been read; in fact, they hadn’t even been told about the bullying. She learned this from a parent of one of Hayato’s classmates.

Kaisei Gakuen took an action that dealt a further blow to the devastated bereaved family. Since the briefing on May 9, Daisuke had been receiving daily phone calls from Takegawa on his cell phone.

He was told the number of students who had been absent from school, those who had visited the school nurse’s office, and those who had received counseling. It was reported that students who had learned of Hayato’s suicide were in shock and unable to carry on with their normal school lives, and that the school administration was struggling to manage the situation.

The bereaved family had anticipated this and felt deeply distressed about it. However, they cannot fail to make public the fact that the suicide was caused by bullying at school.

Daisuke and Saori were growing increasingly exhausted by the daily reports that seemed to imply the students’ suffering was the fault of Hayato and the bereaved family.

Saori couldn’t eat any food, lost weight, and had reached the point where she couldn’t sleep without taking sleeping pills.

Chairman Tsuboko, doesn’t get up from the sofa even once

On May 15, Daisuke and Saori visited Kaisei Gakuen once again. Although an information session was held for some students and their parents, the information provided differed from what Takegawa had reported to the bereaved family. Information sessions for other students and their parents have still not been held.

The bereaved family had one more concern. It had been nearly a month since Hayato’s suicide, yet neither the principal nor the chairman had come to see them.

Meanwhile, Principal Masayuki Shimizu attended the sports festival on April 28—eight days after Hayato’s suicide. At the information session on May 7, he apologized to the parents, saying, “I am sorry that I failed to notice the changes in students’ mental state.”

Why haven’t they apologized to the bereaved family? How can they hold a briefing without ever meeting with the bereaved family? Daisuke contacted Takegawa to raise this issue and demanded a meeting to discuss the school’s response, which led to today’s meeting.

When Daisuke and Saori arrived at school, Takegawa led them not to their usual conference room, but to the chairman’s office.

Waiting for them were Masachika Tsuboko, the chairman of the board, and Principal Shimizu. Neither Daisuke nor Saori had been told they would be meeting the two of them, so they were surprised.

Tsuboko made the following remark while sitting on the sofa.

“I imagine this has been a very difficult time for you, and I would like to offer my deepest condolences. I apologize for the delay in reaching out.”

Shimizu said, “As principal, I’d like to say a few words,” stood up, and continued as follows.

“Regarding the recent incident involving Hayato, we, as the school, failed to notice his daily behavior or the emotional distress he was experiencing. We feel a profound sense of responsibility for his suicide. We offer our sincere apologies. We are truly sorry. I would also like to ask for your forgiveness for the delay in reaching out to you since April 20
(the day of his suicide).”

Regarding future measures, he stated the following.

“We intend to move forward with this matter while consulting thoroughly with you. As before, Vice Principal Takegawa will serve as the point of contact for this matter, so please contact him if you have any questions or concerns.”

Kaisei Gakuen is already proceeding with matters against the wishes of the bereaved family. If Shimizu’s statement—“We intend to move forward while consulting thoroughly with the family”—is true, then why did they limit the audience for the briefing? Why did they lie by saying, “I read aloud all the suicide notes and personal writings”?

Just as Daisuke was about to ask, Chairman Tsuboko, who was still sitting on the sofa, spoke up.

“As a school, we would like to organize a memorial service that meets your wishes as much as possible. Since this is a Catholic school, we would like to hold the memorial service in a Christian setting.”

That comment was completely off the mark. The bereaved family has never made any requests regarding the memorial service or its format. They have repeatedly made it clear that, first and foremost, they want the facts to be made public. But Tsuboko just doesn’t get it.

“As there are students and parents who may wish to pay their respects later, I would like to handle this discreetly and honor your preferences. Please inform the vice principal.”

Principal Shimizu agrees.

“I’d like to accommodate your request.”

The two were led to another room at this point. When they entered the adjacent room as instructed, they found Takegawa, the high school vice principal; Kawashima, the junior high school vice principal; and Yasunori Omori, the high school assistant vice principal, waiting for them.

The meeting with Tsuboko and Shimizu lasted only six and a half minutes. Daisuke and Saori felt they hadn’t had enough time to talk with Tsuboko and Shimizu. Tsuboko, the school’s chairman, merely apologized for reaching out so late but did not apologize for the bullying that had occurred at school.

A reason not to read the whole suicide note aloud 

In another room, administrative matters—such as how students should pay their respects—were discussed.

After they’d gone over everything, Daisuke brought up the subject.

“The school and the bereaved family have different attitudes.”

According to Takegawa, he read aloud all of the suicide notes and personal writings to the parents. However, according to parents who attended the briefing, that was not the case. Daisuke and Saori heard that even when students were informed about Hayato’s death, only part of the notes was read aloud, and the fact that bullying had taken place was not disclosed.

Daisuke said, “As things stand now, the truth isn’t getting across,” and Saori also pointed this out.

“Right now, it’s only for students who have been attending Kaisei since junior high school, isn’t it? If the information is only communicated to those students, it won’t prevent this from happening again. There are multiple courses, and I want all students to be aware of the facts.”

Nevertheless, Takegawa’s response was cold.

“When I’m speaking to the entire student body, I have to condense the content and point out the main cause, otherwise it would take more than 30 minutes (to read the whole thing).”

After that, Daisuke and Saori shared their thoughts as a bereaved family. They spoke about how some children lose their lives to bullying, expressed their hope that the school would take this incident as a lesson to prevent similar occurrences in the future, and shared their wish not to let Hayato’s death be in vain.

However, what came out of Takegawa’s mouth were words the bereaved family had not expected.

“Listening to what your parents had to say, I thought you were truly respectable. Inspired by your passion, I realized we shouldn’t treat this as a joke.”

To be continued.

(Originally published in Japanese on January 15 2026. Translation by Mana Shibata.)

Adults in the Student Suicide Case ~School Edition~: All articles