Satoshi Goya (right), principal of Miwa Junior High School in Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Toshitaka Nakahara, head of the local board of education, face the media on Feb. 19. KYODO PHOTO

Two other students at the school were referred to a child consultation center in connection with the case because they were 13 at the time of the suicide. The minimum age at which criminal action can be taken is 14.

According to the local board of education, Mori was allegedly subjected to verbal abuse by his schoolmates for an extended period of time. Police said, however, the five 14-year-old boys against whom actions were taken Feb. 19 apparently did not play a central role in bullying Keisuke.

The actions "aren't meant to ask for punishment," the Fukuoka Prefectural Police said in a statement. But they added that the five pupils' involvement in Mori's bullying constitutes a crime.

Police said they want the five given proper treatment at a family court and a child consultation center because they are emotionally distressed over Mori's suicide.

Mori, a student at Miwa Junior High School in the town of Chikuzen, hanged himself on Oct. 11, leaving four notes, one of which said, "I cannot live anymore because of bullying." Earlier that day, his five schoolmates had tried to remove his pants forcibly in a school restroom.

"We must accept the results of the police investigation," said Satoshi Goya, principal of the school.

Goya said the school believes Mori was not exposed to outright violence or extortion threats but was persistently abused verbally.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 24, 2007
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