<figure id="attachment_457477" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457477" style="width: 904px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0dfc2497"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/4e5e55cb62d1f6bfac5a9f5943cf9141.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457477" class="wp-caption-text">Defendant Kakuma being sent to prison last June</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> He took a high school girl into the Sea of Trees in Mt.</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;The rope came off my neck and I fell down and fell on my buttocks. At that moment, I thought, &#8216;I want to live&#8217; and &#8216;I am afraid of dying.</span></p>
<p> The man who lured a high school girl he met on SNS to the Sea of Trees in Fuji and helped her commit suicide described his feelings when his own suicide ended in an attempt.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> On June 21, &#8217;25, Saitama Prefectural Police Investigation Division 1 arrested Yuto Kakuma, 22, an unemployed defendant from Minokamo City, Gifu Prefecture, on suspicion of kidnapping a minor for taking Ms. A, then 17, a high school girl in the prefecture whom he met through SNS. Kakuma is suspected of luring Ms. A to Kawaguchiko Station on the Fujikyu Line and abducting her to a parking lot near Aokigahara Sea of Trees.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The defendant Kakuma said, &#8220;I wanted to commit suicide with her. There is no doubt that I lured the high school girl and took her to Jukai,&#8217; he stated.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> On the morning of June 15, Ms. A was found after hanging herself in Jukai, and it was believed to be a suicide; the police were investigating after her guardian reported her missing in the afternoon of June 9, saying that she had not returned home after going out to school on the morning of June 8.</span></p>
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<p> After the incident, Kakuma was believed to have searched for &#8220;Jukai News&#8221; and &#8220;Saitama missing persons&#8221; on his smartphone to see if the case had been discovered.</p>
<p> On July 10, the month after his arrest, Kakuma was re-arrested on suspicion of assisting suicide. He was suspected of helping Mr. A commit suicide by hanging a rope he had prepared on a tree in the Sea of Trees. Kakuma admitted the charge, <span class="strongInContent">saying, &#8220;I put the rope on the tree and created a situation in which the high school girl could commit suicide.</span></p>
<p> On February 13, Kakuma will be sentenced in Saitama District Court on two counts of kidnapping a minor and aiding and abetting a suicide. Here is a look back at what Kakuma said at his trial so far.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" I can end my life with someone else."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Ropes and other preparations were made.</span></h3>
<p> Kakuma described his suicidal thoughts as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Ever since I was in high school, I had a complex about my looks and appearance, such as the size and contour of my face and my height. I wondered why I was living in such pain, and I wanted to die, and I thought it would be easier to die. But I was worried about being alone, so I thought I could end my life if I was with someone.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Kakuma had tried to commit suicide by jumping to his death in the past, but he was too scared to take one more step. He also met up with a woman in late May &#8217;25 to commit suicide, but was also unable to do so.</p>
<p> He tweeted about his difficulties in life on social networking services, and while searching for someone to commit suicide with, he met Mr. A. Mr. Kakuma said that Mr. A was a high school student and that he was looking for someone who could help him. Kakuma stated that he knew that Ms. A was a high school student.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;I wanted to know his age, so I asked Mr. A. I knew he was a minor. But I didn&#8217;t think she was old enough to make a decision, and I didn&#8217;t think age had anything to do with her committing suicide.&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> Defendant Kakuma promised to commit suicide with Ms. A and called her to Kawaguchiko Station. Kakuma researched the place and method of committing suicide, and prepared ropes and other equipment.</p>
<p> At around 9 p.m. on June 8, Kakuma and Ms. A met at Kawaguchiko Station. While walking for about two hours toward the sea of trees from there, they had this conversation.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> We talked about what happens after death. We talked about reincarnation, whether we could attain Buddhahood, and so on as we walked.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> They went off the road and into the sea of trees and hung themselves together. A few seconds later, however, Kakuma&#8217;s rope became detached from his neck and he fell straight down. Kakuma described his feelings at the time as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I wanted to save Mr. A, but I couldn&#8217;t do anything and I was afraid, so I walked away from the scene. My phone ran out of charge, and I walked for several hours in total darkness, then left the jukai when it was light.&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> After hiding Mr. A&#8217;s luggage, defendant Kakuma walked to a nearby roadside station, charged his phone and withdrew money, then took a train back to his parents&#8217; house.</p>
<p> He stated that he hid the luggage because <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Mr. A had told me that he didn&#8217;t want the body to be found and that he felt guilty about what he had done</span>.</p>
<p> Then, sobbing from time to time, he said these words of apology.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If I had talked to my family about my problems instead of posting on social networking sites that I wanted to kill myself, I would not have brought Mr. A into this. I regret that I ended Mr. A&#8217;s life, even though I am sure he would have had fun if he had lived. I am very, very sorry.&#8221;</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The feelings of Mr. A&#39;s mother are."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">I ask that you punish him as severely as possible.&#8221;</span></h3>
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<p> At the trial, the attorney for the deputy read a statement of opinion from Ms. A&#8217;s mother.</p>
<p> She said that since she was a child, Ms. A had been unable to maintain a good distance from others and seemed to have difficulty in living. In her written statement, she wrote: &#8220;She has always had feelings of dread and death.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> She seemed to be constantly having thoughts of death, and she once confided in me that she thought she shouldn&#8217;t be alive. As a parent, she was not an easy child to raise. But I loved my daughter and cared for her very much.</span></p>
<p> Her mother also wrote of her current feelings: &#8220;If my daughter were still alive, she would be 18 years old.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If my daughter were alive, she would be 18 years old. Recently, catalogs of furisode (long-sleeved kimono) for the coming-of-age ceremony have started to arrive, and I feel as if I am being confronted with the absence of my daughter, which makes me sad.</span></p>
<p> He concluded his statement with his anger toward Kakuma.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Punishing the defendant will not bring back my daughter. Even so, I hope that the defendant will be punished as severely as possible.</span></p>
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<p> In their argument, the prosecution requested <span class="strongInContent">a three-year</span> sentence of <span class="strongInContent">confinement</span> on the <span class="strongInContent">grounds that &#8220;there are no extenuating circumstances for his attitude of disregard for the lives of others,&#8221; and that &#8220;he should be blamed for committing each of these crimes even though he should have stopped the victim&#8217;s suicide.</span></p>
<p> On the other hand, the defense counsel argued <span class="strongInContent">,</span><span class="strongInContent">&#8220;I hope that the defendant will be given a lenient sentence with a stay of execution, as it is still possible for him to rehabilitate himself within society, and I would like to express my opinion that he should be given a lenient sentence.</span> On the way to Jukai, we took a break.</p>
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<p> On the way to Jukai, every time he took a break, Mr. A was on line somewhere or talking to someone on his phone. Perhaps he was confused by the situation that he could no longer back out of, and was trying to somehow drown his fears.</p>
<p> What will the judiciary make of the defendant who has brought about the worst possible outcome?</p>

<p> Japan Inochi no Denwa Renmei <br>
Phone: 0570-783-556 (10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)</p>
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<p> Yorisoi Hotline (Social Inclusion Support Center) <br>
Phone: 0120-279-338 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (The number at the end is 226 from Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures)</p>
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<p> Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare&#8217;s &#8220;Unified Dial for Mental Health Consultation&#8221; and SNS consultation <br>
Phone 0570-064-556 (response times vary by municipality) <br>
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hukushi_kaigo/seikatsuhogo/jisatsu/soudan_info.html</p>
<p> List of consultation offices to support life (list of consultation offices by prefecture and government-designated city) <br>
https://jscp.or.jp/soudan/index.html</p>

<figure id="attachment_457478" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-457478" style="width: 464px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c2542ffb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/b9b050c995d237b9880adb73fe0daa02.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-457478" class="wp-caption-text"> At the trial, he expressed regret, saying, &#8220;If (I had) talked to my family about my problems, I wouldn&#8217;t have gotten Mr. A involved.</figcaption></figure>


 Nakahira Ryo

 Shinji Hasuo

 On February 13, the Saitama District Court will hold a sentencing hearing for a man accused of kidnapping a high school girl and aiding her suicide. Why did he turn back alone when he "intended to die together? What regrets did he express at the trial?

A man who took a high school girl to the Aokigahara Sea of Trees and left her there told his trial that he was afraid of dying and that he regretted it.

A man who took a high school girl to the Aokigahara Sea of Trees and left her there told his trial that he was afraid of dying and that he regretted it.

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