<figure id="attachment_458498" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458498" style="width: 434px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f391b042"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/0137e0e83a5115c90f11db5e26ab3183.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458498" class="wp-caption-text">Defendant Kakuma at the time of his sending to prison in June &#8217;25. He said he had a complex about his appearance and did not do well at school or work. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> He took a high school girl to the Sea of Trees to die.</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> What do you mean by &#8220;suicidal, afraid to die?&#8221;</span></p>
<p> A man who promised a high school girl he met on SNS that they <span class="strongInContent">would kill themselves together</span> fell silent and could not answer this question by the judge.</p>
<p> Yuto Kakuma, 22, an unemployed man from Minokamo City, Gifu Prefecture, was charged with kidnapping a minor and assisting suicide for luring Ms. A, then 17, a high school girl living in Saitama Prefecture, to the Sea of Trees in Fuji on June 8, 1950, and helping her to commit suicide.</p>
<p> At the sentencing hearing held on February 13 at Saitama District Court, Judge Hideki Igota sentenced the defendant to <span class="strongInContent">two years and four months in confinement (three years is the suggested sentence) on</span> the <span class="strongInContent">grounds that &#8220;the defendant&#8217;s involvement had a great influence on the victim&#8217;s suicide, and the manner of the crime was malicious</span>.</p>
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<p> Kakuma explained why he became suicidal: &#8220;I started thinking about my appearance and appearance of myself in high school.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;Ever since high school, I had a complex about my looks and appearance. There was a time when I stopped going to school because of my facial problems. I thought that because of my ugly appearance, I would not be accepted or understood. Even after I started working, there were times when I missed work because I remembered my high school days when I was in pain and wondered why I was working after such a hard time. Then I began to think that it was hard to live and that it would be easier to die.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> In the past, he tried to commit suicide by jumping off a building, but he was too afraid to take one more step. He also met up with another woman in May of 2013 and tried to kill himself, but was also unable to do so.</p>
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<p> Still <span class="strongInContent">thinking that he could end his life with someone else,</span> Kakuma continued to post on social networking sites <span class="strongInContent">asking, &#8220;Won&#8217;t you die with me?</span></p>
<p> According to a statement by Ms. A&#8217;s mother read out by her attorney at the trial, Ms. A had been unable to maintain a good distance from others since she was a child and seemed to have difficulty living.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Ms. A&#39;s true face as described by her mother"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">I am afraid to die.&#8221; &#8220;I want to live.&#8221;</span></h3>
<p> In her written statement, she expressed her feelings toward her daughter in this way.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> She always seemed to have thoughts of dying, 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. However, I loved my daughter and really cared about her.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> That is why I repeatedly told her to get up in the morning, take her medicine, and get some sunshine, even if she didn&#8217;t want to.</span></p>
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<p> Although Ms. A sometimes rebelled against her mother&#8217;s behavior, she sometimes cooked for the family. She devoted herself to part-time work and high school studies, and dreamed of finding a job and living on her own after graduating from high school.</p>
<p> Despite her rarefied thoughts of death, Ms. A was trying to get by, but she was dragged into a post by defendant Kakuma in which <span class="strongInContent">he asked her if she would like to die together with him</span>.</p>
<p> She then went to the meeting place on the date and time specified by defendant Kakuma.</p>
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<p> At around 9:00 p.m. on June 8, &#8217;25, the two met at Kawaguchiko Station. Defendant Kakuma researched the location and method of suicide, and prepared tools such as ropes and gloves. After walking for about two hours, they entered the sea of trees, where Kakuma hung a rope from a tree, and Mr. A hanged himself. Next, Kakuma hung himself, but the rope came loose and he fell down, falling on his buttocks.</p>
<p> Kakuma described his feelings at the time as follows: &#8220;At that moment, I was scared to death.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> At that moment, I was afraid of dying. I wanted to live. I immediately tried to help Mr. A, but I couldn&#8217;t do anything and got scared and ran away.</span></p>
<p> His cell phone was turned off, and he wandered around in total darkness, finally getting out of the jukai when it became light. He then hid Mr. A&#8217;s belongings and took a train back to his parents&#8217; house because <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Mr. A had told me that he didn&#8217;t want me to find the body, and I felt guilty about what I had done,&#8221;</span> he said.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" There were no extenuating circumstances."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Defendant Kakuma swore in court.</span></h3>
<p> Kakuma&#8217;s mother, who appeared as a witness for the defense, described her son&#8217;s condition after the incident.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> She said, &#8220;My son was blocked up at home. He had scratches on his neck and legs, so I asked him, &#8216;What happened? He replied, &#8216;I fell down.</span></p>
<p> On the morning of June 15, Mr. A&#8217;s body was found hanged in the sea of trees. The <span class="strongInContent">police came to him when he was withdrawn, unable to talk to anyone about what he had done&#8221; (defendant Kakuma)</span>.</p>
<p> On June 21, Kakuma was arrested by the Saitama Prefectural Police Investigation Section 1 on suspicion of kidnapping a minor, and on July 10 he was re-arrested for assisting suicide.</p>
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<p> Judge Isoda stated the reason for the sentence as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> There is no reason for him to commit suicide with the victim, whom he only met on a social networking service, nor is there any reason for him to promote the victim&#8217;s suicidal thoughts and make her carry them out. The motive for the crime shows an attitude of disregard for the lives of others, and there are no extenuating circumstances, so severe condemnation is warranted.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> On the way from Kawaguchiko Station to Jukai, Kakuma and Mr. A had this conversation.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> We talked about what would happen to him after he died. We talked about whether there is reincarnation, whether there is an afterlife, and so on.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> In the midst of their decision to commit suicide, neither of them could shake off their fear of death, and they may have been trying to somehow drown it out. Couldn&#8217;t they have chosen to go backwards at this point?</p>
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<p> As the judge asked in his opening question, despite her <span class="strongInContent">fear of dying</span>, defendant Kakuma tried to forcefully end her life and ended up taking the life of a complete stranger, a high school girl. In his final statement, he choked up and <span class="strongInContent">said, &#8220;I swear that I will never take life lightly or commit any criminal acts in the future.</span></p>
<p> How did Kakuma take the prison sentence?</p>
<p> He entered the court wearing a gray top and bottom sweatshirt and stared blankly into the air from the moment he was sentenced until the moment he left the court. I could not read any emotion in his face.</p>
<p> Japan Inochi no Denwa Renmei</p>
<p> Phone: 0570-783-556 (10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.inochinodenwa.org/"> https://www.inochinodenwa.org/</a></p>
<p> Yorisoi Hotline (Social Inclusion Support Center)</p>
<p> Phone 0120-279-338 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week. From Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, the number at the end is 226)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.since2011.net/yorisoi/"> https://www.since2011.net/yorisoi/</a></p>
<p> Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare &#8220;Mental Health Consultation Unified Dial&#8221; and SNS consultation</p>
<p> Phone 0570-064-556 (response times vary by municipality)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hukushi_kaigo/seikatsuhogo/jisatsu/soudan_info.html"> https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hukushi_kaigo/seikatsuhogo/jisatsu/soudan_info.html</a></p>
<p> List of consultation offices to support life (list of consultation offices by prefecture and government-designated city)</p>
<p> https://jscp.or.jp/soudan/index.html</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" [Image] What does the man who let one high school girl die think?"></div>
<figure id="attachment_458500" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458500" style="width: 904px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="213c196f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/4e5e55cb62d1f6bfac5a9f5943cf9141-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458500" class="wp-caption-text">He invited Ms. A, a high school student, to join him, saying, &#8220;I can end my life with someone else,&#8221; but he ended up letting her die alone.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_458499" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458499" style="width: 647px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="55313749"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/833c02415fbcf68f503dcdb6e7b23875.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458499" class="wp-caption-text"> He vowed in court that he would never act in a way that disrespected life again.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_458501" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458501" style="width: 464px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3a09266b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/b9b050c995d237b9880adb73fe0daa02-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458501" class="wp-caption-text"> Now that he has been sentenced to prison, what does he think?</figcaption></figure>


 Nakahira Ryo

 Shinji Hasuo

 On February 13, the sentencing hearing was held for a man accused of kidnapping a minor and aiding suicide by taking a high school girl to the Aokigahara Sea of Trees to die. What was the sentence handed down to the man who suddenly became afraid of death and fled the scene, leaving the high school girl behind?

Judgment: &#8220;Judgment&#8221; was given to a man who promised to &#8220;die together&#8221; with a high school girl in the Sea of Trees, but left her to die alone.

Judgment: “Judgment” was given to a man who promised to “die together” with a high school girl in the Sea of Trees, but left her to die alone.

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