KUKMAMOTO (TR) – After the discovery of bullying of a female student a high school in Kumamoto City, the prefectural board of education has decided to establish a third-party investigative committee.
Last year, the first-year student at Kumamoto Nishi High School ingested a large amount of medication before an apology was to be delivered by the bullies, reports Nippon News Network (Mar. 10).
According to the Kumamoto Board of Education, she contacted the school through her parents to report being bullied in class in September 2025.
After approximately three months of investigation, the high school determined seven acts of bullying occurred between July and September 2025. The acts included creating a photo of the student resembling a manga character and sending it to a classmate via the chat app Line. As well, sending messages including “gross” and “go die” were went in a group chat.
The high school later arranged for the perpetrators to apologize to the student, but the female student reportedly took a large amount of medication the night before. After failing to improve, she visited the hospital, where she remained for over a month.
One committee member commented, “Shouldn’t they have been more careful about the venue for the apology?”
The high school and the board of education deemed the incident “serious” under the Act on Promotion of Measures to Prevent Bullying. On Tuesday, they decided to establish a third-party investigative committee composed of lawyers and other experts.
Kumamoto Nishi High School Principal Hiromitsu Onitsuka commented, “We will work to provide psychological support for the affected students and help them return to their daily lives.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the high school held a school-wide assembly and an emergency parent meeting to explain what happened.
