A note found next to the body of a Mitsubishi Electric Corp. employee who killed himself after alleged bullying by a superior was disclosed Dec. 18 at a news conference by his bereaved family's legal counsel.

The handwritten note lists remarks including "I will kill you" and "Commit suicide" allegedly made to the man by a senior Mitsubishi Electric staff member tasked with instructing the rookie employee.

The employee, who was in his 20s, committed suicide on Aug. 23.

His family said they released the note because they felt Mitsubishi Electric seemed more interested in protecting its reputation than doing anything to prevent power harassment in the workplace.

The family said it plans to sue Mitsubishi Electric for compensation and will apply for workers' compensation.

They also are demanding that the company offer a sincere apology and implement measures to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy.

Mitsubishi Electric issued a statement saying it would refrain from responding to the family's criticism because the matter is under criminal investigation.

Officials at the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office are investigating whether the senior employee in his 30s is criminally responsible in the incident.

The Sanda Police Station in Hyogo Prefecture on Nov. 14 sent papers on the case to prosecutors under a Criminal Law provision for inducing suicide, a rare instance in which power harassment is deemed a more serious criminal act.

The one-page note is titled as a chronology of abusive comments made by the senior staff member and lists the dates and times when they occurred.

Between July and August, the senior staff member is described as telling the rookie employee, "I will kill you the next time you are unable to respond to the same question," "Wouldn't it be better if you just died" and "Kill yourself."

The note concludes with the date it was written and is inked with the employee's thumb print and signature. Thumb prints are often used in Japan in place of a family seal to authenticate documents.

According to several sources, the victim was an engineer assigned in July to the manufacturing technology center in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, to work on the development of computer systems used in manufacturing control.

He was instructed at the center by the senior staff member who was overseeing a planned explanation of the new employee's college research theme during a company technology presentation in late August.

But a few days before the planned presentation, the employee took his own life in a park in Sanda, Hyogo Prefecture, near a company dorm.

At the news conference, the family's lawyer welcomed the decision by police to open a criminal investigation into the incident since in cases involving suicide due to bullying or overwork it is rare to do so before civil lawsuits or workers' compensation requests.

The statement by the family described their deep sadness after reading the note and other memos by their son about his work.

Their lawyer said Mitsubishi Electric had yet to explain the results of an in-house investigation related to the suicide and has not apologized for what occurred.

After The Asahi Shimbun ran a story on the criminal investigation into the senior employee on Dec. 7, company officials called the family repeatedly, making them feel as if they were under constant surveillance, the lawyer said.

The family's statement also blasted Mitsubishi Electric for not being sincere in its response and said the company was seeking to completely control any information related to the case.

"We detect no trace of regret and only its efforts to protect itself," the statement said.

The family further criticized Mitsubishi Electric for allowing the senior employee to instruct their son given that he had been cautioned in the past for making similar statements while instructing younger employees.

Sources said that an internal company investigation had found other employees who were also told to die by the same senior employee.

The family ended the statement by expressing its earnest hope that no similar tragedy ever occurs again.

(This article was written by Hisashi Naito and Takashi Yoshida.)