YAMAGATA—A man from Fukushima who is accused of helping a string of people kill themselves was rearrested on May 13 in connection with the death of another young person.

Hiroki Kishinami, 36, is now tied to at least five victims, including four fatalities, from four prefectures.

The unemployed suspect is believed to have contacted people in their teens and 20s after seeing their suicidal posts on social media. He then aided and abetted in their suicides or attempts, police said.

Yamagata prefectural police arrested Kishinami on May 13 on suspicion of kidnapping a minor who was found dead in Kaminoyama city, Yamagata Prefecture, on Sept. 23, 2024.

After the parents of the teenage girl filed a missing persons report, police found that she and Kishinami had become acquainted on social media.

On Sept. 2, they met in Yamagata city, where he took her for a drive, police said.

Investigators are still trying to determine the events that led to her death.

Kishinami was first arrested by Fukushima prefectural police on Jan. 31 on suspicion of assisting in the suicide of a woman in her 20s.

The woman was found dead in a car parked on a forest road in Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, on Jan. 9.

Data on her smartphone showed that Kishinami had prepared tools for her suicide, according to investigators.

Police arrested him again on suspicion of assisting in the suicides of two men in a tent set up at a vacant lot in Kitakata, Fukushima Prefecture, in June 2024.

One of the men was in his 20s from Miyagi Prefecture, and the other victim was a 19-year-old from Saitama Prefecture.

In addition, Kishinami was arrested on suspicion of helping a female minor who lived in Fukushima Prefecture try to commit suicide in a tent on a mountain in Kitakata, Fukushima Prefecture, in July 2024.

The girl, however, did not go through with it.

According to Fukushima prefectural police, all four victims had posted their desire to kill themselves on social media and later made contact with Kishinami.

PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE

Police have been exploring ways to support suicidal people and prevent them from meeting others with malicious intentions.

In 2017, nine dismembered bodies were found in an apartment room in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Most of the victims had posted their desire to commit suicide on social media, and the man who lived in the apartment suggested that they die together.

However, he ended up killing the victims without taking his own life as promised.

The Internet Hotline Center, commissioned by the National Police Agency, has monitored suicide-related online postings since 2018.

Last year, the center received 6,498 reports of postings inviting others to “die together.”

The center also accepted 84 reports about posters suggesting they will “assist” those who want to commit suicide.

The center asked service providers and other operators to delete these postings, and 80 percent of the posts were removed.

Social media companies and search engine providers have also taken countermeasures.

If a person searches for “suicide” or “want to die” through these services, the search results first show contact information for consultation desks or support centers.

However, these measures cannot prevent a third party from directly sending a reply to those who post a desire to kill themselves.

“People who suffer so much that they want to die also want to be heard,” said Jiro Ito, chairman of nonprofit organization OVA, which is involved in suicide prevention. “It is difficult for them to notice malicious intent, as people approaching them may be well-intentioned.”

Noting that suicidal people often gain a desire to live if their problems are solved, Ito has called for additional systems to send life-promotion materials to people who post or search for suicide-related words, and to keep harmful information away from them.

Another nonprofit organization, Befrienders Worldwide, created an online place different from social media where people can express their feelings.

Its website, called “Atena no Nai Tegami” (letter to no one), was established in March 2024 to allow users to write down their feelings toward suicide. Postings on the website are shown except for those promoting suicide.

The response has exceeded expectations.

About 26,000 postings have been made, and 70 percent of them are from people in their teens or younger.

“I’m surprised to see that there are so many people who want to express their feelings,” Toyoki Minobe, director of the center, said. “The website is valuable if those who want to commit suicide understand that there are other people who have the same feelings.”

(This article was written by Akira Hatano, Koichi Anzai, Minori Oshita and Daichi Itakura.)