A 13-year-old boy in Yokohama who was bullied by classmates after evacuating from nuclear crisis-hit Fukushima has made public plea urging young people suffering a similar ordeal not to consider death as the answer to their problems.
"There are adults who will definitely be there to help. It is painful but please do not choose to die," the boy said in a message conveyed by his parents at a news conference in Yokohama, where he was harassed while at elementary school.
The identity of the boy, now in junior high school, is being withheld by the media, but the case has highlighted the need to do more for young evacuees from Fukushima around the country.