It was April 10, 2022 when a 22-year-old man named Kouta Tsubouchi(坪内幸汰) aka "kota" jumped onto his motorcycle and began his trip around Japan. His Twitter account @20_ZXT02K was filled with photos of nature's grandeur, of jagged peaks covered in clouds, waterfalls sparking in many colors, endless seaside roads, waves rippling gently in the wind, a myriad of stars dotted across the clear night sky…. His grand journey of approximately 36500 kilometers ended on the 2nd of October, when around 8 PM he went to Kawaji(川治) Dam in Nikko City, put his foot over the ledge, and posted a final tweet saying goodbye. Then he jumped.
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The tweet spread like wildfire. One user arrived at the site and found a can of liquor with his motorcycle with the engine still warm, but it was too late.
There were two photos in the tweet. One was taken on the dam's ledge with water crashing underneath. Barely visible in the dark night is his right foot already on the railing. The dam is 140 meters high. 140 meters…
The other photo was a paper of an ADHD diagnosis he received back in Febuary. It seemed clear to many users that it was closely tied to his suicide, and conversations about ADHD started in several parts of Twitter. A few Korean users confessed how hard it is to get ADHD meds prescripted in Europe because of social stigma, the lack of doctors and their negligence. On the contrary, in Korea, ADHD meds are abused by some parents because there are known to "help kids focus on studying".
Some users pointed out that it was an imitation suicide. Indeed, this was not the first time a man had thrown himself into a dam after completing a motorcycle trip around Japan. He was known as "Hikikomori Rider", and he was active in many online Japanese biker communities such as Facebook. He wrote about his life being bullied as a child, dropping out of college and quitting company work, yet still finding hope beyond despair.
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On the night of 27 September 2018, he posted on his Twitter account @riveriomu1 a photo of Kanayama(金山) Dam in Hokkaido, with the caption "This is the end of the trip. Then, everyone, goodbye! Have a great rider life! 007981". Users tried to guess what the numbers could mean, and one of the speculations was that "007" was referring to a Bond movie with a famous scene where a character jumps off a dam. 981 can be read similarly to the English word "goodbye" in Japanese wordplay(語呂合わせ). The number plate 007o981 also appears in Jaws.
Kota had visited the dam back in 15 August 2021, writing that his tweets made him long for Hokkaido which he is traveling across now. Kota had also taken several photos of dams on his final trip, could it have been a subtle cry of help? Was it possible for anyone to have helped him?
A new tweet was posted on Kota's account on the 5th of October. It said that this was Kota's mother writing, and announced he had passed away on 2 October 2022. However, the next day, his family logged in and wrote that they didn't post the tweet but to appreciate all the comments written for them, they won't take it down. It was posted at exactly 8 PM almost down to the finest seconds as checked by Twitter Media Downloader, so it may be safe to assume that it was a scheduled tweet. Just how long had he been planning everything?
His family sent thanks to everyone—those who saw the post and called the police, those who rushed to the site, those who worried for him, the police and dam officials.
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One comment that caught my eye was by user @Alle_612. Two hours after Kota's final post, he wrote a letter saying he wondered how many will remember his pain on this day next year. Then he said thank you to the beautiful scenery he has shown, and that he will be joining him soon.
He was a terminal diabetic. On his page he posted that Kota's suicide made him question about what life is, and that he want to find the answer before he died. The next day he further posted that although discrimination and prejudice cannot be removed from this world, everyone has someone to lean on to. He also wrote that if he meets Kota in the afterlife, he would give him a big hug and say thank you. He concluded that his view on life and death has changed and he's going to enjoy the rest of his life a little more, and that he was tired and going to sleep. He hasn't returned since.
Flowers were left on the dam, from Kota's rider friends and from strangers. One fellow rider who met Kota in her trip released a tribute that had a clip of Kota and her encounter on YouTube. The video ends with Kota's favorite song Fantasy by Mr.Children.
