The first letter arrived nine days ago, sent to Japan’s Education Minister by an anonymous schoolboy in a state of extreme distress.

Bullies were making his life a misery, and he could bear it no longer. He was going to kill himself by the weekend.

The ministry acted immediately, calling a midnight press conference to warn teachers and parents across the country to be on alert and to beg the unidentified child not to give in to despair. It seemed like a bold, timely and potentially life saving decision - no one imagined what the consequences would be.

Just over a week later, the government has been overwhelmed with similar unsigned letters from persecuted children, announcing their intention to die.

And on five out of the last six days, a young corpse has been found somewhere in Japan, the victims of what is beginning to look like an epidemic of bullying and suicide among the country’s children.

Are the letters genuine cries for help or mischievous hoaxes? Is the publicity saving lives, or encouraging copycat suicides? And when is the daily tally of deaths going to stop? In schools across the country the atmosphere is close to hysteria.

In schools where some of the anonymous letters are believed to have originated, police patrols have been increased, and teachers and parents are being urged to scrutinise children for signs of suicidal intent. A bullying hotline has been overwhelmed with 2,890 calls within seven days.

The Ministry of Education’s website features an open letter to any child suffering at the hands of bullies. "Life is all you have," it says. "And life belongs not just to you, but to you mother and father who held you when you were born.

"It may be difficult to put things into words, but be sure to share your feelings with someone...Society is not abandoning you."

The original message arrived on Monday last week at the office of Bunmei Ibuki, Japan’s minister of education, and nothing about its origin was clear, even the postmark.

It contained seven letters, addressed to the minister, to a teacher and to classmates - but neither they, nor the sender, were identified.

"Why d’you have to bully me?" he asks his tormentors. "Because I’m disgusting? Because I stink? Why d’you have to pull down my pants?"

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