Bullying in Japanese schools is a well documented problem. According to the Mainichi, a Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology found 543,933 cases of bullying acknowledged by schools in the 2018 academic year. While there are efforts to raise awareness and curb such incidents, when they go unnoticed, they can grow into very serious problem.

Twitter user Ajipon (@ajiponteacher) recently shared an anti-bullying poster they found that illustrates that problem, and was struck by how well made it was.

The poster features a smiling a Japanese school girl who appears to be in high spirits. However, above her head written in small text are the words "I'm being bullied right now, so please help me."

On the right side of the poster is the phrase "Looking from far away you can't understand. Have you noticed it?"

Then the poster's main slogan is written in large characters across the girl's chest--"Look more closely."

Doing so reveals the true message of the poster. Inside the student's hair are countless hurtful words and abusive insults she has suffered, such as "Scum", "Disappear", "You should just die", "Hurry up and realize you're a nuisance to everyone", and "Trash like you shouldn't come to school."

Meanwhile, within the girl's clothes are "I'm in pain right now, please save me", "Help me help me help me", "Why doesn't anyone notice?", "I can't take this anymore", "I'll smile so nobody notices", and "I want to die."

The poster stresses to look closely after one another, and not ignore troubling signs or "SOS" messages from children who may be suffering from bullying, as looking the other way or not checking in closely can lead to an even worse situation.

The shared image of the poster was met with many comments from touched users, including those who found the poster "heartbreaking" and its message resonating.

The poster was put forward by Re-Challenge Tokyo National Bullying and Suicide Prevention Headquarters, an NPO making efforts to curb bullying.

We were able to get in touch with Tomonori Hirabayashi, the NPO's president, and ask him about the poster. Hirabayashi said that the posters have been distributed to 2,165 schools in Tokyo. As of January 2022, more than 7,000 schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai region have received them as well.

Hirabayashi also commented that they had received a request for the poster, and upon sending to the party, received a report that a child who was a victim of bullying called the parents of the perpetrator and the bullying was successfully resolved.

The poster certainly has some grim truths in it, but hopefully it can serve as an effective reminder of the need for people to watch out more closely and regularly for one another to prevent such suffering.