The Japanese government has revised its terminology regarding cases in which parents kill their children and then take their own lives, reflecting a shift in focus toward the victimization of the child rather than framing the incident as a joint act of suicide. In September, an expert panel under the Children and Families Agency (こども家庭庁, Kodomo Kateichô) recommended discontinuing the use of the term 心中 (shinjû), traditionally meaning “double suicide,” for these cases. Instead, they proposed the more explicit phrase 保護者の自殺を伴うこどもの虐待死 (hogosha no jisatsu o tomonau kodomo no gyakutaishi), which translates to “child abuse deaths accompanied by a guardian’s suicide.”
Historically, 心中 has been widely used in Japanese literature and culture to describe mutually agreed-upon suicides, especially among lovers. The word carries deep historical and cultural resonance, rooted in theatrical works such as the 1703 bunraku puppet play 『曽根崎心中』 (Sonezaki Shinjû), which dramatizes lovers choosing to die together. However, 心中 is also used in combinations like 一家心中 (family suicide) and 親子心中 (parent-child suicide), grouping parents and children as participants in the same act.
This traditional terminology has been questioned because it implies equal agency in the deaths, a problematic notion when children involved are often too young to consent. Research dating back to a 1964 psychiatric study noted that many such cases involved homicide preceding or occurring alongside the parent’s suicide, indicating two distinct acts rather than a mutual decision. By changing the language, officials aim to center the child’s death as an act of abuse, with the parent’s suicide positioned as a related but secondary event.
The revised expression utilizes the grammatical structure を伴う (o tomonau), meaning “accompanied by” or “involving,” which explicitly places “child abuse death” as the main subject, accompanied by the guardian’s suicide. This linguistic adjustment highlights the child’s victimhood and clarifies the nature of these tragedies as acts of abuse rather than consensual suicides.
Experts caution against oversimplifying such incidents as cultural phenomena tied to Japanese concepts of family unity or parental obligation, noting that doing so risks normalizing or romanticizing what are essentially child homicides. While the historic notion of 心中 remains entrenched in literature and the arts—such as in the writings and life of author Osamu Dazai, who died with a woman in an act described as a shinjû—the government’s new terminology seeks to provide a more accurate and responsible description of parent-child fatality cases.
By redefining the language used, Japan is attempting to shift public perception and policy to better recognize the realities of child abuse and to ensure that the narrative focuses on protecting vulnerable children, rather than obscuring the fact that they are victims.