Meiko Ukei

"Mount Mihara, an active volcano on the Japanese island of Oshima, was almost entirely unknown until January 1933, when two classmates from a Tokyo college climbed to the top of the crater. There Meiko Ukei, 24, announced to her friend Masako Tomita that she intended to throw herself into the volcano. She would, she explained, be cremated instantly and sent heavenward in smoke and beauty. After extracting a vow of secrecy from her friend, she jumped.

Masako, 21, was understandably unable to keep her promise. She confided in another friend, who then insisted that Masako take her to Mihara so that she could "follow Meiko to paradise". Masako was unable to persuade her friend otherwise, and in early February the two women climbed to the top of the volcano. The friend jumped in, Masako returned alone, and soon the story was a major force in the cultural life of Japan."


Source: "'No remedy presents itself so soon to my heart as mine own sword'. What drives people to commit suicide? Psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison knows better than most"
www.guardian.co.uk/books/2000/nov/11/scienceandnature.books