She still isn't completely sure. But his suicide note has given her at least some insight into her husband's thinking.
Suicide is nothing new in Japan.
In the country's feudal past, disgraced or defeated samurai warriors committed the ritual of hara-kiri as an honourable way out. Last year, just over 31,000 Japanese killed themselves, largely unchanged on the previous year but up more than a third on 1997. There's also been a change in the profile of the suicide victim. Like many others, Kawahito says the rising suicide rate is mostly related to work and money problems, such as job stress, bankruptcy and unemployment. Despite the growing scale of the problem, suicide remains a largely taboo topic, and relatives seeking compensation often come up against a wall of bureaucracy.