There's a speculation that he was suffering from mental fatigue, and I think it is right. More than anything like keeping the honor/face, this seems the most li

There's a speculation that he was suffering from mental fatigue, and I think it is right. More than anything like keeping the honor/face, this seems the most likely cause that killed him. A thing that people outside Japan often don't understand is how harsh and concerted a media frenzy is. Unlike the U.S., things quickly get very personal here. And there's not much protection. He was already a heavy target of the gossip media, and I can imagine all kinds of nasty treatments he got from people around him, formally and informally, including a nasty look or verbal harassment in a public place. They're usually subtle but once you're a target it's very consistent and ubiquitous. It's pretty much how kids are bullied here, but this time it happened at a national level. I think that could be too much to handle for a sheltered scholar who dedicated his life for science. The irony is that, this kind of media frenzy is what they initially sought until the debacle happened. Now the untamed beast, which is the Japanese media, bit them back and they're still in rampage. I don't like how the media handled the whole thing at all, but this is how it is here. (edit: also this is how smart kids learn not to stand out in Japan)