Heard it likely has its roots in Kabuki as it used to be a whole genre before being banned for being too likely to inspire copy cats 😮 Reminded me of this cool bit from Yoel Hoffman's Japanese Death Poems:
"There is in suicide, it is true, an element of outright rebellion against the society that has caused the individual’s failure. Lovers’ suicide protests class inequality or the conservatism of the marriage institution which prevents the consummation of the couple’s love. A student who fails protests, with suicide, against teachers, family, or friends; a corrupt employee, against employers; and parents who kill themselves along with their children, against the society that has not enabled them to live honorably. But though the act of suicide is by nature a protest, the Japanese tend to look upon it with a forgiving eye. Perhaps because suicide victims turn their anger not upon society, but upon themselves, they end up sanctioning, when all is said and done, the status quo."
by BloomBehind_Window