Suicide in Japan

This was a bit of a daunting piece, at least initially. It's not exactly comfortable approaching total strangers on the street and asking them about suicide. But I quickly found that so many people in Japan have been personally affected by suicide, either by a friend, family member or colleague, that each had a story to tell.
At the end of my trip in Japan, I'd been on a train that had been delayed because someone had jumped onto the tracks and committed suicide -- the reactions of the commuters was telling .... they were annoyed at being inconvenienced.

Check out the second part of Adam's investigation...
http://current.com/items/suicide-chat-rooms-in-japan/76262002

It's hard to conceptualize how sudden suicide can happen in Japan without actually going there. I spent last summer staying with a host family in Tokyo, and during the second week of my trip my host had received news that one of her old school friends had taken her own life. The most disturbing part of the event, however, was not the suicide itself, but how quickly she was able to recover from the loss. While most of my host's grief management was possible due to her strong character, I couldn't help but think that at least some of the pain had been numbed by cultural precedent. Chances are, that wasn't the first time she had lost someone to suicide.

This is disturbing indeed. My best friend lives in Japan and was telling me breifly about this once while on the phone. He's been living there for a couple of years now and told me that since he 1st moved there, he's known a handful of people who have completed suicide.

Think the girl says "A friend of a friend", not her friend.

It's weird but when I was watching this I was thinking about a Japanese horror called Suicide Club. It's all about these groups of people who commit like mass suicide. I thought the movie was a bit far fetched but now after this pod it seems almost like a documentry. It's a little strange to see a culture where suicide is such an open almost acceptable thing. I it's not horribly strange in America but there aren't suicide HANDBOOKS at like all the book stores. That was the most disturbing thing for me was the handbook concept.

In japan people are always on the move to something or somewhere. The thinking in japan is if you cant keep up then you are forgotten or erased. The reason why i think japans suicide rate is high is because of the reaction of other people who try and speak your feelings but cant because of fear of being socially being out casted, so the Japanese people can not let out what makes them want to kill them self resulting in them committing suicide. Also you cant just look at the stress factor in japan, you must also look at the high rate of bullying and rape in japan. More and more gangs are popping up in japan because youth in high school feel this is what they must do to protect them selfs then they avenchally end up committing crimes. These crimes are usually doing what they got in the gang to escape from, bullying. And the other crimes these gangs commit is rape.
So as you can see it is a pattern, well at least my eyes.

I saw this in 2k5 when it aired and thought that a lot of these people just needed someone to talk to about their issues for the most part.

Thanks a lot for this great documentary. I wasn't aware at all about this penomenon in Japan.

Thanks Adam for an interesting, and disturbing, piece. I am a pastor and based on the Bible I understand each and every person to be so valuable and worth so much. Each person as a human is made in the very image and likeness of God (Genesis 1-2). How tragic when a person leaves this life so despairing that they commit suicide. God grieves along with me over that because His plans, purposes, and love and grace for that person were so real and powerful. If only they would come to know it before it's too late.
Adam, or anyone else, would you take a moment to check out my site --- www.peacewithinreach.com. If you think it could be helpful to others, please pass it on.
Fred for Peace

I really don't get how a culture can think that suicide is OK. :(
It causes pain to people who love you.

I Believe this is partially common because of the ancient influence of the samuri. Samuri warriors used to commit seppuku or ritual suicide when they did something shameful. That is also a part of Japanese culture. the Shame can sometimes be to much to bare for people. Some of the people who kill themselves the most are CEOs of major companies who have failed there tasks.

Taking your own life should never be considered okay or just commonplace in any society! Maybe if there were more websites where those thinking about commiting suicide could share their problems with others, then they would realize that all human beings face many stressing problems and they are not alone.