Suicide rate in Japan

Laeth1988 · 13 Oct 2013

Hello, I am new to this forum.

First I wilI provide some background to myself. I am currently doing Access to HE: Social Sciences in England in hope of progressing onto BA Japanese Studies for September 2014 entry. I have an interest in everything Japan has to offer from culture, history, georgraphy, film, anime and music. As part of my most recent assignment we are to write a report on 'the current state and possible future' of an issue, and my choice was Japanese Suicide rates.

I am wondering if anyone who is living in Japan here (and native Japanese) or even Japanese exchange students who are now in England or another country such as the U.S could give me an opinion on what they personally feel about suicide in Japan, do you think it's honourable or a sad event, is it justified or it is a real issue that must be fixed at all costs? I have lots of evidence and know roughly what the majority will say due to people I've spoken to in person, I am just looking for the possibility of more varied opinions and additional resources I can include. Any other useful resources you may have at hand would also be appretiated, although not neccesary as I've already exceeded the minimum requirement.

If something in this message is difficult to understand feel free to ask, I will gladly explain.

Thanks in advanced, and I hope my post did not upset anyone.

Disclaimer: Anyones comments I use will be referenced by username with this forum link attached to my works using Harvard referencing and citations, and it is only college work/study/research purposes, under non-profit conditions.

Mark of Zorro · 16 Oct 2013

I will tell you this straight up: I would not trade Japan's suicide rate for America's homocide rate. Not to promote suicide really, but at least here people tend to kill themselves and only themselves and there is something to be said for that. Its a bit sad when people take their own life, but at least here they don't even consider taking innocent people down with them. The typical worst case in Japan is that they choose to inconvenience a bunch of people by throwing themselves in front of a train.

In my view, suicide is quite simply a human right. But I do think there is a right way and a wrong way, I think the exercising of this right should come with controls and regulations. No one should just jump off a roof. They should be able to die in the basic manner they want, but only after some serious consultation and observation. I think it is a stain on humanity that there are no such systems in place.

I think this is partly because people are too quick to judge. But in our daily lives, we cannot really imagine the pain a suicidal person is experiencing, nor can be fairly be so insistent that there must be a cure other than suicide.

But particularly contentious is the teen suicide rate. It seems to be driven in a large part by educational expectations rather than genuine mental and depression problems. Japanese tend to believe that a formal education is everything and teenagers have been indoctrinated on that nonsense. Happiness is what it is all about, and happiness can be found outside prestigious universities. That is true even if it takes fame and fortune to make a particular person happy.

Of course if someone were to say that hope and joy were two things seriously lacking in Japan, that too would be a fair comment. There is also quite a bit of myopia here, where the Japanese fail to look at possibilities of life and lifestyle beyond the "normal" and "expected". Some may sum that up with the statement that conformity is demanded in Japan, but I think its a bit more than that. At any rate, the situation does lead itself toward depression.

Still I say though, it beats hot-headed rage that lends itself to murder.

Mary27 · 6 Mar 2015

I find it odd that the safest nation/city with the lowest crime rate also has the highest suicide rate.

Mike Cash · 6 Mar 2015

Mary27 said:
I find it odd that the safest nation/city with the lowest crime rate also has the highest suicide rate.

Cyprus has a high suicide rate?

undrentide · 6 Mar 2015

Mary27 said:
I find it odd that the safest nation/city with the lowest crime rate also has the highest suicide rate.

It's about the suicide rate, not the homicide rate - I do not see why it is linked to the safety or crime rate...

Mary27 · 6 Mar 2015

I read an article that said wallets with money in them are turned in on an regular basis.

Mike Cash · 6 Mar 2015

Mary27 said:
I read an article that said wallets with money in them are turned in on an regular basis.

Which has nothing to do with crime rates or suicide....

nekojita · 6 Mar 2015

Different cultural attitudes to suicide itself + different cultural attitudes towards seeking help for mental health issues more generally + different societal pressures.

Japan is up there but it's not the highest - that dubious honor goes to Greenland. South Korea has a higher rate than Japan (similar underlying factors, I would think).

Mary27 · 7 Mar 2015

Mike Cash said:
Which has nothing to do with crime rates or suicide....

It implies a utopian society. please excuse me.

Mary27 · 7 Mar 2015

nekojita said:
Different cultural attitudes to suicide itself + different cultural attitudes towards seeking help for mental health issues more generally + different societal pressures.

Japan is up there but it's not the highest - that dubious honor goes to Greenland. South Korea has a higher rate than Japan (similar underlying factors, I would think).

I didnt know that. Thank you. I wonder why Greenland is so high?

Mike Cash · 7 Mar 2015

Mary27 said:
It implies a utopian society. please excuse me.

Inferring a utopian society from people returning lost wallets is a bit of a leap, don't you think? Also one that would seem to be cancelled out by the suicide rate.

Mary27 · 7 Mar 2015

Mike Cash said:
Inferring a utopian society from people returning lost wallets is a bit of a leap, don't you think? Also one that would seem to be cancelled out by the suicide rate.

Well normally i would share an article with you i read calling tokyo japan the safest city on earth that put this idea in my head, explaing myself....

Mike Cash · 7 Mar 2015

Mary27 said:
Well normally i would share an article with you i read calling tokyo japan the safest city on earth that put this idea in my head, explaing myself....

Your thoughts and conclusions are so logically disconnected that I find it difficult to have a discussion.

Even if Tokyo is the safest city on earth and even if people return lost wallets, what does that have to do with suicide rates? And even if you look at those two points and theorize it must be a utopian society, how do you not immediately discard that theory when you consider the suicide rate?

Toritoribe · 7 Mar 2015

Mary27 said:
I wonder why Greenland is so high?

Google is your friend.
Suicide in Greenland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mary27 · 7 Mar 2015

Mike Cash said:
Your thoughts and conclusions are so logically disconnected that I find it difficult to have a discussion.

Even if Tokyo is the safest city on earth and even if people return lost wallets, what does that have to do with suicide rates? And even if you look at those two points and theorize it must be a utopian society, how do you not immediately discard that theory when you consider the suicide rate?

Agreed. Why is the suicide rate so high? I guess low crime does not equal happiness?

Marcelina · 16 Mar 2015

I think it can be something more. For instance the high IQ. It sounds funny but having knowledge can be painfull.

(Sorry for simple english...)

Mark of Zorro · 17 Mar 2015

Marcelina said:
I think it can be something more. For instance the high IQ. It sounds funny but having knowledge can be painfull.

I am not sure that IQ and knowledge are quite the same thing. But it is true that ignorance is bliss, well, up until your ignorance leads to a big damaging surprise.

There is irrationality and backward thinking anywhere that can be very frustrating to people, not to mention depressing. Japan has no monopoly on this, but Japan certainly has its own brand.

Japanese culture seems hell bent to monopolize people's time with busywork and nearly or completely pointless activities, such as the yearly turn of being the community deliveryman and the entire community collections, news, and event thing . Japanese speak of training spirits when in fact, what they do amounts to crushing of the soul and a failure of people to form a real self identity. That is what I think affects most Japanese people and pushes them to suicide.

It may be a minority of people who are like myself who have great difficulty tolerating irrationality, but I think that also plays a role. Again, its not only Japan that is guilty, but Japan has a particular brand that has great gaping and very frustrating flaws. For example, I understand that if you are dying of a terminal disease, the doctors and your family may opt not to tell you. Not a totally relevant example to suicide, but it goes to show how Japanese think ( or fail to think as may be the case). For me, its total thievery to deny me my own personal information upon which I would make my own informed decisions. If I got wind that I was due to die in a couple days, and that had been known and withheld from me for months, a few of my doctors would be suffering mutilations and lost body parts. That is just so off the wall irrational to hide such vital info from people. But Japanese do this. I have even been told that they will not tell me why I am blacklisted from getting credit, citing the right to privacy!!! As if it violates my right to privacy for me to know about my personal information!!! That is just so frustratingly nutso I want to start swinging a sledgehammer randomly!! But this is the sort of thing Japanese people have to tolerate every single day.

Mike Cash · 17 Mar 2015

From my most recent 健康診断

Marcelina · 22 Mar 2015

Mark of Zorro said:
I am not sure that IQ and knowledge are quite the same thing. But it is true that ignorance is bliss, well, up until your ignorance leads to a big damaging surprise.

There is irrationality and backward thinking anywhere that can be very frustrating to people, not to mention depressing. Japan has no monopoly on this, but Japan certainly has its own brand.

Japanese culture seems hell bent to monopolize people's time with busywork and nearly or completely pointless activities, such as the yearly turn of being the community deliveryman and the entire community collections, news, and event thing . Japanese speak of training spirits when in fact, what they do amounts to crushing of the soul and a failure of people to form a real self identity. That is what I think affects most Japanese people and pushes them to suicide.

It may be a minority of people who are like myself who have great difficulty tolerating irrationality, but I think that also plays a role. Again, its not only Japan that is guilty, but Japan has a particular brand that has great gaping and very frustrating flaws. For example, I understand that if you are dying of a terminal disease, the doctors and your family may opt not to tell you. Not a totally relevant example to suicide, but it goes to show how Japanese think ( or fail to think as may be the case). For me, its total thievery to deny me my own personal information upon which I would make my own informed decisions. If I got wind that I was due to die in a couple days, and that had been known and withheld from me for months, a few of my doctors would be suffering mutilations and lost body parts. That is just so off the wall irrational to hide such vital info from people. But Japanese do this. I have even been told that they will not tell me why I am blacklisted from getting credit, citing the right to privacy!!! As if it violates my right to privacy for me to know about my personal information!!! That is just so frustratingly nutso I want to start swinging a sledgehammer randomly!! But this is the sort of thing Japanese people have to tolerate every single day.

You're rigt about having knowledge and IQ. It's not the same thing. My unforgivable mistake. I've checked and the surveys show that the highest rate of suicide is in Greenland ( I don't know anything about the IQ), but for instance Belarus has the high rate as well and average IQ is 96. Japan has 105. That what have you written sounds like being emotional only inside, but having problem with releasing them. Is it true that ou should be very calm and being quiet most of the time? I mean at school or in subway... or in any public place?

Mark of Zorro · 23 Mar 2015

Marcelina said:
Is it true that ou should be very calm and being quiet most of the time? I mean at school or in subway... or in any public place?

Very true. The train can honk, the wheels go clackety clack, the heater fan can loudly hum, and the announcements can be deafening, but laughter is frowned upon even on the train...as is speaking above the level of all that background noise. The logic you may get? People are trying to sleep!!

Also holding hands is rarely seen and hugging even rarer. Its often impossible to determine who is dating and who are just friends or coworkers.

And none of that is mentally healthy, as I am sure you will agree.

RichardH · 5 Nov 2015

Mary27 said:
I find it odd that the safest nation/city with the lowest crime rate also has the highest suicide rate.

Like Nekojita said, I believe Japan is not the top when it comes to suicide rate. It's up there but the leading country (as far as I am aware) is South Korea.
As far as I know Japan is the safest country though as you said.

It is indeed baffling, but just like Mark of Zorro said, it's better than high homoscide rate!

I think Japan used to be top in suicide rate before though...so maybe things are getting better?
Can't say for sure since I don't have any exact data on this.

Lothor · 5 Nov 2015

RichardH said:
Like Nekojita said, I believe Japan is not the top when it comes to suicide rate. It's up there but the leading country (as far as I am aware) is South Korea.
As far as I know Japan is the safest country though as you said.

It is indeed baffling, but just like Mark of Zorro said, it's better than high homoscide rate!

I think Japan used to be top in suicide rate before though...so maybe things are getting better?
Can't say for sure since I don't have any exact data on this.

Very thorough Wikipedia entry on suicide in Japan.
Suicide in Japan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The suicide rate has dropped in the last few years and is now in the high 20000s compared with the low 30000s for over 10 years before that. I've not heard any explanation for the decrease nor can I think of any.

BillMad · 8 Nov 2015

You could simply base your analysis on the reflection of its culture in form of its popular entertainment.

You should read that manga called jisatsu circle. Or pick up any other form of teenage entertainment based paraphernalia and see all the angst, frustration and crowd mentality. Seriously just watch any japanese horror movie and you'll see for yourself how the feeling of "caving in" you emote for the protagonist (the terror you feel for the situation the protagonist is in) is nothing but a metaphor about living in a heavily repressed shame based culture.

Mike Cash · 8 Nov 2015

BillMad said:
You could simply base your analysis on the reflection of its culture in form of its popular entertainment.

You should read that manga called jisatsu circle. Or pick up any other form of teenage entertainment based paraphernalia and see all the angst, frustration and crowd mentality. Seriously just watch any japanese horror movie and you'll see for yourself how the feeling of "caving in" you emote for the protagonist (the terror you feel for the situation the protagonist is in) is nothing but a metaphor about living in a heavily repressed shame based culture.

You're beginning to strike me as the poster child for the inadvisability of trying to learn about what Japan is like from afar.

BillMad · 8 Nov 2015

Mike Cash said:
You're beginning to strike me as the poster child for the inadvisability of trying to learn about what Japan is like from afar.

Was speaking in context of this specific case only. It is common for cultures to reflect in popular forms of entertainment. It happens everywhere.

I'm not saying that there is suicide in japan because of a manga or you could judge any country by popular media, instead I'm saying that it is simply reflected in all of those things. Its merely a philosophical perspective.

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