[Mainichi Newspapers Co.]Aokigahara woods at the base of Mt. Fuji (also known as "suicide forest")
Today I was told by one of my Jehovah's Witness visitors that she'd read about an interesting suicide in the paper today. She couldn't explain to me in English what happened, so I researched "suicide in Japan" on the internet. Bad idea. The first article I stumbled upon was entitled:
"Man commits suicide in front of Tokyo train, 90,000 commuters inconvenienced."
And in case you are interested, I did eventually find the story about today's suicide. A 14-year-old girl locked herself in her bathroom after making a lethal concoction of laundry detergent and soaps, eventually suffocating on the fumes and sending 10 of her neighbors to the hospital. She was the 30th nihonjin to use this method so far this year (its fatal recipe is being spread on the Internet). Perhaps it seemed less obtrusive to society than jumping in front of a train. And don't you worry, she was also considerate enough to hang a sign on the door knob that read, "Gas being emitted," so as not to inconvenience anyone.Japan has the 9th highest suicide rate in the world. Most people I talk to and most articles I read online accredit the increasing suicide rate to Japan's unemployment rate. In fact, most suicides are middle-aged men who have lost their jobs and/or feel they've dishonored their family name. However, Japan has the 141st highest unemployment rate in the world (4.1%). And I doubt the 14-year-old was having trouble at the office.
I have no idea how to explain the phenomenon, but I have a hunch that if so much weren't hidden behind formalities and sake, maybe that rate would decrease. Then those 90,000 commuters could get on with their lives undisturbed. I guess the rest of the world really is as screwed up as America, individualistic or not.
1 comment:
Hi. New reader here!
I get so disheartened when I hear about suicides and especially about young people people who commit suicide. Did they really feel that there was no other choice? It's a sad statement and something I can do nothing about.
I was recently asked to speak at a local Junior High School about Canadian culture for 20 minutes. At first, I wanted to say no because it sounded too difficult but as I mulled it over I wondered if maybe it would be a chance to share a message of hope that might change even one person's approach to life. I shared about the life of Terry Fox (an awesome inspirating story of hope) and although I'll never know if it actually touched somebody, at least I know that I tried.
I wish there was more I could do.
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