Japanese Soldiers Suicide

Suicides hit new high as Japanese troops feel strain

"The suicide rate among Japanese soldiers is at its highest point ever, the Japan Defence Agency says.

It is unclear whether or not the deaths are connected to the country's military deployment in Iraq, because the agency had done no research on the phenomenon, a spokesman said yesterday.

But experts on suicide say - and anecdotal evidence from returning soldiers suggests - that the fears of soldiers are greater than ever.

Seventy-eight soldiers have killed themselves in the past 11 months, the agency said. This surpassed the figure for the previous 12 months by three deaths and if the pattern holds true, a further six soldiers will be dead before the end of March.

The agency says suicides have been rising steadily since 1996, when the number hovered between 40 and 50.

The death rate among soldiers outstripped the national average in Japan, where suicide is the highest in the developed world.

In 2003 the rate of suicide in the defence forces was 32 deaths per 100,000 soldiers. In the general population the rate of suicide was 25.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2002, the latest year for which figures are available... "

The Sydney Morning Herald, February 28, 2005

Depression

Law revision to improve lot of hard-toiling masses

"Since the latter half of the 1990s, the recession has ushered in downsizing and performance-based evaluations, resulting in a significant increase in mental and physical burdens on employees, with 60 percent of employees saying they felt stressed out, according to the report.

The result is that the number of workers falling prone to workplace stress-related disorders is increasing every year.

The revision should not be regarded as an attempt only to prevent work-related accidents. It should be taken as an opportunity to take a critical look at Japanese society, which has long ignored the matter of long working hours. Reducing long working hours would lead to more quality time being spent with one's family, including increased participation in child rearing.

The Diet should debate what is best for the nation's workers..."

The article in full shows through the use of official figures the rapid rise in deaths official recognised as being as a result of overwork, and also shows the rise in depression and other mental illeness due to work stress.

Suicide Prevention Network

Groups share pain of suicides

"The nonprofit organization Lifelink Suicide Prevention Action Network held a symposium Sunday in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, to call for cooperation among similar groups to support the bereaved families of those who have committed suicide. The symposium was the first of its kind to promote mutual cooperation among organizations that support families.

The annual number of suicides has exceeded 30,000 for six consecutive years up to 2003. Bereaved family members, researchers and government officials who participated in the meeting discussed the importance of cooperation among support groups.

According to Lifelink, there are only about 10 groups nationwide that offer support to the families of those who have committed suicide.

One participant, Kenji Kawano from the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, said, "There's much demand from bereaved families to join support groups to talk about their experiences, but at present we can't meet their needs.."

Yomiuri Shimbun, 22nd February, 2005

Internet Suicide Pact Rescue

Four People Rescued From Attempted Group Suicide

Police rescue four from suicide after one gets cold feet

OSAKA (Kyodo) Four people were rescued from an attempted group suicide when one of them tipped off police after they took drugs together Wednesday in a condominium in Osaka, police said.

The 33-year-old man from Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, called police and reportedly said, "We tried to commit suicide together by taking sleeping pills, but I felt frightened and ran away."

Police found the other three -- a 31-year-old man from Osaka, a 21-year-old man from Chiba Prefecture and a 23-year-old woman from Miyagi Prefecture -- unconscious in the room with a lighted charcoal stove.

All of them are in stable condition, police said.

The four became acquainted via a suicide Web site on the Internet and met Monday, they said..."

Japan Times, 17th February, 2005

The safe rescue of these people was also reported by the Kyodo News Agency:

4 People Rescued from Attempted Group Suicide

However it appears that not a single news organization press agency outside of Japan chose to pick up this story, although some did chose to report on a seperate group of four people in Hokkaido who died in what may be a group suicide. - Timi

Child Healthcare Clinical Psychologists

Psychological healthcare support for students following teacher's death:


1 in 4 students suffering mentally after fatal school attack

"NEYAGAWA, Osaka -- One in four students at Neyagawa Municipal Chuo Elementary School, the scene of the deadly stabbing that claimed the life of a teacher earlier this week, has suffered mentally, a survey has shown.

Police officers keep watch on Friday as students return to school.

Teachers visited the homes of students on Feb. 16 and 17, while the school was temporarily closed, to determine the mental state of the children.

Because the teacher that died taught fifth-year students, clinical psychologists were also present when students from that year were visited.

All 31 students in the murdered teacher's class had suffered mentally because of the incident. Overall, a total of 145 pupils, mainly those in their fifth year, were found to have suffered changes in their mental condition.

Among the claims the students made were, "I've become dependent on my parents," "I've lost my appetite," and "I can't get to sleep." Some students had cried constantly since they came home on the day of the murder.

Psychologists said five of the students showed signs of stress with fatigue and other symptoms.

In a message to parents, psychologists said it was normal for the children's condition to change after such a major incident occurring at their school. They urged parents to help their children feel at ease and contact the school if they had any worries..."

Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Feb. 18, 2005

ADHD

Ministry widening scope of special needs

"Children suffering developmental disorders, such as learning disabilities and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are not subject to the conventional framework of special education for disabled children in Japan. But the Education, Science and Technology Ministry has decided to extend coverage of special educational needs to include children with these disorders through a number of new measures.

Learning disabilities make it difficult for children to learn specific skills such as reading, listening, speaking, writing or arithmetic, while ADHD involves behavioral disorders such as a severe lack of concentration or an inability to remain seated. Among forms of autism, high-functioning autism is not currently considered a disability although it is associated with certain behavioral disorders such as an inability to establish friendships or an overly obsessive focus on a narrow interest.

As people with such disorders are not considered mentally disabled they are not recognized under the Basic Law for Persons with Disabilities. However, a new law that will take effect in April will offer various kinds of support for people with developmental disorders."

Yomiuri Shimbun, 15th Febrary 2005

Suicide Reports 2005

"Suicide seems a permanent and tragic blot on the modern social landscape. The vast majority of cases involve individuals acting alone. But try wrapping your head around the concept of a group cyber suicide pact involving people who are strangers to each other. It's become something of a craze in Japan, where the act of ritual suicide, including that of wartime Kamikaze attacks, has always had a cultural significance. Andrew Harding of the BBC 'Newsnight' program examines how the Internet and suicide have come together in Japan with the most tragic consequences, with more than 30 deaths since October..."

A few points to ponder:

1. The actual "suicide pact" referred to in this radio lead in took place in 2004.

"30 deaths since october.." appears to be an unsubstantiated number, from October to now, and is still less than 34 in 2003, the officially published total number (National Police Agency) of people who died in group suicides after having making contact through internet web sites.

2, the ancient act of ritual suicide ("seppuku") from Japan's fuedal period was just that: ritual suicide, not the Kamikaze (divine wind) attacks of WW2.

3. Tamagochi was a 'craze' in Japan, enjoyed by children .. suicide is a serious problem, it is not cool nor"a craze" anywhere in the world. Period.

The only report to date in Japan this year (2005) of group suicides in Japan was in early February. It is worth noting that there has been no evidence found to indicate the involvement of "internet suicide web sites" in this case.

Japan Suicide Pacts

Just click on and you can find commentary on so called "internet suicide clubs" in Japan and also a more balanced and accurate report of an analysis by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare published in January 2005 on individual andgroup suicides in Japan in 2003.

- Timi

Lone Mothers Poverty

Japan, land of rising poverty

"A new Japanese government survey estimates that the number of fatherless families has skyrocketed, hitting 1.22 million in fiscal 2003 in the nation of 128 million. This is the highest number ever recorded and represents a massive 28.3% increase from the previous survey conducted five years ago. The figures also show that the vast majority of children in these households live far below the poverty line, creating a rapidly growing underclass of impoverished families.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry data highlight the complete failure of government policy to address important social changes that have occurred over the past decade, particularly the massive rise in divorces involving children.

Over the past decade, low wages for women, a non-functional child support payment system, an inadequate social welfare policy, and a weakening of traditional family support networks all have contributed to redrawing the Japanese poverty map. Previously, elderly households constituted the bulk of the poor, but today the balance has firmly shifted to mother-headed families.

Most lone mothers and their children now live in poverty, with many experiencing real hardship. In 2001, the average annual income of a lone-mother family was about 2.52 million yen (US$23,850). The latest data estimate this has fallen to just 2.12 million yen in fiscal 2002, almost three times less than the median figure. In 2000, the average household income was about 6.17 million yen, and for an elderly household the figure was 3.19 million yen..."

Asian Times Online, 11th February, 2005

Public Baths for National Healthcare Service

Japan to promote public baths for health

"Promoting public baths will be part of Japan's national healthcare service from next year, the government said Monday.

The Health Ministry said that from April 2006, the government would encourage elderly people in particular to bathe in large, public baths as this could relieve stress and possibly have beneficial effects on those suffering from Alzheimer's disease...."

Big News Network 10th February, 2005

Sexual assault

Big increase in sex assaults on Japan's trains

WOMEN travelling on Tokyo's busy commuter trains have reported a record number of incidents of groping and sexual assault, it was revealed yesterday.

Police say there were 2,201 such cases in 2004 - a three-fold increase in eight years. Sixty per cent of the victims of the more serious sexual assaults were high school students.

The number of incidents fell temporarily in 2003 after Tokyoﾕs city government increased the penalties for groping - those convicted now face up to six months in prison or a fine of up to ｴ500,000 (｣2,500). Sexual assault carries a possible prison sentence of up to seven years.

Well worth reading the whole article in full. Sexual abuse of women passengers on trains has been happening for decades in Tokyo and Japan. A record number of incidents have been reported to the police by women who have been assualted. As the article points out;

"Police said the latest rise could be due to women being more willing to report assaults."

There has been an a big increase in the reporting of sexual assualts on trains. This has long been a big problem here. - Timi

Suicide Pacts

"Japan Suicide Pacts", "Japan Group Suicides", "Internet Suicides Pacts" were terms which were often misunderstood, and frequently used as if they were synonyms (which they are not), by many who wrote about this in 2004, and in the main ignored many of the central problems, and the need for more solutions to provide alternative sources of hope, faced all the people in Japan who committed suicide last year, not only the relatively very small number of victims who met though so called" internet suicide clubs" web sites.

In 2005, as in every year before, there is a real need for greater accuracy, better research of the facts and less sensationalism when writing about all aspects of suicide in Japan. Hopefully this year, reports around the world focusing on the problem of Japan's very high annual suicide rates, there will be more thoughtful, more useful and potentially influential analysis of the continuing high loss of life of people in Japan.

The following link and extract is from a press report about six men and women who appear to have committed suicide sometime in the evening on Friday 4th. This seems to be the first report on a possible group suicide to appear in English in 2005. (Some wire based reports in English seem to be already trying to create new expressions for the new year such as "Tokyo Suicide Pacts".)

Here is one example of an original source of the story, a source which obviously was able to ascertain the truth and confirm its facts in Japanese first:

6 found dead in van in suspected suicide pact

MIURA, Kanagawa -- Six men and women were found dead in a van here Saturday morning apparently after they gassed themselves by burning briquettes inside the vehicle, police said.

Police are trying to identify the six -- three men and three women who appear to be in their 20s.

At around 7:50 a.m., a passer-by found six people slumped in a van parked near the Bishamon Tunnel in the Minamishitauramachi district of Miura, and alerted police...
... Investigators said it was likely the victims had burned the briquettes to release toxic carbon monoxide gas and poisoned themselves in a suicide pact.

After reading the article itself please note that the report says that investigators "said it was likely ... a suicide pact." There is no mention of, or reason to believe at this time that this group suicide, was in any way brought about through the internet.

In 2004 some overseas press and media reports focused only on "Internet Suicide Pacts" in their reports and seem to have taken little notice details of the full details of the annual Police Agency statistics on suicide in Japan which is published around the summer each year, with accurate breakdown of the annual suicide rates, ways in which people committed suicide and the reasons for the victims deaths. - Timi