Latest 15 of 46 Total Comments Show All

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  NYC_Samurai at 11:58 PM JST - 18th September

  Saves the taxpayers money. Can't do much bad to anyone else either

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  akaguma at 01:22 AM JST - 19th September

  it makes a better impression if they can at least make the effort to leave a packet of tissues on their former person in order to compensate for any mess-related issues

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  shreeree at 03:07 AM JST - 19th September

  I think if we all resolved are issues in such a way there would be no one left in this world but infants. We all have done things that we aren't proud of or felt shame about so we keep it to ourselves. The only difference is as long as it remains a secret it's not a scandal. So choosing suicide only taboos the ones left with the shame of what that family member has done causing others to shun them thinking their are mental issues in their family. All because of the sins of the one that was too cowardly to stay alive and rectify their errors. What is the need for being a forgiving person if death is the way of apologizing?

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  KitsuneYoukai at 04:26 AM JST - 19th September

  Utterly ridiculous, is what I think. It's just a way of saving face or not owning up to your mistakes and taking responsibility for it.

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  kokuryu at 07:04 AM JST - 19th September

  It is stupid. Once you end your life, it is over. If you did something wrong, admit to it, take the lumps that go with it, and begin anew with a fresh start and do not make the same mistakes twice. That is what life is all about.

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  browny1 at 09:21 AM JST - 19th September

  Suicides in these cases generally are an escape from the overwhelming oppressiveness cast by the "shame culture". To remain and survive in this society would be akin to a living hell for many. As noted earlier compassion and forgiveness are not woven into the fabric of this society to any great extent, as is generally the case in some other modern societies. There is no honour in takings one life under such conditions. It is not noble. The act only wreaks havoc with the lives of many others - most of whom are completely innocent. Those choosing escape over facing squarely the realities of their actions create so much sorrow, despair, anger, and head shaking - why, why, why? But they're dead and they don't have to be accountable - they escaped. Making the tough 30+ calls at night to tell people that their friend has "offed" himself and witnessing the wave of pain over the ensuing weeks, certainly knocks any notion of chivalry, as ascribed by some.

  This society must begin to deal with the prevailing epidemic of self-murder and look inwards and see if there are some cultural misgivings that really need reflecting and acting upon.

  30,000+ suicides a year equals misery for millions.

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  solarbuster at 09:41 AM JST - 19th September

  Problem is most of the real bad guys don't sepuku. Even in the samurai period some leaders who had ordered many others to sepuku were finaly murdered by their retainers who made it look like sepuku to save their clans honor. Many good guys committed sepuku to cover up for idiots and crooks under them or above them. The same crooks or idiots would never have killed themselves so the crooks and idiots multiply while good guys become extinct. Saying that, I would encourage the good guys to try and live to put rights the faults others have caused, while at the same time encourage the crooks and idiots to sepuku before they breed another generation like themselves.

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  Schoolboyerror at 10:54 AM JST - 19th September

  browny1

  30,000+ suicides a year equals misery for millions.

  I think most of those have less to do with shame and more to do with having nothing to live for.

  If I were just finishing university and starting out as a salariman, I'd give some thought to topping myself rather than sign away the next 40 odd years of my life.

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  umioso at 11:11 AM JST - 19th September

  That may be the "easy way out", but it's a coward's cop-out. Stay alive, face the consequences, PAY in Dollars, Euros, Yuan, Yen or in jail time. That way, one will have the possibility of making amends, reimbursing theft or "paying a debt to society". Suicide is basically sociopathic and antisocial behavior. It is a permanent solution to what may be only a temporary problem.

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  Schoolboyerror at 12:35 PM JST - 19th September

  the snag with that is that in Japan the "consequences" for the bigwigs often amount to nothing more than a couple of seconds of bows, fake tears and insincere apologies.

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  ninjitsu182 at 01:04 PM JST - 19th September

  If all else fails and there REALLY aren't any options, suicide would be an option. Is it not part of bushido?

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  shreeree at 02:19 PM JST - 19th September

  Why do people always associate bushido with the common suicide. Bushido means "the way of the warrior" which if you aren't living your entire life as a samurai's. You have no business thinking you are dying like one. Besides, centuries ago they chose to take their own life before their enemies could rob them of it. It was a ritualistic ceremony that most of the time was witness or assisted by others. So what is honorable about killing your entire family, children, others on the street...ect...before killing yourself is consider "Bushido"? I think even linking the term to what is happening in Japan today is dishonoring the history of the Samurai that lived with honor and traditions. They would never have killed themselves over things such as being caught with drugs, prostitutes, extramartial affairs, or because their favorite talento did it, or financial difficulties like they are doing today. Those things are simple shames you live with and if you can't live with it where you are you move where people don't know you and start over.

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  Molenir at 05:45 PM JST - 19th September

  I think its the cowards way out. It means you are running from responsibility, not taking responsibility for it. If you do something shameful, you should live to apologize, to atone for your actions if that is possible. And if it isn't, you should live to do what you can.

  Suicide is nothing more then the ultimate means of running away from your problems, and evading responsibility.

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  Triple888 at 02:37 AM JST - 20th September

  It shows that they really cared for the disasters they caused by choosing to compensate for their mistakes with their most precise asset: life.

  But those affected by the troubles could care less what they do to themselves.

  So bottom line is, suicide does NOT solve other people's problem but only (probably) solve theirs.

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  sageb1 at 07:22 AM JST - 20th September

  suicide is the result of two millennia of oppressive cultural pressures from high up upon the common man, and is the legacy of a shame-based culture.

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