34 evacuated from apartment as man commits suicide with poisonous fumes

Wednesday 04th June, 03:28 PM JST

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10 Comments

Altria at 04:12 PM JST - 4th June

The neighbours must have been fuming.

Moderator: Please do not make light remarks about a tragic event.
Hughgarse at 04:30 PM JST - 4th June

Altria

Nice!
westurn at 04:56 PM JST - 4th June

Tragic event ? With more than 100 suicides a day in Japan I would hardly label this "tragic"... seems like more of the same ol same ol in the land of the disgruntled in Japan.

"Japan has long battled a high suicide rate relative to other developed nations"

Speaks volumes doesn't it ! Begs the question... why ? The answer lies in the "tragic" lifestyle the Japanese have created. All work- no play, failing businesses and an economy in the dumps, a social network obsessed with oneself rather than the benefits for others, sexless marriages-inhouse divorce-spousal abuse-alcoholism-metabolic syndrome- and an overuse of cell phones that research indicates is bad for the brain ! Gee, maybe thats the solution... get the Nihonjin off their cell phones and away from all those magnets screwing with their mind ! But the biggest obstacle facing Japan is it's inability to first admit it has a problem ! Suicides are last ditch efforts to escape a life of misery and saddness. The fact that Japan ranks so high is truly... "tragic" !
Fair dinkum! at 04:58 PM JST - 4th June

And, the beat goes on and on and on!

Government data showed at least 84 such suicides throughout Japan in May. Police have begun cracking down on popular websites that give specific instructions for mixing the chemicals and encourage suicides.

Ummm.... What exactly do they intend to do? There have recently been a few countries that have banned access to certain websites within their country, China being one of them. Why doesn't Japan do the same? That would seem to make sense to me.
Youdontknow at 06:13 PM JST - 4th June

relative to other developed nations - hahahaha...oh, that's a good one...hahahhaha

I agree with Picard. I just checked one of my email accounts and found several 'deleted comments' messages, stating my postings were 'off topic' when in actual fact they were anything but!
williamsmith at 07:20 PM JST - 4th June

This couldn't have been any worse than your average day at a Pachinko Parlor.
sf2k at 09:46 PM JST - 4th June

If the rate is 32K per year, then 84 a month attributed to hydrogen sulfide gas isn't many if Japan is looking at literally 87 people a day. Only something like 0.2% are choosing this method, so the media fasination with it doesn't do justice to the other 99%.

So much more can be done, including just planting some trees or gardening. Yes, it does help to have pleasing vistas to look at, and green is soothing. Also in such articles, english or japanese, it's a best-practice to place suicide hotline information into the article. Obviously you're not promoting suicide but want to stop it, right? Often if people have someone to talk to, this reduces the rate. Also if someone has a concern about someone else, they can get tips on how to open up the topic. What has been the government response?

It's not just about stopping people, but giving people a reason to live. I don't get how nobody notices the missing 87+ people a day? Also, what's the demographic (age-range)? The likelihood is also that this is under-reported.

All in all, quite tragic.
thepro at 12:06 AM JST - 5th June

Haven't seen one of these in a while
KitsuneYoukai at 01:23 AM JST - 5th June

The first thing is to find out the top reasons for these suicides and to somehow detect signs to deter them if possible. TV announcements/spots on this by celebrities (TV or movie) that really hit hard at the topic will bring much self and community awarenenss. If you care about your cultural, neighbor, friend, family member it will matter.
picard at 09:18 AM JST - 5th June

The suicide rate in Japan is of real concern and something needs to be done about it.