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  nigelboy at 10:54 AM JST - 20th June

  Though I believe that treatment of mental illness in Japan still lags behind Western nations, by no means am I going to conclude that Japanese people and society are more "depressed" than that of any other western counterparts based on the # of suicides.

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  saintseiya at 12:09 PM JST - 20th June

  For the japanese authority systhem of society, the fact society dictating you , from childhood on how to drop your individuality in order to sacrifice for the uniform cause (wich has obviously a big issue), can only be fueled by high rates of suicides. Theses 30000peeps could have hit the doors of society and protested against what ever to trigger so needed change.

  Comparing suicide rates with other countries is usuless. Each society groupe, culture, has its own dynamic that triggers dis-satisfaction amongst its peoples. Japan is now facing changes obviously. Young peeps are no more deeply touched by prehistoric "Banzai" mentality and prefer to spend time with friends and partners , rather then being your bosses dog. I think right now this new generation is emerging and any young peeps still can't make the jump between yesterday japan (their parents, older peeps) and the young fresh generations. I see so many young peoples promoting their own lifestyle, complete disconnecting from their conservative society fathers, thought they have to fight for their vision and it's a difficult fight, but the change is coming "with Shinkansen speed"!

  For the older 60+ suicides it's a pathetic consequence of 50 years work enslavement and brainwashing. I mean millions of japanese elder peeps are working in the "Hatake" for living, fun, hobby or what ever, . .so they are certainly not affected with suicide problems. The retired salary men , who lost every thing of individuality is the one depressing in face of his broken pathetic self in the mirror.

  Suicide rates will drop in future in japan, thought the governement is the only power to make change possible in japan and therefore deciding the speed of change. Promote the human being, who is responsible for himself, his family and the peoples he loves. Promote indivduality that is in harmony with the japanese cultural aspects of social respect.

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  fishead at 12:23 PM JST - 20th June

  I have worked on a psychiatric ward with US veterans. Many who say they want to kill themselves ultimately do not because they say they are good Christians. This has NOTHING to do with some half-baked idea of "personal strength" or "individuality" as jerseyboy suggests. It is about what is acceptable in a culture and a person's own religious beliefs about suicide.

  Although a gross simplification, let me say this: anyone with 2 degrees knows that suicide has never been accepted in the West because of Christian values. That was never the case in Japan where suicide was much more accepted - even expected - under bushido values.

  Furthermore, it turns out that men in any just about any country are 3-5 times more likely to kill themselves that women. So by jerseyboy's reasoning, men must be weaker than women; just as Americans must be weaker than Brazilians because their respective suicide rates are 11.0 and 4.3 per 100,000 respectively. Glib pronouncements of this sort mask the complexities of the issue and do nothing to foster understanding.

  The person who mentioned the number of anti-depressant prescriptions brings up a great point. Although I am in the medical field, I don't know if there is a strong correlation between anti-depressant use and suicide prevention. However, a culture of pill-popping could certainly be viewed by some as a indicator of weakness in its own right.

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  Zen_Builder at 12:33 PM JST - 20th June

  Why do people keep harping about bushido, etc.

  Same as chivalry, etc those concepts were created after the fact. Samurai true period is prior to edo, during the edo period they were nothing more than beaurocrats(sic) that were forbidden to duel, etc.

  Their really strong periods of samurai were kamakura and muromachi.

  Bushido was a concept to control them/diminish their power during　peace times.

  People need to study things and not repeat Hollywood which invents a lot of stuff that is now accepted as historical facts.

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  8iamhappy8 at 12:27 AM JST - 21st June

  "Males represented about 71 percent of the total suicides in 2007."

  There are three kinds of lies in this world: Lies, damned lies, and STATISTICS.

  Guys, get a clue. This represents the rate of SUCCESSFUL suicides.

  Go visit any depression web site. They'll tell you that "unfortunately, WOMEN ARE MORE LIKELY THAN MEN TO A-T-T-E-M-P-T SUICIDE although men are more SUCCESSFUL in their suicide attempt than women."

  Note the keyword, "A-T-T-E-M-P-T".

  Talk to any medical student. Even they are taught this in class about depression.

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  8iamhappy8 at 12:29 AM JST - 21st June

  I'm pretty sure, the number of people who "A-T-T-E-M-P-T-E-D" suicide, but failed, is fare more than the +30,000 reported cases of SUCCESSFUL suicides.

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  fishead at 10:54 PM JST - 21st June

  The comment about males having a higher suicide rate than females was to demonstrate how absurd it is to draw a conclusion about personal strength from a statistic, which do not lie as you presume, although some people certainly use them to support their own lies.

  True, us Westerners are prone to abuse the concept of "bushido" to explain Japanese culture - such as increased suicides; that's wrong and simplistic. Nevertheless the meaning of suicide is very different historically in a Christian culture and a Buddhist/Confucian/Shinto one; and this difference is not captured by either the ideas of chivalry or bushido.

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  roppongidaisuki at 07:55 AM JST - 23rd June

  I think you are all completely missing the point.

  It has nothing to do with depression and nothing to do with your nationality or background.It is selfishness.No one who is actively involved in some charitable activity or "giving back" and thus has some self worth,commits suicide.Get people into that kind of thing and they will be fine.If Mr Kato from Akihabara had been out cleaning beaches or feeding homeless drug addicts on the day before his meltdown I think he would have been thinking about a lot more than just himself. If you read his online posts it is all me,me,me. Instead of Prozac give people a purpose.Give them a legacy to strive for

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  rajakumar at 06:50 AM JST - 24th June

  Suicides problems, comes from dyfunctional families. Reduce dysfunctional family problems like divorce,family fights,silly rivalries,lack in family members communications,communications breakdowns, society's apathy problems and many other problems, suicide will drop. Wholesome families, need to be increased to fight suicidal problems.

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  Kameleon at 02:35 PM JST - 24th June

  I completely agree with 8iamhappy8.

  Last year my ex-girlfriend repeatedly threatened suicide, and being Japanese refused to accept that she needed counselling, she had huge emotional trauma from her previous boyfriend and father issues etc... Anyway, after trying to talk it out, over months, and beginning to get depressed myself from her 3 a.m. calls, threatening to do it, I had enough and said I couldn't stand it anymore. The next day, her mother called saying her daughter, my ex, had attempted suicide.

  After that, I had a barrage of calls and mails from her family and friends, blaming me for the whole thing. They, who had known her far longer (all Japanese) had done absolutely nothing to help my ex, their friend and family member - simply refusing to acknowledge the treatment that she clearly needed. Even mentioning the word 'counsellor' was taboo and an insult to them.

  This country has a major issue, still, with simply talking about your personal problems. You could be ostracized for simply not putting on a brave face. With so much negativity connected with self-help or counselling, no wonder so many people attempt suicide, with less actually succeeding, and whichever way - it seriously hurts those around the person who chooses to give up.

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  Blue_Tiger at 10:19 AM JST - 25th June

  It's hard to have a positive outlook on life when one has No Hope, like a lot of people do here in Japan. That is the reason for the depression, leading to the high number of suicides: No Hope...

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  fishead at 12:01 PM JST - 25th June

  roppongidaisuki and rajakumar make good points: it is important to keep in mind the importance of social support systems, work, hobbies, and so on to provide people at risk for killing themselves with a purpose in life. In the medical field these are collectively called protective factors (one is less likely to commit suicide if they are a caregiver to a child, for instance).

  However, there a lot things in any modern society that present obstacles to this, and in my view, the change from an extended to a nuclear family structure is probably the biggest factor. Extended families are incredibly protective against suicide. Kameleon's story is a case in point: his ex's "family" is essentially reduced to him. There's not a lot of redundancy in that structure, and that exactly what a big, extended family (even a village) provides. I've seen the same thing a lot in the US with mentally ill family members - the rest of the family often want to disown the "crazy" nephew or whatever. This is not just an aspect of Japan, mind you.

  But I want to say to roppongidaisuki that severe mental illness is often refractory to social inverventions like getting involved with church, work, etc. These people have structural abnormalities of their brains and cannot just "decide" to be a happy person by making lifestyle changes that non-mentally ill people would find reasonable. Mental suffering is hard-wired and cannot just be willed out (not unlike sexuality, probably). Yes that sounds nihilistic, but that is where the promise of drug therapy comes in.

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  seimei at 01:56 PM JST - 25th June

  This is going to sound a little wierd, and I don't make this distinction often, but as a gaijin in Japan I've found that there is actually a lot we (as in non-Japanese looking people) can do to help Japanese people not to choose the suicide path.

  I've found that many Japanese people will open up to me BECAUSE I'm not Japanese. They tell me the things over a few drinks that they would (could) never tell their family/friends/peers and after getting that all off their chest, I've made a new friend and they've got someone to confide in.

  It's this kind of support that is lacking in Japan and if at all possible, just listening to someone that seems overly depressed can be a great help to them. If the problem seems a little too big though, certainly suggest professional help.

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  Kameleon at 03:10 PM JST - 25th June

  seimei,

  True, in fact it's too true and is part of the problems we face in the language classroom. My job is to teach, to boost independence, to facilitate and to encourage students with their English. Unfortunately it seems many of them, over my many years in Japan as an English teacher, come with the sole purpose of 'being listened to'. On the one hand, fine, I am happy to listen to students personal stories... But on the other hand, they sometimes go too far, or too deep: I have heard many a story of abuse at home, or lack of love or care... I am not a certified nor trained counsellor, nor want to be. I am a certified English language teacher!

  So I want to say that I am willing to listen, because I know many Japanese people come to be heard, but at the same time, they often go too far - into the realm of obviously needing professional help which I cannot give. I have had many students who 'confessed' to having mental problems and having been to or going to 'mental hospital'. They come to us because they know they cannot, or are too afraid to go to other Japanese people... Sad indeed.

  Yes we can help, but we should not be expected to do so. Oh, and as a further point of note: Have you seen the prices of counsellors in Japan for English speakers?! Too expensive... Causing more stress to the person that needs to relieve it.

  Let's face it, few countries of the world are prepared to or want to help. Japan is indeed no exception.

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  seimei at 05:08 PM JST - 25th June

  Hi Kameleon, pleasure to make your acquaintance.

  I totally agree, I wasn't thinking of the classroom as I haven't been in one for about 15 years cough, but I can certainly see how you would become a focal point for assistance, often too much.

  I guess that would really be a pain and become stressful for you over time, my point was related to the people I have come across at work, in Bars and yes, even on trains. As long as it's not too invasive I don't mind. But you are absolutely right, there is a limit to what we can do as friends and what Japanese social services should be doing as a government function.

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