Suicides in 2006 top 30,000 for 9th straight year

is hard all over the world...stronger people learn to deal with it...weaker ones, well, we can see what the weaker ones do

 

and the attempted number of suicides must be some large multiple of that number. The "price" of japanese society. I wonder what this site's japanese wannabees think about these figures??

 

The government's aims to reduce these numbers aren't very convincing when their own minister took his life.
I know this thread isn't about the minister, but still, it's highly ironic.

 

Surely it's better to live in a high suicide rate society than a high murder rate society - despite the obvious fact that it would be better to have no murders OR suicides!

After all, if you get murdered you don't get to say good-bye, or make sure your will's up to date, or even choose the method, day and time - but if you commit suicide you can do all of those, and you only die because YOU want to, WHEN you want to, not because some git decides you're dispensable! And if you don't want to die, then you don't commit suicide! Simple..!

Suicides usually don't cause the deaths of others - although there are exceptions. But if someone wants to die I think they should feel free - preferably without taking others with them! It was also Urko who mentioned someone with a suicidal grievance taking others with them, and if you look at the recent Virginia Tech business, can't all you anti-suicide people see how much BETTER it would have been if that man had just shot himself without murdering all those students? Better still if he'd been able to have treatment that actually cured him of course, but I suppose you can't have everything in an imperfect world.

Anyway, look at this quote "According to the World Health Organization, Japan has the 3rd highest female suicide rate in the world after Sri Lanka and China. Japan's male suicide rate is still the highest in the developed world, although many Eastern European countries have higher rates."
from this site
http://www.jref.com/society/japan_world_ranking.shtml
It's from 2005,when Japan's suicide rate was also above 30,000 per year, so the comments probably still apply. Just in case anyone's interested ...

Here's the WHO page;
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide_rates/en/index.html
Japan (2002) had
35.2 men per 100,000 commit suicide and
12.8 women per 100,000.
Russia, (also 2002,) had
69.3 men per 100,000 and
11.9 women per 100,000.
Incidentally, Ireland had (in 2001)
21.4 men per 100,000 and
4.1 women per 100,000.
And France (2001) had
26.6 men per 100,000 and
9.1 women per 100,000.

Japan isn't actually that bad when all things are considered.

 

"Its the Japanese men that I kinda pity. The male life here seems to me a predestined path of misery."

You can say that again.

If 70% of the suicides were women, in any country, society would be up in arms. The media makes a much bigger deal about the earning gap, which can be mostly attributable to the fact that men have harder and thus better-paying jobs, than they do to this much more tragic and significant suicide gap!

There is no greater indicator of oppression than that which causes its oppressees to take their own lives.

 

Down 1.2% from last year? At least that was the only silver lining in this story.

 

This doesn't include the 1000 or so they haven't bothered counting below Mount Fuji

 

I wonder just how many were covered up in reality... I am sure the numbers are much much higher overall, but probably the relative percentages are the same.

 

Self worth must be valued more than honor. "Is there honor in being dead?" Things can be very wrong but don't quit. and lets quit putting so much pressure on our kids. ELementary children committing suicide? Something is very wrong here indeed. One can't learn anything if they're not willing to take a chance to make a mistake.

 

in the suicide department. And to think this is all happening with a shrinking population. The recent tiny increase in the population here was due to foreigners residing in the country, not Japanese. Well, 2008 will probably mark another 30,000+ suicides. The mass media will bury the news among the buildup for the Beijing Olympics.

 

actually don't think that many would be covered up.

for one unlike in the west you collect insurance on a suicide, not the case in some countries so they are very reluctant to report anything as suicides.

also there is not a stigma in labelling deaths as suicides.

sure its a problem and there are way too many amongst the young, and this is where they really should do something.

but don't think its as underreported as you would see in other nations.

 

For those that wish to make global judgments about Japanese society based on suicide rates. You'll be pleased to know that the suicide rates in Zimbabwe, Guyana, Guatemala, and Iran are much lower than those in Japan or ... Sweden, Canada or the United States.

Feel free to pack up your household and move.

gensearch2

 

The scary thing about the suicide number to me is that it represents those who went all the way over the edge, but you know there are many who are very close to it yet continue to live. I've thought that Japan's high number represents a very large percentage of people who are on average more depressed than in other nations.

About living in a country with a high suicide rate... I've thought of it in terms of where you'd want to raise your children. Even if your child doesn't become a statistic he or she seems more likely to suffer depression growing up in Japan. So even if they aren't included in the statistic they are probably affected by it.

But then again I can't really say I've done studies on the issue...heh.

 

from this report, it means around 80 persons per day, on the average? or very roughly 3 person per hour? Is it not soo serious?

 

"About living in a country with a high suicide rate... I've thought of it in terms of where you'd want to raise your children. Even if your child doesn't become a statistic he or she seems more likely to suffer depression growing up in Japan. So even if they aren't included in the statistic they are probably affected by it."

Do you know how many daily : take their life/ get murdered/ raped/ etc in new york for example?

When will you peeps here stop being so hypocritic? Why try to sound so "understanding" about the japanese society? Check out your own problems and stop living on the fluffy clouds, but i understand you, its the easy way out, ignore and find another prey to make the black sheep.

Nice going, but you fail big time.