why does japan have such high suicide rates?

Question

I read an article recently about online cuicide clubs, and other ways people in Japan seem to bee killing themselves in large numbers, and i was wondering why japan has such a high suicide rate? they are one of the most advanced countries in the world but this is still true. any insight?

Answer 1

In Japan as far back as the Heian era at least, there has always been a serious cultural taboo about disrupting the "Wa". It is translated into English as peace, but it means more than that. It really means not to upset society on either a grand scale (i.e. rebellion) or on a small scale (i.e. doing anything at all to disturb the careful balance of interpersonal, social relationships, like being rude or troubling others in any way).

They also have the concept of "the three selves". The first is the visible self, or the polite facade you exhibit to everyone in society. The second is your intimate self that you share only with your family and/or closest friends, and the third self is the secret self. The part of you that you never reveal to anyone.

The idea is that when you have problems you should keep them bottled up inside your secret self, to avoid burdening others. There is an idea that by burdening others with your problems, you upset the social order. Added to this is then the fact that there is an extreme negative bias against anyone who seeks professional mental or emotional health services, so very few people who really need help ever get it.

As to the suicide pacts between strangers, that is a newer phenomenon. Traditionally (unlike in the west where suicide was considered a mortal sin), suicide in Japan was regarded until very recently as a totally honorable and respectable way to atone for errors or remove yourself from difficult situations. Over the past two or three decades however, the Japanese government has really stepped up its efforts to prevent suicides especially among teens. Again because of the social pressure not to upset the social order of things (which going against the will of the government, schools, and/or family would surely do) a number of people who wish to end their lives now feel guilty about it where they would not have before in earlier generations.

Because of this and because of the importance in their culture about concensus, many of them feel that if they can find at least one other person to agree with them, one other person to join them, then they can feel more confident in their decision to die.

Bullying and sometimes the fanatical desire to suceed are big factors among teens, (bullying being the much more usual cause by far), but the biggest single problem is isolation and the belief that they have no where to turn to for help.

Answer 2

As a general rule the Japanese place high levels of stress on themselves. They strive to succeed, and in some cases put their professional lives ahead of everything else. The limited natural resources on the islands have helped to produce a nation where people where the most important resource and if the person did not perform almost perfectly they let their country and family down. This is just a generalization and doesn't explain everything but it's a good starting point. Suicides are always higher in the more industrialized countries of the world and Japan is the most advanced country in the world. I'm not sure why but it probably has something to do with the fact that citizens in industrialized nations don't have to put as much time into survival so they have more time to examine themselves and the world around them.

Or maybe it's just cause the Saki sucks.

Answer 3

We, in the USA are an "advanced" country too and we have high suicide rates. In 2004, 32,439 people committed suicide nationally (11th highest cause of death ahead of homicide) and there were an estimated 811,000 attempted suicides. Amazingly there were 4,316 suicides in the age bracket 15-24. Why do people commit suicide? Because they are depressed and thinking negatively.

In the March 23, 2007 issue of THE WEEK magazine a Wall Street Journal columnist called the USA the "Unhappiest Nation on Earth" based on a study by the WHO and Harvard Medical School showing a near 10% incidence of depression and bi-polar disorder in it. This was the highest in the world. The lowest was Nigeria with only 0.8% of its people depressed and bi-polar.

Why does the USA have such high suicide and depressive illness rates?

Peace and Love!

Answer 4

Some of the dominant economic factors that have contributed to the current suicide crisis include large-scale bankruptcies, increased unemployment, a sluggish business climate, accumulated debts, lower incomes, inadequate bankruptcy laws, prolonged economic stagnation, an unregulated financial loan market and corporate restructuring. Ill-health, despair and other problems plague the nation of 127 million, the world's second-biggest economy

Some cultural factors exacerbate the problem: lack of religious prohibition against suicide, reluctance to discuss mental health and stress-related problems, a literary tradition that romanticizes suicide, a view of suicide as an honorable act, a way of taking responsibility for failure, among other issues. The breakdown of family and social networks and the increasing isolation of individuals contribute to the problem.

The elderly are the highest age group to commit suicide because of illness or health-related problems.

Answer 5

that is a shock to me. Who would have guessed that?
Maybe the over crowding. They are very over crowded.
I remember doing a experiment in over crowding. We put two rats in a cage full of fun stuff to play on and they were doing their fun rat thing. Given plenty of food during the year they multiplied and then those multiplied and it wasn't long and the cage was full or at least crowded. Then the males turned on each other fighting over the females I thought.
But anyway they kept fighting and we had to seperate them or what was left of them. Even after the majority was moved once started they kept fighting until we had to remove every male. Until their was only one left. They just turned agressive and violent. Even killing the female rats.
that is why men are more violent in cities. Never crowd a man.

Answer 6

I saw a documentary about that. One reason they said was that a lot of young people in Japan have a lot of pressure to "be the best" and sometimes they feel that they haven't "made it in life."

Answer 7

every high school has bullies, like locking people in bathroom, pushing people off the stairs, torturing people physically... the teacher dont stop it because otherwise teachers will be bullied. and when you can take it anymore you kill yourself.

Answer 8

They have a lot more people and a pretty strict society anyways.. the more people you have, the more that somethings happen.

Answer 9

Penis too small.