Why does suicide do not come as a shock to the Japanese?

Question

I am writing a paper about suicide in Japan, and one of the questions I raised is that in Japan, suicide does not come as a shock to them, unlike in other countries, especially in the West.
Is this because of the fact that during the early feudal times, death was preferred than suffering?

Links to sites and articles are welcome.
Thank you very much.

Answer 1

It is just as much of a shock to the family, it is just their response in publuc which differs.

You seem to refer to death with honour rather than sufferings of mental illness.

Answer 2

It's not because they felt death was preferable to suffering. It's because their culture puts a great value on personal and family honor. If circumstances were deemed shameful enough, the only way to recover a family's honor was to commit suicide.