Japan's Suicide Epidemic

For the last decade, Japan has been facing an epidemic of suicides. The reasons why the

Japanese people commit suicide are numerous and the Japanese government is struggling to slow

this sweeping trend while having only limited success. Japan’s suicide rate is one of the highest

rates among industrialized countries, sitting currently at 51 per 100,000 people per year (WHO).

With an average of one suicide every fifteen minutes in Japan, a complete societal change must

occur for the epidemic of suicide to be reduced.

In the late 1990’s, Japan’s economy went into a recession and the country’s suicide rate

jumped from 24,000 to over 30,000 per year, and has stubbornly stayed at that rate since 1998

with no indication of declining statistics. The executive director of Japan’s largest suicide

hotline, Yukio Saito, comments on this year’s economic spiral downward, “We are very worried

that the suicide rate will go up again this year and reach a new high.” The 7,000 volunteers of

the Inochi No Denwa Telephone Lifeline handle over 700,000 calls per year and are struggling to

keep up with the sheer volume. According to Saito, the lifeline is under-staffed and underfinanced.

The reasons that suicide rates are so high in Japan range from the economy to the ease of

obtaining information to the religious beliefs. The Japanese are under high pressure to perform,

both academically and economically. Japan’s society rarely lets people bounce back from the

perceived shame of bankruptcy or failure. There is also a high level of competition in Japanese

society right from childhood. The Internet has been a huge contributor to the suicide rate by

having instructions posted on how to take your own life by mixing detergent with other

ch...

... middle of paper ...

...f financial ruin or humiliation. It has to stop being viewed as the

acceptable or responsible thing to do. Japan has an uphill battle on their hands, but if they can

overcome their long tradition of suicides dating back to the days of the samurai, they can start

getting into the frame of mind of “this too shall pass,” and start asking themselves, “What can I

do to change my situation?”

Works Cited

Feiler, Bruce. Learning To Bow: Inside The Heart of Japan. New York: HarperCollins, 2004

Ryall, Julian. Suicide Lines Struggling to Cope in Japan. January 8, 2009. Telegraph UK.

February 26, 2009.

4169043/ Suicide-lines-struggling-to-cope-in-Japan.html>

WHO: Suicide Rates. May 2003. World Health Organization. February 26, 2009.