Why do Japanese like to kill themselves?

!ride them Jesus · Jan 30, 2008, 07:52 PM

Japan's internet 'suicide clubs'

Quote:

By Andrew Harding
BBC Asia correspondent

In Japan, the internet has been blamed for a spate of group suicides which appear to have been arranged in online chat rooms.

Andrew Harding talked to one young man searching for someone to die with.

Naoki Tachiwana opened his apartment door with a surprisingly warm smile, and beckoned us in to a neat living room. His computer was switched on - the screen facing out towards Naoki's eleventh floor balcony, and the night sky above Tokyo's eastern suburbs.

"Last night I was up all night," said Naoki, smiling again, "talking online to this woman who really - I mean really - wants to die. She asked me to do it with her today, but I said I couldn't because I had this television crew coming to see me. So she said we can do it after they've gone."

It had taken days of online research, emails and text messages to bring us here - face to face with a member of Japan's "internet suicide" community.

It is a growing, and morbidly frank underworld of chat rooms and websites with names like "Suicide Club," where thousands of (mainly young) people meet and talk and plan their deaths.

At least 26 people have died in this manner in the past two months.

Death ads

The message boards are littered with personal ads like: "I have pills and charcoal briquettes - I'm looking for someone to die with," and "I'm 23 and want to die. I can travel anywhere."

I asked Naoki - a 34-year-old bank employee who has been off work with stress-related problems for six months - why he was considering joining a suicide group.

"Well, I'm depressed - and that's a disease," he said. "But to be honest, I think I've always been interested in killing myself." His enormous cat jumped down from a shelf and waddled over to the computer screen.

"I'd never thought about doing it in a group before," he continued. "But then I visited a website and thought - ah, if I join this I won't have to go through with it on my own. It's like crossing the road when the traffic light is red... it's not so scary when you're with others."

High suicide rate

In recent months, dozens of Japanese have crossed that road together. In the last fortnight alone three groups of three people, and two groups of four have been found dead - usually gassed in cars on remote mountain roads.

Japan already has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and so far the internet-related deaths are only a small proportion. But it's a growing one.

"It's almost like a cult... these internet groups," argues Yukiko Nishihara, a Tokyo helpline worker. "When people are lonely and suicidal - but afraid of death - they find these websites which egg them on. There's an inhuman element to it."

But others see the sites very differently.

"There's nothing bad about suicide," said Wataru Tsurumi, author of a graphic, and best-selling handbook on the subject. "We have no religion or laws here in Japan telling us otherwise. As for group suicides - before the internet people would write letters, or make phone calls... it's always been part of our culture."

Ghoulish as many of the sites are - complete with skulls and dripping blood - many of their owners argue that they do more good than harm. Late one night in a crowded internet café in central Tokyo, we met up with a shy 24-year-old who wanted to be known by his online nickname - Ama Terasu.

"My site has a message board, and chat rooms and links to other sites," he told me. "It's a virtual world where you can talk about subjects you can't discuss in real life.

'Vicious sites'

"There are some vicious sites which really encourage people to die, and when you get in a group there's a momentum which makes it hard to stop - people become irrational. But my site is not like that. I started it because I had tried twice to kill myself.

"I think it has saved my life - because it has enabled me to open up about things online. And I believe it can help others too."

Back in his small apartment, Naoki was still weighing up his options. He told me that he'd come close to killing himself the day before with another person, but that she'd pulled out at the last minute.

"This time," he said, "it's me who has got cold feet. I told the other woman who wanted to do it today that I was not ready to die so suddenly."

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised here and would like to talk to someone in confidence for details of further support and information, please call the BBC Action Line on 08000 566 787.

The lines may be busy, so please remember that the Action Line is open seven days a week, from 0730 GMT until midnight. All calls are free and confidential. Andrew Harding's film was screened on Tuesday, 7 December, 2004.

Newsnight is broadcast on BBC Two at 1030pm every weeknight in the UK.

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Japan's internet 'suicide clubs'

Published: 2004/12/07 12:08:47 GMT

© BBC MMVIII
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suicide manual author Wataru Tsurumi says suicide has always been part of Japanese culture...

Is it a part of Japanese culture? Like eating raw horse flesh ice cream? Something kewl?

Hassun · Jan 30, 2008, 07:55 PM

Why are your titles always so generalising and borderline racist?
Don't see ALL Japanese as creatures with a hive mind.

!ride them Jesus · Jan 30, 2008, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hassun

Why are your titles always so generalising and borderline racist?
Don't see ALL Japanese as creatures with a hive mind.

What are you talking about? I am not being racist, Americans generally like big cars. Is that racist too?

SasuraiHell · Jan 30, 2008, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ride them Jesus

What are you talking about? I am not being racist, Americans generally like big cars. Is that racist too?

no thats just a stupid assumption, its 'guys' in general that do and being sexist is beside the point

and stating that you

Quote:

sure as hell don't like their culture

isnt helping your case.

and why the hell would you have to search and bring up an article thats 4 years old!!!, just further implies you'd go the extra distance to find something negative about Japan

Hassun · Jan 30, 2008, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ride them Jesus

What are you talking about? I am not being racist, Americans generally like big cars. Is that racist too?

You do not ask IF the Japanese like to kill themselves or not. You ask "Why do Japanese like to kill themselves?".
You clearly assume that what you said is truth and THAT is what's wrong with your threads.

!ride them Jesus · Jan 30, 2008, 08:24 PM

Why do so many Japanese kill themselves. That's what I meant, it seems so common like an honor thing.

I have nothing against the Japanese, I like them!

blackrose92 · Jan 30, 2008, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hassun

You do not ask IF the Japanese like to kill themselves or not. You ask "Why do Japanese like to kill themselves?".
You clearly assume that what you said is truth and THAT is what's wrong with your threads.

no need to get SO intense jeez....she owned up to her mistake...

Shinku no kage · Jan 30, 2008, 09:31 PM

Why do you keep insisting on pinning stereotypes onto the Japanese race when theres no real basis on it other than just afew or rather just ONE case (that you supposively dug out of somewhere) and your own personal opinion.

Jan 30, 2008, 07:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
Hassun I'm all ears. Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Pretiacruento Posts: 7,534 Thanks: 0 Thanked 103 Times in 88 Posts	Re: Why do Japanese like to kill themselves? Why are your titles always so generalising and borderline racist? Don't see ALL Japanese as creatures with a hive mind. __________________ Gorecreeps inc.
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Jan 30, 2008, 08:24 PM	#6 (permalink)
!ride them Jesus Banned Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 17 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Why do Japanese like to kill themselves? Why do so many Japanese kill themselves. That's what I meant, it seems so common like an honor thing. I have nothing against the Japanese, I like them!
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Jan 30, 2008, 09:31 PM	#8 (permalink)
Shinku no kage :Yuki fan: Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: AnimeOnline.net Posts: 1,759 Thanks: 11 Thanked 39 Times in 36 Posts	Re: Why do Japanese like to kill themselves? Why do you keep insisting on pinning stereotypes onto the Japanese race when theres no real basis on it other than just afew or rather just ONE case (that you supposively dug out of somewhere) and your own personal opinion. __________________ ->:Be descriptive in your posts or its like you didnt post at all:<- \|The "RULES" of AO\|My AO Gallery\|YouTube\|AnimeSuki\| Last edited by GallComp; Jan 30, 2008 at 09:39 PM. Reason: Out of context.
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