Thread: Japan and Suicides

Students also have a high suicide rate, the pressure to get the best results to get into the best universities is so high that some students choose to commit suicide because their grades at school aren't high enough.
Dishonouring the family name...

yeah I think Hassun is right, Japanese people are very uptight about family name, actually I think all asian families do

sort of explains why that dad in the battle royale movie hanged himself

ahh battle royale!!! Yea, he hung himself because of unemployment. Poor Nanahara

Whew, people in Japan must really need to be smart.

I think alot of it has to do with honouring the family name and honouring one's family and ancestors. Honour is something very important to the Japanese people.

As mentioned before, Nanahara's father in Battle Royale hung himself because he felt as through he has failed, both as a member of society (for not being able to find work) and as a father for Nanahara. He wasn't bringing any honour to his son, because he felt himself to be useless so he killed himself. He wanted Shuya to not become what he had, to live honourable and make something of himself. The whole 'go for it' 'you can make it Shuya' thing.
And also, in BR, the students who killed themselves instead of playing the game, probably did because they didn't want to play the game that would in end turn them into murderers, dishonouring themselves.

Also there's the sepuku (ritual suicide) for the samurai, being defeated or losing was seen as dishonourable, so the act of suicide was seen as an honourable death for one defeated. Preserving their honour.
The same kind of theroy is behind the reasons for the Kamikaze (divine wind) fighters during WWII.

Sadly, suicide is a common thing in Japan.

man, i always wanted to go to japan but i never thought there would be a dark underside to the place, but im kinda glad i dont go to school in japan, i get the crappest grades ever.

I think Hikari Sakurai hit on it. In Japan (as far as I know) there is the cultural attitude that suicide is an acceptable (honorable?) way out. Add the social pressure and it's a bad combination. Especially considering that the survivors (family and friends of the person who dies) still have to deal just like they do anywhere else.

Think about it. We've had our own thread on suicide here. How many of us have considered it? In "western" Judeo-Christian nations suicide is not considered acceptable. There is a stigma attached that I suspect dissueds many who might otherwise do more then think of it. Remove the stigma, add pressure....it's not pretty.