The suicide rate in Japan is about 60% higher than the global average. In 2014, an average of seventy people a day killed themselves in Japan. Most of them are men, suicide being the leading cause of death for Japan men, aged 20-44. In 2014, suicide was the most common cause of death for Japanese students, aged 10-19. There is a forest on the base of Mount Fuji that has become known as Suicide Forest because Japanese are hanging themselves from the trees. In 2010, there were 247 suicide attempts in the forest. It is now heavily patrolled, in an effort to stop the suicides. Railroad tracks are also a common means of suicide in Japan. Apparently, this isn't a new development. On February 12, 1933, a 21 year-old female Japanese student killed herself by jumping into the crater at Mount Mihara, an active volcano on the island of Izu Oshima. This started a trend. Suddenly, tourists were visiting the island, not to see the crater, but to witness the suicides. Hundreds killed themselves before the Japanese authorities finally put a fence around the crater.
Honor is a big thing in Japan, and they look at life differently than we in the West. I think the suicide tradition goes back to before Shogun days. There is suicide in Tale of Genji that was written in the 14th or 15th century. It was part of Bushido. Jigai or Seppuku were ritual suicides based on honor codes. When I lived in Japan, I was told that men cut their abdomen across, then upward, and women fell on a knife or short sword. The internet does not agree with that; I don't know which is correct. Suicide in Alaska is the most common cause of death among young people in the rural areas. It is usually by firearm and is due to despair, although many suicides here are disguised as accidents, as are many murders. Life is viewed differently in different cultures and religious beliefs. There was a Catholic Priest who worked for many years on the Yukon river. He wanted the native people to wear PFDs when in their boats, but the men refused, not really concerned with dying. The priest pointed out to the villagers that if one of them drowned, everybody on the river would have to stop their fishing (subsistence) and work to search for their body. The fishing could mean the difference between surviving the winter or not. More people started wearing life jackets, not to save their own lives, but to prevent interrupting everybody's food gathering should they fall overboard and drown.
Japan's industrial base isn't as lucrative as it once was, I think because China has taken over a lot of the market, so the Japanese don't have the same opportunities they once had. A couple of decades ago, a Japanese student who did well in elementary, secondary, and college could be hired into a good job right out of college, and his productivity would bring career advancements. Now, Japanese students have the same expectations of excelling in school but they no longer have the career opportunities. Yeah, I know. That's exactly what has happened in the United States too, but we weren't as likely to kill ourselves over it. In fact, someone could come out of high school in the US not long ago, and step into a good-paying career.
Whether for honor or despair, nearly everyone has something to offer mankind and to end their own lives will without a doubt deprive someone of that offering. For example, David Goodall, a scientist from the U.K. just recently acknowledged his 104th birthday with the statement that, he “wishes to die”. Apparently, his wish will be granted in Switzerland where it is legal to end your own life and with a qualified assistant. Now, I do understand the ramifications of his heightened years, but in his case, he is still mentally and physically functional and it would be a great travesty to lose such a great mind. That said, is it the duty of humanity to deny him his request or does every human have the personal right to life or death? Moreover, how far does the principle of being “our brother’s keeper “ extend itself?
It should be up to the individual to decide So many patients in dire pain with months to live, its so unfair to see the pain dragged out for them when they desperately need peace from it. We are kind enough to put animals out of their misery and yet watch fellow humans suffer