RSSTOKYO (UCAN) — For the twelfth year in a row, the number of people who committed suicide in Japan has topped 30,000. According to statistics released by the National Police Agency on January 26, a total of 32,753 people took their own lives in 2009. This was the fifth highest toll in history, an increase of 504 persons over the 2008 figure and on average one such death every 16 minutes.
Thirty years ago, the “typical” suicide was a woman in her 20’s or 30’s who faced romantic difficulties such as a break up with a boyfriend or the prospect of never finding a spouse. Another group was women who suffered marital difficulties. These often killed their children as well, since it would be poor mothering to leave them orphans.
Nowadays, the profile has changed, with 71 percent of 2009’s suicides being men. The most common reason for killing themselves is financial difficulties, the loss of a job or unpayable debts.
Another group that has recently attracted attention because of a spike in suicides are children. Schoolyard bullying and poor grades seem to be behind this phenomenon.
Suicide is not unknown even among Christians. There is probably no priest in the country with more than a few years’ experience who has not in the course of his ministry been called upon to deal with the aftermath of suicide.
Those of us who live in Tokyo are not surprised at the police reports’ high numbers. In recent years, more than 300 people have committed suicide each year in the region by jumping from station platforms in front of oncoming trains. Being stuck on a train delayed by a suicide somewhere along the line is a common experience for Tokyoites, especially during morning rush hours.
Railroads have installed special lighting and replaced black asphalt platforms with white tiles in the hope that a brighter environment might deter jumpers. Gradually, fences and gates that block access to the tracks until after trains have come to a stop are being installed on platforms.
Japan has always had a high suicide rate and the country has been fairly tolerant of self-destruction. Traditionally, suicide has been an honorable way to atone for failure or to resolve intractable problems. It was even turned into a ceremony in the practice of “seppuku,” ritual self-disembowelment. (The commonly used word for it in English, hara-kiri (belly cutting), is somewhat vulgar in Japanese.) The Tokyo site of the 1912 joint ritual suicide of Count Maresuke Nogi and his wife Shizuko upon the death of Emperor Meiji is a Shinto shrine where the count is revered as a divinity.
However, Japan’s mildly tolerant attitude toward suicide is changing, and not simply because people are annoyed at having their morning commute disrupted by train delays caused by jumpers.
The increase in suicide is seen as a symptom of something gone wrong with Japan. Those who kill themselves are not judged for their actions. The country is.
After the total destruction of Japan in World War II, the Japanese set themselves to rebuild economically and socially. In 1964, the nation hosted the Olympics. In connection with that event, the “bullet train” high-speed rail system was built. Modern highways were constructed. That year marked the country’s re-entry to world-class status as a nation, an end to the post-war period of humiliation and reconstruction. The young man chosen to light the Olympic flame symbolized that. Yoshinori Sakai was born in Hiroshima on the day an atomic bomb was dropped on that city.
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| More than 30,000 people committed suicide during 2009 in Japan |
Japan went on to become the second largest economy in the world. In 1979, an American book spoke of “Japan as Number One.” But, then it all fell apart. The economy stagnated, the population showed inexorable signs of aging and decline. It seemed that just as the suffering, sacrifice and hard work of the post-war reconstruction was about to bear fruit, Japanese increasingly realized that something had been lost along the way. There was no longer anything left to achieve in the way of economic growth, but the achievement turned out to be not worth the effort. And those who put forth the greatest effort, no longer having something for which to live, began to choose death.
Where does this leave the Church? What does it mean to proclaim Good News in a wealthy land that has the means to live, but may be losing the will to do so?
The Church does a good job when what the bad news people face is hunger, ignorance or disaster. However, bad news in the midst of wealth is a new challenge. The best way to face it remains a mystery. The search for answers in Japan may provide the model for missions in the 21st century as more and more of Asia moves beyond mere subsistence and finds that the pursuit of wealth may mean the loss of something more important. It may also become a model for the re-evangelization of the West, which was once a model for Japan, but now seems more and more to be imitating Japan in its wealthy poverty.
Maryknoll Father William Grimm is the publisher of UCA News and former editor-in-chief of “Katorikku Shimbun,” Japan’s Catholic weekly
AS08676.1587 February 1, 2010 72 EM-lines (865 words)
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