Question:
Web suicide pacts surge in Japan
The number of Japanese who killed themselves in suicide pacts made over the internet rose sharply last year.
Police said 91 people died in the pacts in 2005, compared to 55 in 2004 and 34 in 2003, when the records started.
Alarm at the rise has led to increased vigilance by internet service providers, who now report suspected suicide pacts to the authorities.
Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and the pacts may appeal to those scared to die alone.
Police figures showed 34 internet-arranged suicide pacts were recorded last year. Of the 91 people who died, 54 were men and 37 were women, with most being in their twenties or thirties.
But the number of cases may now be falling. Twenty of the 34 cases took place in the first three months of last year, before internet service providers started working with the authorities to tackle the problem.
In one case in February, three men and three women who had contacted each other via the internet shut themselves in a car and lit charcoal burners, poisoning themselves with the carbon monoxide.
Guidebook
Suicide has become a widely discussed topic on many websites in Japan, and there is even a guidebook to the best places to kill yourself.
The authorities have talked about closing down or regulating the websites.
But organisers argue that they offer a compassionate service to those who have given up all hope of the future.
Increasing numbers of young people in Japan are feeling alienated by modern life. Several thousand are termed hikikomori - recluses who never leave their room, finding entertainment only on the internet.
The suicide pacts still make up a relatively small proportion of Japan's suicides.
More than 34,000 Japanese took their own lives in 2003, according to the National Police Agency - an increase of more than 7% from the previous year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia...fic/4695864.stm
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thats scary, its just like that movie Suicide Circle
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^ Suicide Club was a movie but is was based off of an actual event, I think.
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committing suicide in pacts..?
that's pretty scary..
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That's really scary @.@
It's just like the movie Suicide club. But i didnt know that these kinda things were ACTUALLY going on. I didn't know it was real..
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thats so sad..
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making pacts online is old news... so cowardly that they need someone else to do it with...
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holy that is sad and scary
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omg, I think their population will die soon with people killing themselves and people not borning enough babies...!!! that's creepy to actually have a suicide pact together, errk and a book to guide you through the process of committing suiciding...that's not a very good sign...my personal opinions: I don't feel sorry for people who commit suicide because they are just selfish people who are afraid to deal with their problems...(basically cowards) and they are selfish because they do not think of others around them. oh yeah, another plus is that Japan's culture is too restrictive and that's the cause of people dying too. Boy, do I have a lot to say about this. Viva those Japanese who prefer to live than die.
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This is really sad. Pacts will just makemore people go through with suicide.
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I have a feeling alot of these are mock suicides. Due to the heavy coverage suicide pacts get in the news and on TV it settles in the back of the mind of some troubled teenagers. I'm willing to bet that if there wasn't so much news about these pacts that the number of these types of suicides would be lower.
I'm not quite sure why people think Japan has the highest suicide rate either..East European countries actually have the highest suicide rates in the world, although the country with the highest overall suicide rate is Sri Lanka. The country with the highest female suicide rate is China (the only country where the female suicide rate is higher than the male's)..Although some Asian countries even have the lowest suicide rates in the world (and Latin America)
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Wow
*huggies*
PrincessBoa
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I have a feeling alot of these are mock suicides. Due to the heavy coverage suicide pacts get in the news and on TV it settles in the back of the mind of some troubled teenagers. I'm willing to bet that if there wasn't so much news about these pacts that the number of these types of suicides would be lower.
I'm not quite sure why people think Japan has the highest suicide rate either..East European countries actually have the highest suicide rates in the world, although the country with the highest overall suicide rate is Sri Lanka. The country with the highest female suicide rate is China (the only country where the female suicide rate is higher than the male's)..Although some Asian countries even have the lowest suicide rates in the world (and Latin America)
Depends on what statistics you're looking at. Japan is mainly known for its suicides because it's the second high-profile country with the most suicides, below France. Poor Eastern European countries. Not only do living conditions suck, but nobody cares because they're very low profile.
Anyway, the numbers from Japan are nothing to sneeze at from such a highly populated place, and coupled with some of the weird anime that comes out (not to mention stuff like Battle Royale) it makes it seem like there's crazy stuff going on. At least that's the impression some anime gave me, even the stuff I liked like Escaflowne.
I know China had crazy amounts of suicide circa the early 90s (my mom had quite a few friends who commited suicide when anti-depressants were unheard of), but what are the most recent statistics? China's changed dramatically in those 15 years. I should know. I went there in 97, then went back in 2000 and it was like an entirely different place.
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wow how sad
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And it comes to me again, how multi-faceted Japan is. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mellow.gif)
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After seeing some Japanese things and the Sucide Circle it shows that some japanese people are kind of twisted. Especially with some of their freaky scary bloody movies and anime.
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heard about this a few years ago...
i guess this is one of those fads that never die out
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Depends on what statistics you're looking at. Japan is mainly known for its suicides because it's the second high-profile country with the most suicides, below France. Poor Eastern European countries. Not only do living conditions suck, but nobody cares because they're very low profile.
Anyway, the numbers from Japan are nothing to sneeze at from such a highly populated place, and coupled with some of the weird anime that comes out (not to mention stuff like Battle Royale) it makes it seem like there's crazy stuff going on. At least that's the impression some anime gave me, even the stuff I liked like Escaflowne.
I know China had crazy amounts of suicide circa the early 90s (my mom had quite a few friends who commited suicide when anti-depressants were unheard of), but what are the most recent statistics? China's changed dramatically in those 15 years. I should know. I went there in 97, then went back in 2000 and it was like an entirely different place.
From 2002 http://www.china.org.cn/english/2002/Nov/49996.htm
From 2003 http://www.rfa.org/english/news/social/2003/09/17/115741/
As of 2003, Chinese females still hold the highest suicide rate in world (Japan not too far off). Obviously you're not going to go there and see people comitting suicide in the streets and such, but it's still happening (with females) more than anywhere else.
Judging a country by it's comics and cartoons is not a wise thing to do but sadly something alot of people do. It would help if they actually just go to Japan and see that the streets are not filled with big boobed blonde schoolgirls and molesters (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)
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yikes. I heard of Suicide Club but never watched it.
It's scary with the birth rate dropping and suicides like the way it is.
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that's sad...
