Suicide and Japan

I've been doing a lot of research on suicide tonight. Don't worry, I'm of perfectly sound mind although back when I had my horrible Saturday kids it seemed like a pleasant option! The reason for my morbid curiousity is because we had a 'jumper' today. Now don't worry all of my students are alive and well...I think. When I say 'we' I mean my station. I was biking to work today and as I approached the station I was met by a ridiculously long line up of cars. My first thought was that these idiot Japanese had finally managed to get themselves into an unmanageable gridlock on the one and a half lane streets. Being on a bike, I was able to weave my way through the cars and head towards the tracks. Just as I rounded the corner towards the tracks the gates lifted and about eighty hundred million kajillion people started to cross. It was obvious that they had been closed for a while and on the other side there were three fire trucks with their lights flashing.
Anyways I didn't see anything but one of my fellow teachers said she saw blood on the train platform when she got off the train.

It's one of those subjects that's both horrible and fascinating at the same time. The train was nowhere to be seen. It was long gone I guess. A fellow teacher who has been here for a couple of years says that they don't bother to stop. For one thing it would be impossible to stop in time and for another it would jeapordize the safety of the people on board the train. It doesn't matter if you've got blood all over the windshield, you just keep on going.

Anyways I wanted to learn more and find out some statistics (because train jumpings seem to be endemic) so I went online and did some research and found some interesting facts. First of all I have to apologize to all Japanese for thinking that they were horribly, horribly vain for having mirrors posted all over the train station. It turns out that the mirrors aren't for ladies to apply their makeup at all (although they do serve in this well as a secondary function.) There main purpose is actually to help prevent suicides. Apparently people are less likely to kill themselves if they can see their reflections in the mirror.

The Chuo line is where most people choose to go to meet their own end of the line. There are many reasons for this. One being that it is a very long straight track, one of the few in Tokyo and trains can barrel through the stations at super fast speeds. The straight tracks also give the jumpers a good view of the oncoming trains and allow them to time their jumps better. Lastly, if you commit suicide by train then your family can be billed for the expenses. The Chuo line happens to be the cheapest option to potential jumpers as they charge the least out of all the train lines. And then of course once this trend is noticed, the media reports on it so more jumpers go there and then you get a viscious cycle. Chuo's nickname is the Chuo-cide Line.

Another suicide hotspot is at the bottom of Mt Fuji. There is a forest called Aokigahara forest the iron ores of Mt Fuji disrupt compasses and cell phone signals so every year people just wander in there and 'get lost.' I read one article dated 1998 that stated that the police went in there and in one of their sweeps were able to recover 75 bodies. Their patrols also pick up an average of one person per day who is looking to commit suicide in the forest. A good warning sign is usually the fact that they're out in the relative wilderness and wearing a suit.
Apparently on many of the trails you can see signs like this:

Suicide Sign

Translation "Life is a precious present from your parents, think quietly about your parents, brothers and sisters and children. Do not agonize alone, please consult us first." Followed by a telephone number for the local police precinct.

Crazy stuff. I checked Statistics Canada and the suicide rate for Canadians in 1997 was about 12 per 100,000. Here in Japan it's sitting at about 27. Quite a large difference. Anyways I could go on but tonight's blog is depressing enough!

let me get to sleep