Talk:Suicide in Japan

— Assignment last updated by Dslaym (talk) 13:56, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

Type of gas poisoning
Somebody removed the type of gas from the article and I restored it. I think it deserves a comment here. First, Wikipedia is an information source and a general principle upheld time and time again is that we don't remove information ("censor") because some people are offended, or the information could be misused, etc. Second, anybody that wants to learn what type of gas could simply click on the reference to find out, so Wikipedia is hardly endangering anyone who already obviously has access to the Internet. And to forestall argument, let me add that being vague and asking people to search or click on external links is not a viable alternative; an article is supposed to sum up the available information and that's why, like the newspapers, it should say "hydrogen sulfide gas" not just make reference to some mystery gas. Third, I purposefully omitted information on how the gas is typically produced and used to suicide. Not only is Wikipedia not a how-to manual (by firmly established precedent), but I do agree editors need to act responsibly here while not going to excessive lengths to censor information. Like I said, people that want further details for whatever reason, I'm sure they know how to go about it and in fact, "hydrogen sulfide" is not needed as a search term. So while I understand the sentiment of the anon who removed the info, I think it is misplaced and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. --C S (talk) 23:12, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Expired link
The link ^ "Girl's suicide leaves dozens ill from fumes" (in English), /asia, CNN.com (24 April 2008). Retrieved on 20 September 2008. cannot be found. --yeokaiwei (talk) 20.00, 03 January 2008 (UTC)

The link ^ "Suicides in Japan top 30,000 for 12th straight year, may surpass 2008 numbers". The Mainichi Daily News. Dec. 26, 2009. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20091226p2a00m0na008000c.html. (this link cannot be found) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Antiw (talk • contribs) 08:08, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

further topics for expansion
I'm making a note here so I don't forget, and perhaps others are interested in researching the topics.


 * Muri-shinju (murder-suicide, usually mother (sometimes father), will kill their children and then herself), also called "ikka-shinju" in media. Sources: ,


 * Apparently police sometimes will count a muri-shinju (or otherwise suspicious death) as a suicide to lower the homicide rate. Need sources and further investigation.

--C S (talk) 01:45, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

A documentary called Suicide (2001) was shown in the UK as part of the Secret Life of Japan season. This covered one example and the impact to society. Maybe worth including. Source Hirumeshi (talk) 13:34, 13 March 2014 (UTC)

Where to link, where to link
The article Japan Airlines Flight 123 notes that a maintenance manager for the airline killed himself to apologize for the accident (which was caused by a faulty repair seven years earlier). I wanted to provide a link to help explain to readers why he did this - this article itself is the best I could come up with. Is there something better to link to? D O N D E groovily  Talk to me  16:41, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Footnote [28] refers to an advertisement. Removed.
I removed the external link in footnote [28] because it is outdated. It does not refer to the article anymore. It only refers to an advertisement for a subscription. --Qualitaetssicherer 00:12, 21 August 2012 (CET)
 * Restored. We do not delete references for purely technical reasons, and purely technical reason includes dead links and subscription fee required. A person who has a subscription can read the article just fine, and even if not, someone could always call the paper and request a copy of the article. Ego White Tray (talk) 12:28, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Out of date
Suicides in Japan have fallen to a 15-year low: If someone has time to help update the article, please do. Pdxuser (talk) 12:35, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Don't know about long cultural tradition
The Japanese Army inculcated an aversion to surrender before World War Two because many of its units and men had surrendered at the first sign of contact with enemy troops in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, thus I'm not sure you can describe fighting under suicidal conditions as culturally essentialistic to Japan; also kamikazes were accompanies by armed fighters (kamikaze planes had no guns or ammo just a bomb and enough fuel to get to the battle) with orders to shoot them down if they changed their minds. Historian932 (talk) 20:23, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

Misleading and Bad Phrasing
"There has been a rapid increase in suicides since the 1990s. For example, 1998 saw a 34.7% increase over the previous year." Anyone reading this will assume that this "example" is exemplary for an explosive growth of suicide numbers. The statistic shown on this very same article says that 1998 saw an extraordinary increase of suicides, with the numbers being relatively stable before and after. Just to demonstrate how vast the difference between these two things is: Assuming that Japan saw an increase of suicides of 30% for every year between 1998 and 2007 (10 years), the number would have grown to ~14 times its original size. --93.206.55.231 (talk) 22:38, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

Moral objectivity, please
"In other words, certain forms of shinju might be considered “murder-suicide” in Western cultures rather than suicide."

Taking the life of an innocent child is murder. This does not depend on culture, and a mother who does such a thing even if she takes her own life afterward is still a murderess. This should be rephrased as follows:

"Certain forms of shinju are murder-suicide, such as a mother taking the lives of her children and then killing herself."

Wikipedia should not be trivializing the murder of children by engaging in moral and cultural relativism. Tpkatsa (talk) 16:08, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

Concrete figures on the numbers of children murdered in so-called "family suicides" would be very helpful. As far as I have been able to ascertain these are not calculated into Japan's murder rate. 107.133.158.129 (talk) 14:33, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

This article lacks historical content
The seppuku isn't even mentioned in the article, kamikaze are given only a passing mention, the WWII mass suicides aren't even mentioned too. --Niemti (talk) 18:30, 12 December 2013 (UTC) Perhaps it could be mentioned that the rate of suicide was kept artificially low, by the Emporer, in his radio address to the Japanese nation telling them to surrender to the allies. Although the word "surrender" was never used, and although the topic of suicide was not directly referenced, the phrase "I must warn you most strictly against any great outpouring of emotion" had the effect of conveying the unacceptability of suicide under those circumstances. When the current Emporer "took the throne", he did NOT repeat that phrase, signaling that the circumstances had changed, and that suicide was no longer as unacceptable. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.202.214.244 (talk) 18:13, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Danger, Nuance
Hello everyone. It is absolutely essential that the Wikipedia page in question emphasizes the fact that Japan as a whole does not support these forms of suicide / murder suicide. We need to make this clear on other articles on Wikipedia as well; There are Sociology / Pych articles about how some claim that people in Japan just think this way. Little help here, anyone?--Reentery (talk) 04:33, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

自殺と文化に関して
To write English is not easy for me, so write mother language. Please use google transrate. 英語を書くことが大変なため、日本語で申し訳ありません

現在の日本では自殺は命が勿体無いと言われる事が多いです. また、自殺の要因としてうつ病が多く、人間関係やお金の事で自らの未来を悲観して自殺する人が多いです. また、自殺を恥じと考える人も多く、親族が自殺した場合、表向きの死因を心停止とする事も多いです. そのため、この記事の内容と実態が乖離しているように思われます. 望月もっちー (talk) 12:12, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Refrain from using Japanese terms like "Karoshi" as proof of a uniquely Japanese suicide phenomenon
Anybody that knows the Japanese language would know that combining different Kanji together will create a new word for example Karoshi combines 過,労, and 死. Literally over, work, and death. When you combining the three it becomes a single noun meaning death from overwork, so people used to English may think that Japanese having a specific word to refer to death from overwork as proof that it is a uniquely common or cultural phenomenon to Japan, when it is not.

Please understand that in Japanese anyone can coin their own noun, by simplying combining different characters. MelancholicManatee (talk) 20:39, 5 October 2023 (UTC)