Japan’s ongoing suicide problem

Being ranked as having one of the highest suicide rates among rich countries, suicide in contemporary Japan has become a prominent social issue nationally. It is even estimated that one Japanese person has committed suicide every 15 minutes. Subsequently, the government is blamed for acting too slow in tackling the problem. A January 2012 poll by the Cabinet Office reveals that the central and local governments should make greater efforts to enlighten public about the nation’s suicide problem. Furthermore, two theories that contribute to the surging of suicide rate have been put forward by the individuals and contemporary Japanese culture - citizens’ extremely high expectations for themselves in all aspects of life and Japanese cultural values. Below are examples of how individuals and the culture itself are associated with Japan’s suicide problem. First of all, a considerable number of young and middle-aged Japanese citizens have exceptionally high expectations for themselves in all aspects of life, particularly educational performance and success in business. Many of them with high hopes and expectations view themselves as failures in case they make mistakes. Under the circumstances, citizens often resort to suicide as a means to save face. Sad to say, the Japanese government does not explicitly encourage citizens to seek therapy when they are depressed or suicidal, nor does it encourage the use of anti-depressant medication as a positive way to cope with failure. It further puts the citizens in great risk. In addition, Japanese cultural values also contribute to the serious suicide problem. Because of the fact that individuality is a value that is not encouraged by the culture, but discipline and structure, they drive a majority of Japanese living under great stress. Students put tremendous pressure on themselves in order to be accepted into good schools, whereas adults, who are employed in companies, put pressure on themselves to rise in their company’s rank. Gradually, a majority of them view themselves as failures and fear that they have brought shame on their families in case of anxiety, social pressures, and setbacks happen. Then, they commit suicide just because they feel like they have shamed themselves and their families. To sum up, the ongoing suicide problem in contemporary Japan is still a growing one. Plus, Japanese society's attitude and cultural values toward suicide have been viewed as "tolerant". They all put the Japanese citizens at a great risk. In my point of view, the Japanese government should spare no efforts in educating the citizens the consequence of committing suicides, together with lowering the suicide rate through passing suicide- prevention legislation. Last but not least, preventive measures such as funding depression treatments and annual mental check-ups, and also encouraging daily relaxation among Japanese citizens are equally substantial in bettering off the whole Japanese population.