Global Recession Drives Japanese People to Suicide

Japan has always sported among the highest suicide rates in the developed world: a staggering 90 cases a day. Historically, this rate has peaked whenever the economy has been down. As the Japanese government predicts a quarter of negative growth and anticipates several more to come in succession, the specter of suicide looms over this nation.

The country actually has official suicide hotspots. Perhaps none is more notorious than Tojimbo Cliffs which tower 82 feet above the Sea of Japan. A retired policeman, Yukio Shige, has developed quite a reputation by accosting people bent on taking their lives and talking them out of it. He is proud to have saved about 150 lives this way. He believes most of his clients are just looking for someone to talk them out of the deed. He recounts tales of grown men crying, cursing their lack of stable income.

One of the problems with the Japanese economy is that one of three employees today is a part-time contract worker lacking the stability that comes with a permanet position. Inadequate public health services and a greying population probably play their role in increasing desperation too.

The Internet is not helping. The ease of locating recipes on how to make lethal poisons from domestic ingredients just facilitates the process of taking your breath away.

But for a nation that thrives on ceremony and performance, "live houses" such as those conducted in the basements of Tokyo allow an outlet to people who have contemplated taking their lives to share their story. The episodes are transmitted via Internet and hopefully provide unofficial counseling to those suffering similar plights.