Taro Toporific wrote:[b] 9 bodies found in cars in 2 group suicides near Tokyo]Oct 11 - TOKYO (AP) -- Seven young men and women were found dead in a car parked at an isolated mountainside lot near Tokyo early Tuesday in an apparent group suicide, police said. Minutes later, the bodies of two more women who had apparently fulfilled a separate suicide pact were found.

dimwit wrote:It is nice to see people being good and economical with the carbon monoxide.

Mainichi Shimbun wrote:...Japanese "suicide applicant" sites aimed at people thinking of taking their lives are common. They contain information from around Japan on methods of committing suicide and places to do it. When several people who want to commit suicide appear, they reportedly choose a time and place, and decide on the members who will take part.
The comments people write include statements and questions like "Are there any women who would like to help and die with me?" "I want to know a sure way of dying peacefully," and "I've got the car and the briquettes ready."
The four people who committed suicide together in September reportedly exchanged messages on the Internet saying they were looking for others to die with them. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Oct. 12, 2004)

dimwit wrote:

Taro Toporific wrote:9 bodies found in cars in 2 group suicides near Tokyo]
It is nice to see people being good and economical with the carbon monoxide.

Kyodo News wrote:Four males and three females were found dead Tuesday morning inside a station wagon in a mountain parking lot in Minano, Saitama Prefecture...Three weeks ago, four youths committed suicide by sealing themselves in a vehicle with a charcoal burner about 5 km from the parking lot in Minano.

Watcher wrote:This made CNN on the news ticker.

One of the victims in a group suicide pact that left seven young people dead from carbon monoxide poisoning tried to commit suicide in the same way only a week earlier, police investigators have found.

The victim, a 34-year-old woman from Tokyo's Bunkyo-ku, unsuccessfully tried to kill herself on Oct. 5 with three other people by burning briquettes in a tent in the Tokyo suburb of Okutama to release toxic carbon monoxide gas, police said.

In a separate incident, a 21-year-old woman from Tokyo's Bunkyo-ku and a 27-year-old woman from Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, were found dead in Yokosuka at about the same time on Tuesday...Investigators said the 21-year-old victim in that incident was one of the three people with whom the 34-year-old Bunkyo-ku woman had unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide with on Oct. 5.

Police said they were considering sending documents to prosecutors, posthumously accusing one of the two women in the Yokosuka incident of promoting suicide. They said they were investigating which of the two women, who police believe became acquainted through a suicide-related Web site, had asked the other to die.

...About 75 per cent of [suicide] victims were men. The deaths often involve older people, particularly men who have been laid off from work, and in those cases financial ruin is frequently blamed. Unusually, Japan's life insurance companies pay out in cases of suicide which, when a family business or home is in jeopardy because of debts, allows a man to restore his reputation by sacrificing his life. The largest insurer, the Postal Life Insurance Service of Japan, said that it covered the deaths of 9334 people who committed suicide in 2002.

A man jumped into an oncoming train on the JR Chuo Line in western Tokyo Wednesday, forcing the railway operator to suspend services on the line for over 20 minutes and inconveniencing about 15,000 commuters, police said.
At around 7:30 a.m., a man passed through a closed gate at a crossing on the JR Chuo Line between Hachioji and Nishi-Hachioji Station in the western Tokyo city of Hachioji, and jumped into an oncoming express train bound for Takao, police said.

Captain Japan wrote:I had a Japan stat book from 2001 or so. It had a breakdown of the reason for the suicides. It's surprising to see that the majority are people in the northern parts of Japan. And by far (over 2/3) of the victims were determined to have killed themselves over loneliness/depression etc.

Hokkaido continues to lead the country with the largest rate of cigarette consumption. Male smoking was 54.8% and female smoking 27.5% of the population, respectively. Hokkaido's lead was followed by the Tohoku region (6 prefectures in northeastern Japan) where male smoking was 53.6% and female smoking was 13.9% of the population, respectively.

Captain Japan wrote:I had a Japan stat book from 2001 or so. It had a breakdown of the reason for the suicides. It's surprising to see that the majority are people in the northern parts of Japan. And by far (over 2/3) of the victims were determined to have killed themselves over loneliness/depression etc. So in other words it is old, cold people who are primarily offing themselves. Less than 20% killed themselves over something to do with money. I'll see if I can find that book and get the exact figures.

dimwit wrote:It isn't that surprising, as according to UN statistics the top 10 suicide countries are Lithuania, Russia, Belarus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Finland, which are all basically cold dark northern countries.

Taro, I hope your not feeling depressed.

dimwit wrote:Taro, I hope your not feeling depressed.

Mulboyne wrote:(c) the suicide directly affects a large number of people - so a major Chuo line stoppage makes it.

Can we get a sense of perspective please. I am a British guy living in Japan and am surrounded by perfectly happy, pretty well off friends and colleagues. Japan does not have the highest suicide rates in the world (I believe that distinction belongs to Hungary or Finland but don't quote me). But, throw in preconceptions about harakiri and kamikazes and all of a sudden you have a major media issue! Suicide a "respected part" of Japanese culture. Nonsense! Tell that to the grieving relatives. Don't single out Japan or start making prejudicial comments about the society just because 9 people have chosen not to die alone. What about the remaining 126 million?
Philip Seaton, Sapporo, Japan

Japanese culture is unique. I've travelled in many places around the world, and I've never seen such a respectful society as Japan is. I have never felt that safe in a city. The crime rate is incredibly low (beside Yakusa's activities). Japan has a special way to work as a society; everybody must behave and be respectful of others. On the other hand, keeping all that frustration for yourself, combined with the stress to succeed (going to the best school, working for a big firm), will definitely be too much for some people who can't cope with pressure. Japan is a society that works as a whole, very low crime rate, but high pressure to succeed. This will unfortunately have a bad side at some point and that is why I think suicide is on the increase.

Suicide is the outcome of living in a modern world that makes everyone believe that material wealth is necessary, as the emotional, spiritual and social needs of every human being are totally lost.
Esra Karatash Alpay, Istanbul, Turkey

ODAWARA, Kanagawa -- Three people were found dead in two locked cars after they apparently committed suicide by burning charcoal and briquettes to poison themselves, police said.

A passerby spotted a suspicious car at a parking lot in the famous hot spa area of Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday afternoon and alerted police.

Captain Japan wrote:3 dead in 2 cars in suspected suicide pact
Mainichi]

Taro Toporific wrote:

Captain Japan wrote:3 dead in 2 cars in suspected suicide pact
Mainichi]

WOT again?

Can't do something more creative which each other in the car?

Captain Japan wrote:There was an interesting article in the Asahi (paper edition) a few weeks ago that said briquette sellers were becoming suspicious about what their customers were going to be doing with their products.

TOKYO — Six people were found dead Sunday in two cases of suspected group suicide in Fukuoka and in Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, by inhaling carbon monoxide from burning charcoal in vehicles, police said.

In Fukuoka, the police found a 20-year-old female part-timer from Kitaamabe, Oita Prefecture, a 21-year-old male college student from Fukuoka's Nishi Ward, and another man believed to be in his 20s in the student's minivan on a forest road. In Sasayama, three men were also found dead in a minivan with three charcoal braziers. (Kyodo News)