Japan reports a surge in suicide cases after 11 years. This rise is believed to be triggered by the global pandemic. According to reports, more women are leaning towards suicidal tendencies than men. Now, Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, has appointed Tetsushi Sakamoto as the country’s Minister for Loneliness.
According to studies, Japan saw a drastic increase in suicide rates in October. The number of deaths by suicide exceeded the number of lives taken by the pandemic itself. More than 21 hundred cases of suicide were reported.
Japan’s rising suicide problem
The reasons for these suicide cases vary – societal pressure, extremely long working hours, and the social stigma surrounding mental health. To this day, mental health problems are associated with weakness and cowardice.
“kodoku” in Japanese means both solitude and loneliness.
However, more women are being affected by suicidal thoughts. According to the National Police Agency, the number of people who took their lives in 2020 in Japan rose up to 20,919. And the women population saw a 90% rise in suicides in September – as compared to the numbers of the same month in 2019.
The word ‘karoshi’ was coined for death due to overwork.
Public broadcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai released a survey last year. According to his research findings, 26% of working women complained of employment problems as compared to 19% of men. In addition to this, 28% of women spent more time doing housework – compared to 19% of men.
Who else is affected?
Japan has the biggest population of ageing adults. According to Indian Express, more than 20% of the population is over the age of 65. This means there is a huge portion of adults who feel that they have nobody to help or to accompany them.
There have been many instances in Japan where deceased old age people are found days after they have passed away. So much so that a term has been coined for it: kodokushi (lonely death).
So many people have attempted to take their lives by jumping off a building that many street corners have the sign “Mind the sky”. This is a warning for pedestrians to be mindful and not get hurt by a person falling to death.
Minister for Loneliness
Tetsushi Sakamoto has been appointed as the Minister for Loneliness in Japan. He will be responsible to reduce social isolation and loneliness. Moreover, he has also been tasked to tackle the declining birth rate in the country.
Speaking to Sakamoto, the Prime Minister said:
Women are suffering from isolation more (than men are) and the number of suicides is on a rising trend. I hope you will identify problems and promote policy measures comprehensively.
Sakamoto also shared his plans of creating an emergency forum for people affected by loneliness and isolation,
I hope to be able to do activities to prevent social loneliness and isolation and human relationships to protect.
We hope the Minister for Loneliness will cater to the needs of the public and the number of suicide cases in Japan will drop. Have anything to add? Let us know in the comments section.
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