A Society Blighted by Drugs and Despair

In Japan today, more than 30,000 people take their own lives every year," begins a recent essay by Kang Sang-jung titled "Nihon ni torimodoshitai ‘kibô’" (Restoring Hope to Japan). This equates to an annual rate of nearly 25 suicides per 100,000 people. Noting that this is twice the suicide rate of the United States and three times that of Britain, Kang asserts that such a figure is unthinkable for a developed country and laments what this says about the present state of Japanese society.

Kang, writing in the October 2009 issue of Chûô Kôron, argues that most suicides are caused by real-world social problems. "What has happened to Japanese society in the past ten years?" he asks. Economically speaking, the answer is the rapid implementation of free-market reforms, sweeping deregulation, and dramatically increased competition. In the process, many companies and individuals have been labeled "losers" and have been discarded by society. Since old, rigid social structures have been preserved, moreover, it is very difficult for people to pick themselves up again once they have fallen on hard times. In other words, Japan is not a society in which people get second chances. With free-market fundamentalism spreading into every corner of society, argues Kang, "the mutual support mechanisms that society was supposed to possess are crumbling." "Allowing the slow but sure breakdown of society to continue unchecked," he warns, "is sure to lead to a further rise in the number of suicides."

Kang’s perception of the suicide problem is shared by Furuki Morie, author of an article titled "‘Jisatsusha’ to wa dare na no ka" (Who Are the Suicides?), which appeared in the September 2009 issue of Sekai. According to Furuki, between 1978 and 1997 the annual suicide count held steady in the 20,000–25,000 range. The jump to over 30,000 occurred in 1998, and the cause, Furuki says, was the deterioration in the economy triggered by a series of bankruptcies among banks and securities firms. The annual number of suicides has been above 30,000 ever since.

The article by Tada Yôhei that we carry below sheds further light on the suicide statistics, the main causes of suicide, and the changes in economic circumstances that are believed to be strongly correlated with the suicide rate.

What makes the situation especially grave, as Tada points out, is that while the suicide rate among those in middle age and above seems to have plateaued, the number of young people taking their own lives is rising. We can no longer explain away this problem by citing individual circumstances like "he was suffering from depression." Perhaps we should take to heart the analysis that Tada highlights of Ueda Noriyuki, who asserts that "the problem is not so much a matter of the economy going through a bad spell as one of people’s minds going through bad spells."

As Tada’s article notes, an organization to address this issue, the Office for Policy on Suicide Prevention, has been established in the Cabinet Office, and local governments are also beginning to implement suicide prevention policies.

Featured alongside Tada’s article in Ekonomisuto was "Finrando, Doitsu, Akita: Chiiki o makikomu sôgôteki na taisaku" (Finland, Germany, Akita: Comprehensive Measures Involving the Community) by Motohashi Yutaka, which discusses the suicide prevention policies of Japan’s local governments, particularly Akita Prefecture, with reference to examples in other countries. Akita has the highest suicide rate among Japan’s 47 prefectures. This prompted the prefectural government to launch a full-fledged program of measures against suicide in 2000, including a large-scale mental health survey, a drive to raise awareness about depression, and efforts to foster community ties. Thanks to these initiatives, in 2003 the number of suicides began to decrease.

Recognizing the potential in Akita’s policies, Motohashi stresses the need to pursue "(1) not only medical measures but comprehensive programs involving the whole community, (2) diverse and sustained awareness-raising campaigns, and (3) activities involving not just public administration but private-sector groups and residents themselves." Japan as a whole requires a set of powerful, sustained measures against suicide.

Kang Sang-jung proposes that the government should set numerical targets as one of its policies for reducing the number of suicides. He reports that the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Social Science has launched a Social Sciences of Hope course, a project whose goal is to establish the subjective concept of "hope" as a field of study. Suicides occur when people have lost hope, asserts Kang, so we must restore it.

Is it a loss of hope that causes young Japanese to seek short-term pleasure in drugs? Recently there has been a rash of incidents involving the use of illegal drugs by college students and celebrities. The arrest on August 8 of the pop singer and actress Sakai Noriko, who has a wide fan base not only in Japan but throughout East Asia, on charges of possessing stimulants has again brought the severity of Japan’s drug problem into relief.

The article in this section by Saitô Tamaki cites the popularization of the Internet as the primary reason why it has become easier for people to get hold of illicit drugs. This is one of the many unforeseen consequences of the increased role of information technology in society. A truly effective drug policy would include tightening control over the Internet, posits Saitô; unfortunately, however, this would be very difficult to implement.

It was amid these social problems that the recent general election took place, resulting in victory for the Democratic Party of Japan and the end of the Liberal Democratic Party’s long rule. The new DPJ administration must improve the economic outlook, not merely for economic reasons but as a means of countering Japan’s suicide epidemic. (Kondô Motohiro, Professor, Nihon University Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies)

© 2009 Japan Echo Inc.