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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    In Japan, suicide rates among men rise as coronavirus impact hits hard

    New statistics on suicide released by Japan’s health ministry indicate a growing sense of despair among the nation’s working men, as the coronavirus pandemic is blamed for job cuts at large companies, worsening workplace conditions and year-end bonuses evaporating.


    According to the ministry, 705 men aged between 20 and 59 took their own lives in September, up 56 cases or 8.6 per cent from the same month last year. It was a similar situation in August, with 706 suicides, an increase of 6.6 per cent on the same month in 2019. In total, 1,805 people in Japan took their own lives in September, up 143 deaths from the same month a year previously.

    “It’s a combination of things, but it can all be traced back to the impact of the coronavirus. As well as costing jobs, the virus has changed the way we have to work,” said “Lucky” Morimoto, founder of the Event Services Inc. incentive travel company.


    “We used to live in a world where people had to talk face-to-face with customers and colleagues, and then we would go out for drinks after work. But that has gone now. We have to stay at home, we have to work remotely, people are lonely because they are not having any human interactions.”

    MORE In Japan, suicide rates among men rise as coronavirus impact hits hard | South China Morning Post

  2. #2
    Isle of discombobulation Joe 90's Avatar
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    Same problem all over the globe, will these scarily high numbers be added to the Covid death toll.

  3. #3
    In Uranus
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe 90 View Post
    Same problem all over the globe, will these scarily high numbers be added to the Covid death toll.
    Why are you posting under that fake name CCC? Time for a jailing.

  4. #4
    Isle of discombobulation Joe 90's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub View Post
    Why are you posting under that fake name CCC? Time for a jailing.
    Explanation sent in repo.Coz i can't send messages yet.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe 90 View Post
    Same problem all over the globe, will these scarily high numbers be added to the Covid death toll.
    Yes. That male privilege

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    Yes. That male privilege
    Been to Japan? Lived in Japan? Know Japanese? Worked in Japan? Knowledgable about Japanese culture and history?

    No to all of the above . . . yet you make your usual thick-headed remarks. This is NOT about you and your frail and paranoid ego.




    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    705 men aged between 20 and 59 took their own lives in September
    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    In total, 1,805 people in Japan took their own lives in September

    Having worked in Japan it's easy to see why they feel despondent and alone as work is the only avenue that provides them companionship and comrades. Every night they go out for a drink or two or three etc... with people from work. That's gone now . . .


    Aside from everything else, suicide is seen completely differently than in the western mindset. It is accepted as a part of life/death, even idolised through seppuku, to end life honourably. (whether it is disembowelment or not)


    Difficult for non-Japanese to understand

  7. #7
    CCBW Stumpy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Having worked in Japan it's easy to see why they feel despondent and alone as work is the only avenue that provides them companionship and comrades. Every night they go out for a drink or two or three etc... with people from work. That's gone now . .
    Same social behavior for the most part in S Korea. Having been there many times and getting to see how the folks interact at work and go out after, being isolated due to Covid is like going to prison. Many people at a few equipment manufacturers I visited and got to know had a terrible time with employee depression.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Considering it's the nation that invented hara-kiri and has a population of 126 million, I don't think those numbers are statistically very significant.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by JPPR2 View Post
    being isolated due to Covid is like going to prison
    Yes, very much so.


    Quote Originally Posted by JPPR2 View Post
    employee depression.
    When I established my team in Tokyo I picked 12 people from the larger group and created a team that I could mould and that included leaving work at 5 or 5:30, having family get-togethers and and not working Saturdays unless completely necessary for tenders and trips, among other things.
    It took ages to get them to leave work on time . . . some joked that they were spending too much money getting drunk earlier and also having to spend too much time at home with their wives/husbands and children.
    They felt guilty leaving earlier than the other staff who would stay until ten.

    So, it's not that they feel they HAVE to stay at work (though that is the case as well- never leave before your manager) rather that they want to.

    Still - love the place and if we could move and live there . . . (and learn Japanese effortlessly) . . . in a heartbeat

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