Unlike in Western nations, where Christian doctrine has declared suicide a sin since St. Such was the cultural touchstone that could give rise to kamikaze pilots during World War II. For centuries, seppuku, a form of ritual suicide, was enshrined in Japan’s samurai code as a way for the famed warriors to avoid capture and retain some semblance of chivalry when shame or guilt was meted. Suicide has a different role in Japan’s cultural heritage than it does in the West. Among teens and young adults ages 10–24, there are roughly 4,600 suicide deaths in each year, and another 157,000 instances of hospitalization for self-inflicted injuries. Last year, suicide was the leading cause of death for Japanese children between the ages of 10 and 19. In 2014 alone, 25,000 Japanese people took their own lives - roughly 70 suicides every day. Japan’s overall suicide rate is roughly 60 percent higher than the global average, a 2014 World Health Organization report noted. The former coincides with schools reopening after summer vacation the latter, as schools reopen after spring break. Mapping for frequency, the study found distinctly larger numbers of suicides at the end of August and beginning of September, as well as during the middle of April. It’s also the day that Japanese children are most likely to kill themselves.Ī recent study published by Japan’s Cabinet Office examined the country’s more than 18,000 child suicides from 1972–2013 and found that 131 of those suicides occurred on September 1 - 32 more suicides than the next most-frequent date of death. It’s the date that many of Japan’s schools reopen after summer vacation. In Japan, however, it carries a mournful burden. To Western ears, the date of September 1 sounds benign.
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