To compare, Japan is #4 on the suicide rates of the world, the US is #41.
It surprised me how NOT surprised I was to hear this figure. In Japan there seems to be an ideal of honor coming before everything and if you can't live honorably, then why live at all?
Mental health is a strange concern in Japan. It seems to be an embarrassment that is either ignored or treated very lightly and I have had several examples of this since I came here.
Firstly is the idea of 過労死 [hiragana かろうし], pronouned ka-roe-shi, which can be translated literally from Japanese as "death from overwork."
One would think that this concept would be limited to workaholics or extremely dedicated persons... but being overworked is simply the norm. I once heard that the average worker in Japan does an average of 2 hours of overtime per day...and it must be noted that all of this work is unpaid. There is even a word for this, サービス 残業, pronounced sah-bee-su zan-gi-yo, the practice of "voluntary" undocumented unpaid overtime.
For a personal example, take my middle school staff. Although classes do not begin until 8am, most teachers are here around 7am. To compare, my official work day doesn't begin until 8:30.
The end of the school day is technically 3:30. My official work day ends at 4:15. I have needed to stay until 6:30 or 7 a couple of times.... and the scary thing is that when I do leave... most of the teachers are still here. I once forgot my computer charger and came at 8:30pm and there were still 4 or 5 teachers around! True, a few have after-school clubs to coach, but this is an everyday occurrence. These are middle-aged men and women, sometimes with an hour commute ahead of them and families that are waiting.
Another example I had was of a teacher who is no longer at my school. He was the social studies teacher for the 2nd years. He had big glasses and loved the mandatory drinking parties that are held a few times a year. There have been a couple of pictures of him on my blog, even. Last Fall he had a heart attack. With a 5 year old daughter and a newborn, one would think that he would have taken the time to recover and then proceeded to take it easy... but that isn't the Japanese way. You have to 'Ganbarre' or 'Try your best' through whatever is happening.
He was back at school after his medical leave had worn off [only 3 weeks!] and again I saw him arrive early and stay very late. He got thin, he started wearing masks to school even when he wasnt 'sick'. Eventually he stopped coming altogether. A Japanese Teacher of English [JTE] told me that his problem was 'in his head.' No one seemed to think about the fact that he might be overworked or needed more time off. He just wasn't 'ganbarre-ing'.
Another example I have is of kids at middle school, ages 11 to 15. While Japanese kids continually test better than American kids [and despite the fact that I feel that American kids really DO have it too easy], it must also be said that they are worked to death from middle school onward. The average kid arrives at school around 6 to 7:30am and their day does not end until they have had 6 classes, cleaning time and then their club activity, which will let them out anywhere from 6:30pm until 8pm. That's a 12 hour workday, and they still have to go home and do homework. So you can see that this work ethic begins very young.
I noticed as the school year has gone on that there are a few children who have either
A. Started eating lunch in the nurse's office instead of with their class
or
B. Stopped coming altogether
This leads me to another concept, ひきこもり、 hikikomori, which translates as "withdrawal" and refers to a person sequestered in his room for six months or longer with no social life beyond his home. (The word is a noun that describes both the problem and the person suffering from it and is also an adjective, like "alcoholic.")
Last week my JTE Tanaka sensei was leaving school early because he had to visit a student in her home to 'try and convince her to come back to school.' I am not sure if this existed in American jr. high schools, but I do not remember students being allowed to stay at home indefinitely, without some type of either sectioning to a mental facility at least home- schooling in place.
The slack ways in which students with obvious mental and social difficulties are treated was really eye-opening for me. One student who eats in the nurse's office [there are about 8 kids who eat there now, in silence together, some reading] I talk to regularly during English class. He has excellent learning skills and is quite creative. Why is he allowed to simply fall off the grid because he doesnt feel like being sociable?
If you want to learn more about hikikomori, I found a good article on the NY Times; http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/magazine/15japanese.html?pagewanted=all
My last example is personal;
Below you can see my annual schedule for my elementary school, Kitakata 1st Elementary.
To answer your question, yes, that means that from 8:15 [this school begins earlier] until 4pm, I will have nonstop classes. Each class is over 30 students and I must plan and teach almost entirely by myself. It has been a source of extreme irritation for me, as obviously no other teachers could possibly have so many classes during the day, without a break. I had a big meeting regarding this in May, only to be told that I need to 'Ganbarre' and that the schedule had been made, so that was the way it was. In the states, I could fairly easily have negotiated a way to make them see how ridiculous a schedule it was, but in the Japanese outlook, my request was taken as I simply was lazy and not trying my best. It may be the most frustrating thing that has happened to me since I came to Japan.
[Besides being asked if I can use chopsticks]
Alright, that seems long enough, its almost 4:15, time for us western teachers to go home.
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7 September 2010 Last updated at 15:43 GMT
Suicides cost Japan economy $32bn
Mr Kan sees the figures as proof of an economic and emotional downturn
The government in Japan says suicides and depression cost its economy almost 2.7tn yen ($32bn; £21bn) last year.
The figures refer to lost incomes and the cost of treatment. It is the first time Japan has released such figures.
Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates, with more than 32,000 people killing themselves last year. PM Naoto Kan sees it as proof of an economic and emotional downturn.
The government is setting up a task force to try to reduce the rate.
From Friday, it will run a video clip of a footballer from the J-league on its website, urging people to be more aware of the problem.
Decreasing suicides would be one way to build a society with a minimum level of unhappiness”
End Quote Naoto Kan Prime Minister of Japan
"Given that the number of suicides in Japan has been over 30,000 for 12 straight years, this is a problem that needs to be addressed by the entire nation," a health, labour and welfare ministry official said.
"We hope this study triggers stronger prevention measures."
The study showed that those who took their lives last year - 26,500 people in 2009 - when they were aged 15 to 69 would have earned 1.9tn yen had they worked until retirement.
Mr Kan has pointed to the suicide numbers as proof of what he believes is wrong with the country, with too many people suffering economically and emotionally.
"There are many causes of suicides. Decreasing them would be one way to build a society with a minimum level of unhappiness," he said.
But attitudes to depression in Japan arguably demand equally urgent scrutiny, correspondents say.
In a country in which stoicism and consensus are highly valued, many older people in particular view mental illness as a stigma that can be overcome simply by trying harder, they say.
The use of psychotherapy to treat depression has lagged behind North America and Europe, with Japanese doctors often viewing medication as the sole answer, they add.
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