I am walking through Aokigahara Jukai forest, the light rapidly fading on a mid-winter afternoon, when I am stopped dead in my tracks by a blood-curdling scream. The natural reaction would be to run, but the forest floor is a maze of roots and slippery rocks and, truth be told, I am lost in this vast woodland whose name, in part, translates as “Sea of Trees.”

Rites of remembrance: At a point overlooking a section of the 30-sq.-km Aokigahara Jukai forest, Buddhist priest Showzen Yamashita offers prayers for the untold number of people who have entered that “Sea of Trees” wilderness but failed to make it out alive.

Inexplicably, I find myself moving toward the sound, searching for signs of life. Instead, I find death.

The source of that scream remains a mystery as, across a clearing, I see what looks like a pile of clothes. But as I approach, it becomes apparent it’s more than just clothes I’ve spotted.

In a small hollow, just below a tree, and curled up like a baby on a thick bed of dead leaves, lies a man, his thinning gray hair matted across his balding cranium. His pasty upper torso is shirtless, while his legs are covered only by black long johns — with blue-striped boxers sticking out above the waistband — and a pair of woolly socks.

Under his bent legs a pair of slacks, a white shirt and a jacket have been spread out as a cushion at his final resting place. Scattered around are innumerable documents, a briefcase and other remnants of a former life. Nearer to him are items more closely related to his demise: empty packets of prescription pills, beer cans, and bottles of liquor.

Seemingly this man, who looks to be in his mid-50s, had drawn his last breath before I heard that unsourced, chilling cry.

That I came across a body in this forest was a shock, but not a surprise. For half a century, thousands of life-weary Japanese have made one-way trips to this sprawling, 30-sq.-km tract of woodland in Yamanashi Prefecture on the northwest flank of 3,776-meter Mount Fuji, the nation’s highest peak. It’s a dark place of stark beauty, long associated with demons in Japanese mythology — and one that has earned itself the unfortunate appellation of “Suicide Forest.”

Evidence of such pilgrimages is strewn amid the dense undergrowth. Four pairs of moss-covered shoes are lined up on the gnarled roots of a tree — two adult-size pairs and two children’s pairs.

Signs of life and death : Tape left following sweeps of the forest.

Further on there’s an envelope of photos, one showing a young man, another two small children dressed in colorful kimonos and elementary school uniform. Together with the photos there’s a typed note “To Hide” (most likey the name of a man), including the final stanza of “Song of the Open Road,” Walt Whitman’s poem from 1900 that ends with the line: “Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?”

Nobody can know exactly how that line was answered — there was no sign of life, no sign of human remains. Local police suggest wild animals often get to corpses before they do, so clouding the issue of exactly how many achieve their goal and end it all here.

Nonetheless, bodies are frequently discovered in monthly sweeps coordinated by the police and local volunteer firemen. As they move around the forest, these searchers leave color-coded plastic tapes strung between trees to mark where they have searched and where they have found items or bodies — or sometimes simply to mark their way back out of this sylvan maze.

Altogether, police records show that 247 people made suicide attempts in the forest in 2010 — 54 of them successfully.

Local officials and residents believe that number could be significantly higher.

“There are people who come here to end their lives in Aokigahara Jukai but, uncertain as to where exactly the forest is, kill themselves in neighboring woodland,” said Masamichi Watanabe, chief of the Fujigoko Fire Department that covers this area. Even so, his officers still recover an annual average of 100 people from the forest in various states of consciousness — including an increasing number who tried to take their lives by inhaling toxic gas in their cars, either from the exhaust or charcoal-burners they bring with them.

“What is certain, though, is that the numbers continue to rise each year,” Watanabe added.

A necktie noose (hanging and drug overdoses are the most common means of suicide there)

This is also the case nationwide. In January, a National Police Agency (NPA) report indicated that 31,690 people committed suicide in 2010, the 13th consecutive year in which the figures topped 30,000. In fact, according to World Health Organization data, the suicide rate in Japan is 25.8 per 100,000 people — the highest among developed nations, and more than double that of the United States.

Experts are quick to point out the impact of the global financial crisis, especially since the world’s third-largest economy suffered its most severe contraction in over 30 years in 2009.

It is also believed that next year will see a further rise in suicides due to the magnitude-9 megaquake and tsunami that hit the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan on March 11. “It is likely to have a huge influence,” said Yoshinori Cho, director of the psychiatry department at Teikyo University in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, and author of a book titled “Hito wa naze Jisatsu Suru no ka” (“Why do People Commit Suicide?”)

Already there have been several suicides by relatives of disaster victims, while the long-term effects of life in evacuation shelters may also lead to depression and thus, directly or indirectly, to further suicides, Cho added.

“It’s not just regular depression, but also clinical depression due to the stress caused by the reality of their circumstances,” he said. “Depression is a huge risk factor when it comes to suicide.”

According to NPA reports, a major suicide trigger in 2010 was depression, and some 57 percent of all the suicide victims were out of work when they died. Among those, men in their 50s were most numerous, though men in their 30s and 40s has been the demographic showing the biggest percentage increase in the past few years.

Local anti-suicide patrollers out at night.

“This generation has a lot of difficulty finding permanent jobs, and instead people take on temp work that is unstable and causes great anxiety,” said Yukio Saito, executive director of Inochi no Denwa (Lifeline), a volunteer telephone counseling service that last year fielded nearly 70,000 calls from people contemplating suicide.

“Callers most frequently cite mental health and family problems as the reason for contemplating suicide,” Saito said. “But behind that are other issues, such as financial problems or losing their job.”

Although financial worries are undoubtedly major drivers of modern-day suicide, other unique cultural and historical factors also seem to play a part.

In some countries, suicide is illegal or at least largely unacceptable on religious or other moral grounds, but in Japan there is no such stigma.

“Throughout Japanese history, suicide has never been prohibited on religious or moral grounds,” said Cho. “Also, apart from on two specific occasions in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), suicide has never been declared illegal.” Lifeline’s Saito concurred, saying: “Suicide is quite permissible in Japanese society, something honorable that is even glorified.”

The tradition of honorable suicide dates back centuries to Japan’s feudal era, when samurai warriors would commit seppuku (ritual disemboweling) as a way to uphold their honor rather than fall into the hands of an enemy.

The present-day acceptance of suicide stems from this, Cho said. “Vestiges of the seppuku culture can be seen today in the way suicide is viewed as a way of taking responsibility,” he observed.

Japan is also subject to suicide fads, and Seicho Matsumoto’s 1961 novel “Nami no To” (“Tower of Waves”) started a trend for love-vexed couples, and then jobless people, to commit suicide in the Aokigahara Jukai.

The book, which this year posts its 50th anniversary, concludes with its beautiful heroine, who is involved in a socially unacceptable relationship, heading into the forest to end her life.

In fact that suicide trend in the forest peaked in 2004, when Yamanashi prefectural police figures show 108 people killed themselves there.

In recent years, local authorities have implemented measures to try and reduce that toll, including siting security cameras at the main entrances to the forest and carrying out round-the-clock patrols.

A figure bound to a tree where someone took their own life.

At the entrances there are also signs that read: “Think carefully about your children, your family.” Below them is the phone number of a volunteer group headed by lawyers specializing in debt advice, as debt is a common suicide trigger.

The signs were erected by 38-year-old Toyoki Yoshida, who himself attempted suicide due to debt. He blames Japan’s money-lending system, which the government has now reformed to a degree.

“As things stood,” Yoshida said, “major banks would provide loans to loan sharks at 2 percent interest, and then the lsharks would loan to people like me at 29.2 percent. But despite the reform, it’s still not hard to amass crippling debts in this country.”

Vigilant shopkeepers also play a role in the prevention effort. Hideo Watanabe, 64, whose lakeside cafe faces an entrance to the forest, said that he has saved around 160 people over the past 30 years.

“Most people who come to this area for pleasure do so in groups,” he said. “So, if I see someone on their own, I will go and talk to them. After a few basic questions, it’s usually not so difficult to tell which ones might be here on a suicide mission.”

On one occasion, he said a young woman who had tried to kill herself walked past his store. “She had tried to hang herself and failed. She had part of the rope around her neck and her eyes were almost popping out of their sockets. I took her inside, made her some tea, and called an ambulance. A few kind words can go a long way.”

Showzen Yamashita, a priest who conducts Buddhist rites in the forest to pray for the repose of the thousands of people who have died there over the years, agreed, adding that the lack of support networks in Japan is a main cause of the ever-increasing suicide rate.

“They have no one to talk to, no one to share the pain, the suffering,” he said. “So they think, ‘If I take my life I can escape this misery.’ We conduct these rites in order to ponder how we might help make a world that is free of such suffering.”

The metropolitan government conducted its first survey on the number of tourists at the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward both on a weekday and a holiday in September this year. The results have proved Tsukiji’s continuing popularity as a sightseeing spot, with 33,138 people visiting the market between 4:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sept. 21, during the five-day weekend known as “Silver Week,” and 13,417 people on a weekday on Sept. 29 during the same time.

The market’s popularity exceeded that of Ueno zoo in Taito Ward, Tokyo’s former trademark amusement facility operated by the metropolitan government, with about 9,300 people on average visiting the site. Since its last panda died in spring last year, the zoo has been suffering from a decline in visitors with only about 2.9 million visits in fiscal 2008.

The survey results came as a surprise to a metropolitan government official, who insists that the market’s relocation to a new site in the Toyosu district, Koto Ward, is essential.

“The structure of the Tsukiji market is not suitable for so many visitors, and the building is too old. It should be moved to a new place with observation areas for tourists,” the official said.

However, there have been a lot of arguments for and against the relocation issue, especially after soil contamination was reported at the scheduled construction site.

Meanwhile, market workers pointed out the market’s convenient location was a major reason for its ability to attract many tourists.

Visitors from overseas accounted for about seven percent of all guests. On Sept. 21, a public holiday, the market was most crowded between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., while on Sept. 29, a weekday, it was busiest from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., the main period for tuna auctions.

About 30 percent of weekend visitors drove to the facility, likely due to the introduction of discount expressway tolls.

“The discount tolls will increase tourist numbers even more,” said a market official.

Currently, about 14,000 people are working at the Tsukiji market, and 25,000 shoppers, including fish dealers, shop owners and restaurant operators, visit the place on average every day. Tourist numbers started to increase from around 2003 and 2004, when the market launched a promotion campaign to attract the public.

From: Mainichi Japan, December 5, 2009

More people believe married couples do not necessarily need to have children, according to the results of a public opinion survey on gender equality that was released by the Cabinet Office on Saturday.

The survey was given to 5,000 men and women aged 20 and older between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18, of which 3,240 people responded.

The percentage of respondents who believe that married couples need not necessarily have children went up six points since the previous survey in 2007 to 42.8 percent, marking a record high, surpassing the 42.7 percent recorded for 1997.

Compared to the 38.7 percent of men who responded that married couples need not necessarily have children, 46.5 percent or nearly half of the women who responded to the survey said the same. The breakdown of those who believe that children are not a “must” for married couples is: 63 percent among those in their 20s, 59 percent among those in their 30s, 47.5 percent among those in their 40s, 43.1 percent among those in their 50s, 35.8 percent among those in their 60s, and 22.8 percent among those in their 70s.

While the fertility rate (the number of children a woman bears in a lifetime) has been picking up for three consecutive years since 2006, the survey highlights a shift toward a society that does not insist on all married couples having children, particularly among younger generations.

Those who responded that “whether one marries or not is up to the individual and either is acceptable” had been dropping in the last two surveys, but the figure went up this time by 4.9 points to 70 percent.

Respondents who disagreed with the statement that for married couples, “men should work outside the home and women should stay at home” went up by 3 points to 55.1 percent, marking the fifth consecutive survey in which this figure has increased. Meanwhile, 45.9 percent of respondents said that “it is preferable that women continue working even after they have children,” a 2.5 point increase since the previous survey and an all-time high.

This year’s results marked the first time in the history of the survey that the percentage of respondents who feel that there is gender equality in laws and policies surpassed the percentage of respondents who feel men receive favorable treatment in laws and policies, at 44.4 percent and 41.4 percent, respectively. However, 62.1 percent believe that men are favored in the workplace, a figure that has remained more or less the same in recent years, pointing to the fact that legislation that reflects gender equality has not resulted in a change in women’s status in society.

From: Mainichi Japan, December 7, 2009  http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2009/12/07/20091207p2a00m0na005000c.html

Postwar Japan has seen a shift from family-oriented marriages in which parents play matchmaker to individuals pursuing true romance. With democracy, women attained equal rights in marriage in terms of assets and custody.

These days, the concept of marriage is a source of great worry in Japan, as couples are tying the knot later in life. This, the graying population and falling birthrate are causing headaches for society.

Following are questions and answers regarding the marriage situation in Japan:

How did most people marry before the war?

Most marriages were arranged by parents, relatives and heads of households, because a marriage was more about joining one family to another.

Under the Civil Law, which took effect in 1898 during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), the “ie” family system debuted, legally centralizing various rights to the head of the household, who in principle was the first-born son.

This system, abolished in 1947, was often criticized as feudal and discriminatory against women.

According to “Meiji no Kekkon Meijino Rikon” (“The Meiji Marriage the Meiji Divorce”) published in 2005 by Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan Publishing Co., the head of the household held all property and rights over the wife, including parental authority.

Adultery was a criminal offense if committed by the wife. Not so for husbands, many of whom tended to stray.

Is it true fewer people are getting married these days?

Apparently so, and statistics indicate people are getting married at a later stage in life.

Data for 2005, the most recent compiled by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, shows that 47.1 percent of men from 30 to 34 were single, up from 32.6 percent in 1990, and 32.0 percent of women were single in the same age bracket, up from 13.9 percent in 1990.

According to Masahiro Yamada, a professor of family sociology at Chuo University, it is not about an increase in the number of people who want to stay single, but an increase in those who want to get married but can’t.

He notes three social obstacles to marriage: decreases in men’s salaries, more women who desire to be a housewife only, and the rise of “parasite singles” — men and women who live comfortably with minimal expense under their parents’ roofs.

“Women are staying at home with their parents, waiting for a man with a high income to come along. But there are fewer of these men, and hence the women are growing old as spinsters,” Yamada said.

Are the ways couples meet changing?

Yes. According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, about 70 percent of all marriages before the war were arranged. Nearly 60 years later, the percentage has plunged to 6.4 percent.

The group’s data show that most couples in recent years tied the knot based on affectionate ties nurtured through dating.

But there are many single men and women who, partly due to long working hours, complain they have little opportunity to meet a significant other.

This trend has turned matchmaking into a growth industry. The Ministry of Economic, Trade and Industry estimated in 2006 that the sector saw sales of between ¥50 billion to ¥60 billion.

Some parents desperate to find the right partner for their offspring even exchange profiles of their children.

Are same-sex marriages allowed in Japan?

No. Article 24 of the Constitution stipulates that marriage should be based on the mutual consent of “both sexes.”

According to “Pa-tona-shippu — Seikatsu to Seido” (“Partnership — Life and the System”) published in 2007 by Ryokufu Shuppan Inc., a guideline used by the Justice Ministry to examine immigration cases, the term “spouse” does not include those of same-sex unions.

What is the rule for surnames after marriage?

If both partners in a marriage are Japanese, the last name of one must be adopted, but not necessarily the male’s, as is the case in most Western countries. But if one spouse is a foreigner, the name of the Japanese spouse remains the same unless a change is filed within six months of the marriage.

Ardent advocates of the right to keep separate surnames, particularly a maiden name, have opted for common-law marriage.

The Democratic Party of Japan has submitted a revision of the Civil Law to the Diet in the past to enable couples to carry separate family names. Most recently, Justice Minister Keiko Chiba expressed her intention to submit a bill in the next ordinary Diet session to allow different surnames.

But conservative lawmakers, including some in the DPJ, oppose the change because, they argue, it would change the structure of the traditional family.

What is the divorce rate?

The divorce rate has remained relatively stable for the past decade, exceeding 250,000 cases annually. In 1970, the marriage rate was 10 percent and the divorce rate 0.93 percent. The figures indicated the percentage of marriages and divorces per 1,000 people.

In 2008, however, the marriage rate was 5.8 percent, while the divorce rate was 1.99 percent.

According to Chuo University’s Yamada, who conducted a survey on divorces, many of them were the result of a drop in the husband’s income.

Yamada agreed that it has become more socially acceptable to file for divorce, but he added it is now a matter of course that wives pursue divorce if their husbands fail to bring home the bacon.

“For the men, when the money runs out, so does the relationship,” Yamada said. “And most women take the children back to their parents’ home — they become parasites again.”

What about international marriages and what are some of the problems connected with the divorce and parental rights when those marriages fail?

International marriages are on the increase. According to the health ministry, about 5.1 percent of all marriages, or 36,969 out of the 726,106 couples who wed in 2008, were international marriages, with one of the spouses being a foreigner, up from 25,626 mixed marriages in 1990.

In one example of how international divorces can get ugly, last month an American was arrested in Fukuoka for allegedly trying to kidnap his own children back from his divorced Japanese wife, who had actually defied a U.S. court custody decision and brought the children to Japan.

According to media reports, the man was granted full custody of the children by a Tennessee court, but the ex-wife took the children back to Japan.

Japan is not a signatory member of the 1980 Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which is designed to deter international parental child abductions.

The husband was released from jail and went home empty-handed.

Source: Tying The Knot – Marriage ever-changing institution by Masami Ito
3/11/09 The Japan Times Online http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091103i1.html

However, he has not gone unobserved.

Police officers patrol a train on the Saikyo Line on Sept. 24 as part of a crackdown on molesters. (Mainichi)

“He touched you, didn’t he?” says a police officer who has seen the entire episode. Two stations later, the police have the high school girl’s account and the man, a 39-year-old construction worker, has been arrested on suspicion of molestation.

The police officer is a member of a dedicated five-officer team, part of a new Tokyo-region police plan to ‘exterminate’ the scourge of train molestation.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department along with their counterparts in Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures — where over 80 percent of Japan’s train molestation cases occur — have mobilized special teams of officers for the duration of the crackdown. Police also aim to shine a light on posted Internet accounts of molestation, which are seen as a catalyst for groping on trains.

According to the National Police Agency, there were 413 confirmed cases of indecent assault on Japan’s trains last year. Of these, 341 were recorded in Tokyo and its three neighboring prefectures. Aiming at wiping out the crime, ” rather on relying only on the courage of the victims to come forward, we want to create an environment where molesters believe they will be caught,” says a senior officer.

In Kanagawa Prefecture, the strengthened anti-molestation drive will continue to Oct. 20, while the Metropolitan Police Department ran its own hunt for molesters for five days in mid-September. Five special teams deployed onto Tokyo’s trains and arrested a total of 31 people (including cases of taking illicit photographs), with five arrests just on the Saikyo Line heading from Tokyo to Saitama Prefecture, a route so notorious for gropers it’s been dubbed “chikan densha,” or “the molester train.”

The crackdown — which involved mobilizing more than 3,000 police officers — was intended “not just to produce arrests, but to demonstrate vigilance,” and should help to deter molesters, says a senior police investigator.

Police also plan to demand bulletin board operators delete groping-related posts as “harmful material.” The crackdown already appears to have made waves online, as some 100 molestation-related posts were deleted by site operators independently.

Saitama Prefectural Police did not just deploy special teams from Sept. 24 to 30, but also established a “molestation crimes extermination patrol” made up of more than 100 officers including female officers. The officers ride the Saikyo Line and others in Saitama keeping an eye out for gropers.

Furthermore, the police headquarters of all four jurisdictions plan to call on railroad operators to install security cameras on their trains.

From Mainichi, October 11 2009

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2009/10/11/20091010p2a00m0na031000c.html

Young women who wear such clothes, conceived specifically not to draw men’s gazes, are referred to as “tsuyome joshi” (tough girls). As the trees turn from green to red and shed their leaves, so many women are shedding “kawaii” (cute) styles in favor of “kirei” (beautiful) outfits this autumn, including the growing population of those clad in tough-girl styles.

Three fans of the “visual kei” rock band Nightmare are pictured in Tokyo’s Harajuku district. (Mainichi)

A 21-year-old hair stylist wearing a biker jacket is pictured in Tokyo’s Harajuku district. (Mainichi)

Talking to some women in tough-girl styles, I learned there are several different types among them.

One is the “torendo tsuizui kei” (trend follower type). These types of women — attuned to the latest trends — are often dressed in avant-garde punk or 80′s styles, which have made a fashion comeback.

A 20-year-old hair stylist clad almost entirely in black is pictured in Tokyo’s Harajuku district. (Mainichi)

Another is the “ganso tsuyome kei” (original tough-girl type), which refers mainly to fans of “visual kei” bands, who sport heavy make-up as well as unusual hair styles and costumes. This type of woman — who is usually clothes in head-to-toe black, with skull- or cross-print T-shirts all accentuated by chain jewelry — don’t seem entirely happy that their style is transforming into the latest fashion trend.

There is also the “mezase kirei kei” (aspiring beauty type) of women striving to look mature by wearing jackets, pants and other mannish items. Many of them say anybody can look cute, but being beautiful requires the natural beauty and honesty that come from within. Perhaps these women’s aspirations to become beautiful are enhancing their tough-girl levels.

A 28-year-old event promotion model wearing boyish clothes is pictured in Tokyo’s Harajuku district. (Mainichi)

What’s more interesting are the many girls of the “suicchi kei” (switch type), who don’t wear the tough-girl fashion every day, but enjoy it once in a while as a wardrobe option. They wear outfits ranging from casual to conservative depending on time and circumstances.

In general, people tend to guess others’ personalities from their appearances. For instance, those who like to dress femininely are often regarded as womanly, and those who wear cool clothes are expected to be cool inside.

However, the chameleon-like tough girls probably do enjoy changing the clothing they wear because their inner cores are stable. (By Asuka Watanabe, lecturer in the Department of the Science of Living at Kyoritsu Women’s Junior College)

From Mainichi Japan, October 18 2009

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2009/10/18/20091017p2a00m0na031000c.html

Japan’s relative poverty rate, an indicator to gauge the percentage of low-income people in a country, was 15.7 percent as of 2006, Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Akira Nagatsuma revealed Tuesday.

In the 2003 survey conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Japan’s relative poverty rate was 14.9 percent, the fourth worst among the 30 member countries. The figure for 2006, officially worked out by the Japanese government, indicates that the nation’s poverty has gotten even worse since then.

The result has underscored that Japan has one of the highest poverty levels among industrialized countries.

The relative poverty rate represents the proportion of households with earnings less than half the nation’s average annual income. The government adopted the OECD’s calculation method to carry out its analysis.

Nagatsuma also said that the poverty rate for those aged under 17 years old stood at 14.2 percent, again showing a rise from 2003, when Japan was ranked 19th, with 13.7 percent.

Among the 30 OECD member countries in 2003, Mexico had the highest relative poverty rate of 18.4 percent, followed by Turkey (17.5 percent) and the United States (17.1 percent). Both Denmark and Sweden, on the other hand, showed the lowest poverty rates of 5.3 percent.

“Japan has one of the worst poverty levels among OECD countries. We would like to analyze the data and take countermeasures, while also looking at the national minimum (minimal living standards guaranteed by the national government),” said Nagatsuma, adding: “We will also estimate how the child welfare allocations scheduled for fiscal 2010 will affect the poverty rate.”

From Mainichi Japan, 21 October 2009

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2009/10/21/20091021p2a00m0na013000c.html

A survey of homeless people around JR Ikebukuro Station has revealed that over 60 percent are suffering from some kind of mental disorder, a group of psychiatrists said.

The team, led by Suimei Morikawa from the National Hospital Organization’s Kurihama Alcoholism Center in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in cooperation with NPO Tenohasi, found that the majority of those living rough are suffering from a range of problems, from chronic anxiety to schizophrenia.

“With a mental illness, it’s hard to get off the streets on one’s own. They need support and treatment,” said one of the psychiatrists.

In the survey, which was conducted from late December to early January, 80 homeless people underwent a medical examination by the team. Around 40 percent were found to be suffering from depression; 15 percent from alcohol dependency, and another 15 percent from schizophrenia or other delusional conditions.

Some were found to be suffering from multiple illnesses, and including those suffering from stress problems such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 63 percent exhibited some kind of mental disorder; and researchers believe the true figure could be even higher.

In addition, about half were deemed to be suicide risks, and with 20 of them homeless for less than six months, Morikawa says that they are in most need of help.

“Many of them have only recently lost their homes, and it’s easy to link these cases to suicides,” he said.

Morikawa adds that many suffering mental problems have other issues to bear: many believe they cannot qualify for livelihood protection, are unable to get appointments at local welfare offices, and cannot communicate smoothly with welfare staff.

“If the nation continues to cut the number of beds in psychiatric wards, the number of homeless people suffering from mental problems could increase. There is an urgent need for specially trained case workers,” Morikawa said.

Source: (Mainichi Japan) September 3, 2009 http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2009/09/03/20090903p2a00m0na018000c.html

The rise of Japan’s suicide rate is accelerating, with the number of suicides in June totaling 2,822, the National Police Agency (NPA) announced; partly as a result of the recession, it’s believed.

The total number of suicides during the first half of 2009 was 17,076, up by 768 compared to the same period last year. According to the NPA, 2,660 people took their own lives in January 2009, 2,482 in February, 3,084 in March, 3,048 in April, 2,980 in May and 2,822 in June, with each figure showing a year-on-year increase from 2008.

Males accounted for about 72 percent of all the suicides during the first half of 2009. The number increased by 712 compared to the same period last year, totaling 12,222 cases.

Annual suicide numbers have been exceeding 30,000 cases for 11 consecutive years since 1998. This year, it is projected to reach 34,152 cases — just shy of the 2003 record figure of 34,427 — if the monthly average remains constant at 2,846.

By area, Tokyo had the most suicides with 1,569. The area with the least was Tottori, with just 85.

“The soaring suicide rate reflects the government’s inability to provide necessary assistance to those needing help,” said Yasuyuki Shimizu, a representative from Lifelink, a nonprofit organization engaged in suicide prevention.

(Emphasis mine)

From: Mainichi Japan, July 28, 2009

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2009/07/28/20090728p2a00m0na009000c.html

Times have changed since the late 1800s, when the Japanese emperor wielded supreme power as head of the country’s Shinto religion, whipping up fierce nationalism and resistance to Western colonial forces.

The Japanese emperor, in that era and for thousands of years before, had been considered divine. Images of the emperor were worshipped.

Shinto dogmatism gave Japanese patriotism and militarism an imperialistic and mystical fervour.

State Shintoism contributed to the island nation entering the Second World War against Allied forces, including those from Canada.

When Japan lost the war in 1945, however, most Japanese believed it was because of their excessive pride, including their unhealthy deference to Shinto authority and the emperor.

On Jan. 1, 1946, Emperor Hirohito declared he was not a living god.

Still, in contemporary Japan the emperor remains the head of Shintoism, which is still, in a paradoxical way, considered the nation’s key religion.

When Japanese emperor Akihito visits B.C. from July 10 to 14, he will obviously be adopting a much less authoritarian position in relation to Shintoism than his 19th-century predecessors.

The emperor’s leadership of Shintoism is now mostly symbolic.

Yet Shintoism remains a crucial cultural force in Japan, where many observers believe it may be both formally and informally practised by more than 100 million people. Most residents, even those who say they’re not religious, typically blend Shintoism in a syncretistic mix with Buddhism and other religions.

Shinto practices also remain alive, however loosely, among many of the roughly 100,000 ethnic Japanese people in Canada, many of whom live in B.C. Still, unlike in Japan, formal Shinto shrines are difficult to find in Canada.

Shintoism is not an organized religion like Christianity, Judaism or some forms of Buddhism. Instead, it’s an amalgamation of ancient folk practices that include elements of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.

It’s hard for observers to keep firm track of Shinto practices, since the faith is so unstructured that most Japanese people don’t even see it as a religion.

In other words, many Japanese people follow Shintoism even if they don’t think they do.

Unlike many religions, one does not need to publicly profess belief in Shinto to be a Shintoist. Whenever a child is born in Japan, a local Shinto shrine adds the child’s name to a list kept at the shrine and declares him or her a “family child.” It’s not considered an imposition, but a welcome into the world of spirit.

The informality of the Shinto religion appears to be borne out in Canada, where census data shows that, among Canadians of Japanese origin, fewer than one per cent describe themselves as Shinto.

In contrast, many Japanese-Canadians tell census-takers they are Roman Catholic (5,000), United Church of Canada members (9,000), Buddhist (13,000) or, especially, have no religious affiliation (35,000).

Although Japan is considered a highly “secular” nation, polls show that even among those Japanese people who say they’re not religious, almost one half follow Shinto rituals or have Shinto shrines in their homes.

That’s why Shinto has been called “the religion of Japan,” because its customs and values are inseparable from those of Japanese culture. It echoes even in the respectful way Japanese people bow to each other.

As a result, even those Japanese-Canadians who follow Shintoism only loosely, such as 18-year-old Erica Somerville (who is half Japanese), say it’s exciting to have the symbolic head of Shintoism visit Canada.

She will get a better chance to see the emperor in Vancouver, she says, than she probably ever would in Japan, which she left nine years ago. She says most Japanese-Canadians now view Emperor Akihito less as someone to revere, and more as a celebrity.

Somerville, who works for the Japanese-Canadian magazine The Bulletin (which has a circulation of 18,000), says Shintoism emphasizes good luck and ethical living, but often verges on superstition.

The Japanese-Canadian teenager nevertheless values the Shinto emphasis on cleanliness, which emerges out of the religion’s focus on ritual purity.

It’s one of the reasons so many Japanese-Canadians, she says, make a point of thoroughly cleaning their houses every Jan. 1, New Year’s Day.

What are other Shinto beliefs and rituals?

Shinto advocates constant honouring of kami, which translates either as spirits, spiritual essence or even as gods in a polytheistic sense.

Shinto teaches that everything contains a kami. Kami may be ancestors or famous persons from Japanese history, some of whom are venerated at shrines. Kami spirits also are often described as inhabiting inanimate objects or becoming animals. Shintoism is so eclectic that kami are also said to include the Christian God, Hindu gods and Islam’s Allah.

Not surprisingly, given its open structure, Shinto comes in a dizzy array of types.

“Imperial Shinto” refers to the religious rites performed by the royal family, who emphasize ancestor reverence. Alternatively, “Shrine Shinto” oversees about 80,000 shrines throughout Japan.

For its part, “Folk Shinto” includes divination, spirit possession, and shamanic healing. “Sect Shinto” groups include those who worship mountains like Mount Fuji.

Shinto emphasizes ethical living. It teaches that certain deeds create impurities that should be cleansed, for one’s own peace of mind and good fortune.

The Shinto emphasis on the need for cooperation can be seen throughout Japanese culture today. Many cars made in Japan have been sanctified by Shinto priests as part of the assembly process.

Other well-known Japanese practices have origins in Shinto. The Shinto ideal of harmony with nature underlies such typically Japanese arts as flower-arranging and garden design.

Many say Shinto is inherent in sumo wrestling, where many Shinto-inspired ceremonies must be performed before a bout, such as purifying the wrestling arena by sprinkling it with salt.

Other Japanese cultural customs, such as using wooden chopsticks and removing shoes before entering a building, have their origin in Shintoism.

Tatsuo Kage, a Japanese-Canadian living in B.C., is not aware of any free-standing Shinto shrines in B.C. But the noted translator and cultural author says some Japanese-Canadians have simple Shinto altars in their homes, which they keep to enhance their good fortune.

from: http://www.vancouversun.com/Entertainment/Emperor+remains+head+Shintoism+Japan/1759187/story.html