Content Guidance: This article explores aspects of psychology and mental health and contains depictions of self-harm and suicide. Please read with care.
From the outside, Japan is viewed as an economic powerhouse and a prominent player on the world stage. However, beneath the surface lies a sinister undercurrent where Japan’s success often comes at the expense of its own citizens’ mental health. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates among OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) nations. Reporting around 16.6 suicides per 100,000 people, Japan is considerably higher than the OECD average of 12 per 100,000 persons (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). Although the suicide rates have declined in recent years, there were considerable spikes in cases during the 1990s and then later in 2009. These times corresponded with the periods when Japan was in economic turmoil, creating considerable stress on the hard-working salarymen. “Salaryman” is a term that describes the average Japanese white-collar worker. The majority of suicides in Japan are caused by stress from work and underlying mental health conditions. In Japan, mental health issues are often viewed as taboo. This has resulted in many people who have been diagnosed with mental illness feeling ashamed. In order for Japan’s suicide crisis to end, there must be more conversations about these issues in order to make it less stigmatized and for there to be less victim shaming. As a society that values collectivism over individualism, many Japanese workers choose to hide their mental health conditions while they work and refuse to receive help.
Suicide has affected many families in Japan, leaving people wondering what they could have done or changed to protect their loved ones from taking their lives. Although Japan’s suicide rates have improved since the 1990s, the rates are still high compared to other nations.
A study conducted by the OECD in 2019 found Japan’s suicide rate to be around “16.6 suicides per 100,000 people”. These numbers are lower than in the 1990s when the rate rose by 70 percent and peaked at the reported rate of 24 suicides per 100,000 in 1998. Men are more at risk of committing suicide in Japan than women, and the most common age group is those in their 50s. This makes the average Japanese salaryman the most at risk for committing suicide. Suicide and mental illnesses are seen as taboo, as people refrain from openly talking about them. This often results in victim shaming, where people with mental illnesses feel like they are looked down upon by society. Driven by fear of losing their job, people often wait until it is too late to seek help. The leading cause of suicide tends to be a result of stress and an employee’s workload. In 2002, Japan’s Health Ministry conducted a survey that reported that “62% of workers suffered stress with regard to their work environment, human relationships, quantity and quality of work, as well as anxiety over their company’s future”. This stress is embedded in the highly collectivist nature of Japanese society. People put others’ needs before their own and work for the greater good rather than what is best for their personal well-being. In many instances, salarymen put their companies before their own health by working extensive hours, driving them to the point of exhaustion. This pressure is too much for many people to handle and exponentially more difficult for people with pre-existing mental health conditions.
In order to better understand the suicide crisis in Japan, it is vital to understand the significance and difference between the two terms karoshi and karo-jisatsu. In the article ““Karoshi (Work to Death)” in Japan”, Atsuko Kanai explains how these terms came to be and how they have changed Japanese society. In the early 1980s, the phenomenon of karoshi emerged, where people would work to the point of exhaustion and eventually die. Victims of karoshi suffer from fatal cerebral and or cardio diseases as a result of overworking. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare was “initially reluctant to approve karoshi” as a workers’ accident. This allows the victims’ families to receive compensation. Refuting the ministry’s hesitancy, Kanai argues in their article that “workaholism is not a psychological trait” but instead “an adaptation to work that demands overload”. Eventually, after the evidence of the harmful effects of overworking became more and more evident, the ministry began to relax its standards for karoshi approval, allowing for more families to receive compensation.
Another tragedy that has stemmed from the hectic working hours in Japan is karo-jisatsu. Karo-jisatsu is when a person commits suicide was suffering from depression or stress from work overload. Karo-jisastu did not get approved until after karoshi. This was due to the fact that karo-jisastu was seen as an intentional act instead of an accident. The majority of suicide victims had pre-existing mental health conditions but kept them hidden in fear of being fired from their jobs. Karoshi can be prevented when companies begin to recognize it as a threat and work with their employees to prevent it. Open dialogue provides relief for suffering employees and is a way for employers to show their employees that they care about them. In 2006, the “white collar exemption” system was debated in the Japanese Diet. The Japanese government argues that this system would “reduce work hours without losing annual income”. When seeking to strike a deal, it is of the utmost importance to create policies that not only benefit the employees but also the company’s well-being. While it is important to reduce employees’ long hours, companies must do it in a way that will not reduce productivity.
Japanese work culture tends to be a toxic environment as many salarymen are forced to work crazy hours. Their hours can range up to twelve hours a day, making for an eighty-hour work week. These hours not only increase the risk of karoshi and karo-jisatsu, but they can also lead to depression and feelings of isolation. As a result of these working hours, salarymen fail to strike a work-family life balance. They leave early in the morning and come back late at night. These schedules do not have adequate time for building family relationships. As salarymen become “busy with work, they [think] less about their family. Not only does this strain family relationships, but it also makes the salarymen more at risk of developing depression. These schedules allow for little to no free time for these men to do anything other than work. The first step in combating a mental illness or stress, in general, is to have an outlet to relieve stress. Without an outlet, salarymen are forced to keep their emotions bottled up, creating anxiety and depression. This expedites the fatal cerebral/cardio diseases that result in karoshi.
Another problem caused by this toxic work environment is that employees refrain from reporting their mental health illnesses and issues out of fear of being fired. In an interview conducted by MediaStorm, Syota Nakahara, an employee at a computer software company, recounts keeping his depression hidden from his employer. He states that he feared that if he lost his full-time job, “[his] life would be destroyed”. This fear is common among the working class and is the main driving force behind keeping mental illnesses secret. Mental illnesses and mental health are highly stigmatized topics in Japan. Studies done by the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science have shown that of “the Japanese general population,” few people think “that people can recover from mental disorders”. In addition to this misunderstanding, the results of this study have shown that the general public in Japan “[keeps] a greater social distance from individuals with mental illness”. These dangerous stigmas not only hinder people from seeking professional help but also isolate individuals with these mental illnesses making their conditions worse. These attitudes can quite possibly be linked to the lack of national campaigns to attack the stigma of the Japanese societal value of conformity.
Although suicide rates have spiked, garnering attention from the international community in recent years, suicide is not a new phenonium in Japan. During the time of the samurai, the concept of bushido emerged during the Edo period (between 1603 and 1868). Bushido is also known as “the way of the warrior”. It was an overarching concept for all the codes, practices, and philosophies of samurai culture. These expectations controlled the samurai’s life, and they felt as if it was their duty to carry them out. If samurai failed to carry out their duties or behaved dishonorably, they would commit seppuku (ritual suicide). Seppuku was carried out in accordance with bushido. Specific reasons for seppuku could range from a samurai behaving cowardly in a battle to losing the sponsorship of a daimyo. These offenses brought shame to the samurai and their families, so seppuku allowed the samurai to die honorably. The samurai also committed seppuku voluntarily on the battlefields in order to have an honorable death rather than be captured and tortured by the enemy. These traditions and expectations were embedded in Japanese society for centuries.
A more modern example of committing suicide with honor can be seen during World War II in the kamikaze pilots. This was a special unit in the Japanese Imperial Air Force that flew suicide attacks against the Allied navy. The attacks were aimed at the American battleships and were often more precise, effective, and did more damage. The pilots would be killed on impact, but this was seen as honorable, and they were remembered for their bravery. The kamikaze concept baffled Western countries during the war. Committing suicide for the greater good can be hard to comprehend. The Allied soldiers no doubt matched the bravery of the Japanese soldiers during WWII. Once again, the kamikaze concept alludes to the Japanese ideal of society above self. As a collectivist society, Japanese citizens often neglect their personal well-being in order to benefit the greater good of their company. Although suicide is no longer celebrated in Japan, the long-lasting effects of its glorification can still be seen today. Hardworking salarymen commit suicide in hopes of preserving their honor rather than going to seek help.
Karo-jisatsu highlights the mental health crisis in Japan. Many people are forced to sweep their mental illnesses under the rug in the best interests of their company rather than what is best for their health. Often their emotions stay suppressed inside of them until people cannot bear it anymore, and they commit karo-jisatsu. These tragedies highlight the Japanese ideal of others before self. Dialogue on these topics can help aid those suffering from mental illnesses. While Japanese society pushes those who are suffering away, it only makes their conditions worse by increasing the feeling of isolation. A study done by CNN shows that “suicide has claimed more lives in October than COVID-19 over the entire year”. This startling statistic proves that the fight to end suicide is far from over, and the Japanese people must come together to destigmatize mental illnesses and help those who are hurting. Koki Ozora, a 21-year-old student at Keio University, has taken action to help those suffering by creating “Anata no Ibasho” (A Place for You), a 24-hour online counseling resource. This is an outlet where users can express their thoughts and feelings anonymously. Ozora states that the platform was “inspired by his high school teacher,” who was the “first adult he was able to trust when he was struggling with depression”.
Ozora’s story is not uncommon. So many other people struggle with depression and other mental illnesses. The first step in ending the suicide crisis is having a dialogue about these tough issues. Talking online anonymously is the catalyst for change. Once people begin to understand mental health issues and they have people they can talk to and trust, only then can the suicide rate in Japan decrease. It is vital that people have the resources that they need to get help. Instead of using collectivism to make these issues worse, Japanese society can come together to tackle these issues together, and the individuals will be stronger for it.
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