'Social media suicide' in spotlight after Zama serial killings

Suicide websites are not the problem. The problem is, why is a quarter of the population suicidal? That is what they should be addressing.

Suga added the government should also boost support for young people who post desperate messages online, but did not offer further details.

How can he provide details, he doesnt have any. He is of the same cloth as his boss, talks a good game, but when it comes to the finer points, he is lost.

He thinks that by just saying something, things will change.

"Those who want to die want to be accepted as they are and don't want to be told to cheer up," Mura said.

Sadly, mental health care in Japan seems to consist largely of being told to cheer up. Or to cheer up and work harder.

But Twitter also proved to be his downfall, as police persuaded a young woman to contact him via social media to arrange a meeting, enabling investigators to trap him.

Huh investigators? The girls Brother deserves this credit.

Suicide websites are not the problem. The problem is, why is a quarter of the population suicidal? That is what they should be addressing.

Boom! Nail, head.

why is a quarter of the population suicidal? That is what they should be addressing.

Thank you for this important question. If I may opine, the very definition of raging insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Unless the establishment government is overhauled and replaced with a credible much more formidable opposition with new, fresh ideas, expect more of the same.

All this will be swept under the rug. No agency, no family group - no one will do something about this. This is just publicity. My thoughts and prayers goes out to all deceased families, relatives and friends. May they R.I.P.

In stead of looking at a small problem like the website, why not tackle the bigger problem that fuels those suicidal sites? Without suicide, you won't have thiose sites.

"Those who want to die want to be accepted as they are and don't want to be told to cheer up," Mura said.

Honestly this quote above just shows that the certain individuals who have post -depression, stress are just miserable people who cannot see any insurance of hope at all, there's no point of listening to family, friends or counselors. In their mindset they see darkness and nothing else. It's their escape goat. It's pretty sad knowing they would go down that road.

“The grisly beheading of nine young people”

The first sentence of this article implies that the victims were killed by having their heads cut off. What evidence does the author have to state that? To my knowledge, everything that has been made public so far indicates the bodies were cut up after the victims were killed by other means.

They were beheaded and whether that was before or after death it was, no doubt grisly.

@Disillusioned, may be high suicide rate is due to the work, work, work, bully, more work, more bulling, go to bed, get up after 5 hours sleep and repeat, mentality. Qe have a saying here in the UK, all work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy

@Brian Wheway - maybe high suicide rate is due to the work, work, work, bully, more work, more bulling, go to bed, get up after 5 hours sleep and repeat, mentality. Qe have a saying here in the UK, all work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy

There's no 'maybe' about it. However, that is only a brief description of the problem. You can add, no vacations and virtually non-existent mental health care. This pattern starts in junior high school. High school students get a 6-week vacation, but the schools give them 3 months' worth of homework to do in their vacation. What bloody vacation!?!? Working staff never take vacations because, if they do, they will get a letter telling them not to come back. I know people who have been fired during their vacations. This is a huge breach of labor laws, but they get away with it because Japanese people don't do anything about it, plus labor unions in Japan are to deliver directions from the management to the staff, not from the staff to the management. I'm employed directly by a private high school and university. Every time my contract is renewed they boast about an extra few days of annual leave offered to me. However, they also state that, I can't take my vacations during the school terms unless I am dead or some other emergency. I must take my vacation days during the summer, winter or spring break, which I get paid for anyway. "Gee! Thanks!" I consider myself very lucky having the chance to get a break though, coz many don't. This day-in day-out non-stop working culture is killing people by the the thousands through both ill-health and suicide, but these wombats only think about closing down websites where people look for suicide buddies? The issues of increasing child abuse, domestic violence and in-family murders are also directly related to this BS culture of working yourself to death for Japan Inc. and as the population and workforce decreases with stalled and failing economic growth it's only going to get worse. Yes, the suicide rate has dropped by around 5-17% in the last 3 or 4 years, but during that time child abuse, domestic violence and in-family murders have increased. This means, nothing has really changed except they are killing other people instead of themselves.

Regulating suicide websites will not solve the problem and I do not think anything will, as the suicide mentality is too ingrained in the Japanese psyche and in Japanese culture. It is socially acceptable, so people will keep doing it. Other factors that contribute to suicide are not going away either. Japanese people may make a lot of noise but they cannot talk. They cannot express their emotions verbally. Add to the persistent bullying at schools and at work, the insane number of hours people are required to work and the fact that Japanese are very good at making eachothers lives a total misery. Add to all of that, Japanese peoples sheer inability to change and it is clear the suicide rate will continue as it is with only minor irrelevant fluctuations.

Suicide websites are not the problem. The problem is, why is a quarter of the population suicidal? That is what they should be addressing.

Yes. This tragedy does raise awareness and help reduce suicides.

I would like to know the pathology of this murderer, but it is probably fairly simple and not connected to suicide at all. The serial murderer probably only used these websites as a tool to easily find victims.

This tragedy does raise awareness and may help reduce suicides.

I believe the murderer exploited these young people. They were vulnerable and because suicide is taboo and not discussed enough - he saw his opportunity.

The noble portyals of seppuku and kamikaze pilots aside, suicide needs to be addressed. Young people's concerns should not be dismissed.

if you want to off automatically go ahead. stop trying to get fellow feeling from strangers on the internet of course this will come to pass

Add to all of that, Japanese peoples sheer inability to change and it is clear the suicide rate will continue as it is with only minor irrelevant fluctuations.

Is a drop in the suicide rate of 30+% over a decade a 'minor irrelevant fluctuation' to you? Because a cut of 1/3 seems more significant than minor to me, and quite relevant, rather than irrelevant. And seeing as this reduction has considered in the same direction for a decade, it doesn't seem to be a fluctuation either, but rather actual progress.

Educator60. Heads were found in cooler boxes which means they were detached from the torso, in other words......beheaded. It doesn't matter what happened or what order they were cut up, it's still called being beheaded when the head has be detached from the torso.

@linensrange - sorry I don't follow. Do you mean if you want to commit suicide you should just go ahead without discussing it with anyone?

If that is your stance, I must disagree there. Not talking about suicide is precisely why so many young (and older) people fall out of our lives. It's sad that death isn't discussed more openly. Who knows; by doing so - lives may be saved?

smart phone should not be allowed for high school students. They dont need them. Ban them already.

if you want to off yourself go ahead. stop trying to get sympathy from strangers on the internet of course this will happen