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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Six found dead near Tokyo in suspected suicide |
| 2005-02-06 |
| Japanese police said today they were investigating a suspected group suicide after six people were found dead in a parked car, the latest in a series of such cases. The three men and three women, who all appeared to be in their 20s, were found dead today in a station wagon parked on a remote road in Miura just west of Tokyo, a police spokesman said. ''We think it's a case of group suicide,'' he said, adding that officers had found four charcoal stoves and boxes of sleeping pills in the car, which had its windows sealed from the inside. The stoves generate carbon monoxide, a deadly poison. Japan has been hit by a series of group suicide pacts, many by strangers who only got to know each other through suicide Web sites, and dubbed by the Japanese media as ''Internet suicides''. A total of 34 people killed themselves in such pacts in 2003, according to police data. It was not clear whether those found dead in Saturday's case made contact through the Internet. Japan has one of the highest rates of suicide in the developed world and has no religious prohibitions against a practice long been seen as a way to escape failure. Suicide is also seen as a way of saving loved ones from embarrassment over financial losses. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 change change change sorry I just finished watching the Superbowl... |
| Posted by: gromky 2005-02-06 11:01:43 PM |
| #5 Short version - Japan has a history of long periods of stability/stasis, followed by brief periods of extremely violent change. After such changes, Japanese society is radically changed. The end of WWII was the last such incident, the Meiji Restoration was the previous. Neither were what you'd call, "fun times to live in". Conventional wisdom holds that Japan is due for another such correction. A directionless nation, but fundamentally strong. All they need is a new concept, or the right leader, and you've got 125,000,000 well-armed people repudiating their pacifist past. |
| Posted by: gromky 2005-02-06 11:00:27 PM |
| #4 If they do realign their military as a true military capability, it might do wonders for a lot of their young men. |
| Posted by: too true 2005-02-06 5:58:36 PM |
| #3 I agree with Gromky. There is a lot to like about Japan and its people, but there is also a deep sickness in the society. I was astounded to hear that 10% of young Japanese males stay in their bedrooms for years at a time never leaving. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-02-06 5:40:32 PM |
| #2 which is just going to make it that much more thunderous when they finally do wake up. Over my head, could you explain what you mean, please? |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-02-06 5:29:01 PM |
| #1 This sort of thing is not unknown in Japan. The method is always the same, hibiachis and a sealed room (first car I've heard of...plus it's the first Japanese car I've heard of that fits 6 people). These twentysomethings weren't escaping failure, or saving others from embarassment. They just couldn't find a reason to live, a sickness of the soul. Japan is an empty country for many reasons, which is just going to make it that much more thunderous when they finally do wake up. |
| Posted by: gromky 2005-02-06 5:22:37 PM |