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Internet Suicide Pacts Surge in Japan

Posted by Zonk on from the not-what-the-internet-is-for dept.

darkmonkeh writes "The number of Japanese who killed themselves in online suicide pacts rose sharply last year, according to the BBC. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and the pacts may appeal to those scared to die alone. These Japanese internet 'suicide clubs' accounted for at least 26 deaths in the last 2 months."

3 of 571 comments (clear)

  1. Blown out of proportion... by PornMaster · · Score: 4, Informative

    So... 34000 Japanese killed themselves in 2003, and last year less than 100 people committed suicide as part of suicide clubs.

    1 in 340, or 0.3 percent of suicides are accounted for by this?

    People like to be horrified by the idea, but resources would be far better focused in pretty much any other way than worrying about this.

    --
    500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
  2. Re:Suicide by hunterx11 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually more girls attempt to commit suicide than boys in the US, but more girls fail because they tend to eschew more gruesome and reliable methods.

    --
    English is easier said than done.
  3. Bullshit. by BJH · · Score: 5, Informative

    You just pulled that out of your ass, didn't you?

    The majority of suicides in Japan are older men, peaking at 71.1 people per 100,000 for men in the 55-59 age range. This is not particularly surprising, considering the pressures on men of that age (higher chance of being made unemployed, older parents to look after, higher rate of divorce, lower chance of promotion, etc.).

    Young girls don't even come close; the 15-19 year old female suicide rate is 5.6 per 100,000.

    Further statistics available here.