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Japan has appointed a 'Minister of Loneliness' to deal with rising suicide rate

Sectorseven

Sectorseven

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Oct 25, 2017
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www.insider.com

Japan has appointed a 'Minister of Loneliness' after seeing suicide rates in the country increase for the first time in 11 years

During the pandemic, with people more socially isolated than ever, Japan saw a rise in suicides for the first time in 11 years in 2020.
www.insider.com www.insider.com

Japan has appointed a "Minister of Loneliness" to take try and reduce loneliness and social isolation among its residents as the country deals with rising suicide rates, Tomohiro Osaki reported for the Japan Times.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga appointed Tetsushi Sakamoto, who is already a minister in charge of dealing with Japan's declining birthrate and promoting regional revitalization, to oversee government policies to deal with loneliness and isolation, earlier this month. Prime Minister Suga chose Sakamoto as his Minister for economic revitalization when he was elected in September 2020.

"Women are suffering from isolation more (than men are), and the number of suicides is on a rising trend," Suga told Sakamoto on a February 12 news conference announcing the new role, according to the Japan Times. "I hope you will identify problems and promote policy measures comprehensively."
 
Finaj

Finaj

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Oct 25, 2017
5,358
Holy shit, what a title.

"Minister of Loneliness."

But in all seriousness, I'm glad to see the Japanese government trying to address this problem.
 
Kinthey

Kinthey

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Oct 27, 2017
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I wonder if the minister will sit alone at lunch
 
kmfdmpig

kmfdmpig

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Oct 25, 2017
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The suicide rate in Japan is widely thought to be dramatically higher than many countries, but in reality it's not the highest in the world nor is it too far off from the US, Iceland, Poland, Australia, etc...
 
Westbahnhof

Westbahnhof

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Oct 27, 2017
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I once attended a class held by a Master of Suicidology(which is a much better title), I hope this Minister of Loneliness will consult people like that guy.
 

Deleted member 14089

Oct 27, 2017
6,264
There's no rulebook to suicide prevention, but I hope that they can invest in measurements that helps those in need of support. From the article it is not absolutely clear, apart from a short paragraph, of why there is an uptick in suicide rates of women. The BBC article mentioned does go deeper into this subject.

"I have never seen this much [of an] increase in my career as a researcher on this topic. The thing about the coronavirus pandemic is the industries hit most are industries staffed by women, such as tourism and retail and the food industries."
Japan has seen a large rise in single women living alone, many of them choosing that over marriage which entails quite traditional gender roles still. Prof Ueda says young women are also far more likely to be in so-called precarious employment.

"A lot of women are not married anymore," she says. "They have to support their own lives and they don't have permanent jobs. So, when something happens, of course, they are hit very, very hard. The number of job losses among non-permanent staff are just so, so large over the last eight months."
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The root cause seems more cultural and structural problem.

----

There are apparently minister of loneliness in other countries also.

Also, some of the initial reactions minutes within the creation of the thread sound insensitive, what the heck
 

HockeyBird

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,585
I am a Bird said:
Loneliness sounds like your underplaying the problem if you ask me.
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After reading the article, it seems like it's a minister for specifically tackling loneliness, which has seen an increase due to Covid, not the broader issues of mental health and suicide in the country. So it doesn't seem like his job is to address things like the work or social culture in the country which contribute to suicides as well.
 
Cross-Section

Cross-Section

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Oct 27, 2017
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Sectorseven said:
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga appointed Tetsushi Sakamoto, who is already a minister in charge of dealing with Japan's declining birthrate and promoting regional revitalization, to oversee government policies to deal with loneliness and isolation, earlier this month. Prime Minister Suga chose Sakamoto as his Minister for economic revitalization when he was elected in September 2020.
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Man they're just saddling this person with all the shit jobs, aren't they
 
Dyle

Dyle

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Should have a top government official focused on the issue in pretty much every developed country
 
Lube Man

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I can't wait for "Minister of Lonliness" to show up in an anime as the main villain behind everyone's miseries.
 
Davidion

Davidion

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A. How dare they steal my job title.

B. How dare they steal my band name.
 
Tavernade

Tavernade

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Sep 18, 2018
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I realize that it's likely do to the different job situation of women in Japan versus, say, in the US, but it's interesting that they are more at risk due to loneliness there. I remember reading a lot of articles awhile back about loneliness and isolation in the US where it seemed like it was more of a male thing, as women had larger social circles whereas men had much smaller ones. Though a lot of work culture things are different in Japan, which could turn that somewhat on its head.
 
Dalek

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DMms_AVX0AAJjcp.jpg
 
pewpewtora

pewpewtora

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Loneliness jokes aside, its nice to see the country try to address its suicide/mental health problem because I was looking at the stats the other day and the shit is depressing.
 
whytemyke

whytemyke

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Oct 28, 2017
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My friend's brother just killed himself this weekend. The social effects of the pandemic and social isolation cannot/must not be understated. (I know this has been an issue in Japan before the pandemic but the current crisis certainly lends a new air of importance to solutions addressing the problem.)

I hope this new minister in Japan can come up with ideas that can be exported and help people around the world.
 
UltraGashInferno

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Jesus fuckin christ, the time to laugh and make haha anime jokes is not right now. Japan's a country of human beings. Not a quirky cute place with a quirky cute high suicide rate just like my animes
 

Deleted member 3542

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Ah, my favorite track from Joy Division.
 
Crimsonskies

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As someone who struggled with suicidial thoughts and have depression this should sound good but I fear given the history of the ruling party in Japan they are just gonna treat the sympthoms instead of looking at the root causes which seems to be deep rooted cultural issues.

And given the last controversy on how these old farts running the country viewed women I have a feeling it won't ammount to much.

www.bbc.com

Japan's LDP party invites women to 'look, not talk' at key meetings

Female MPs will be invited to board meetings - but cannot talk - days after an Olympics sexism row.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Kurtikeya

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It's a real thing. My mother's (she's worked there for longer than I've been alive) been calling me more frequently than ever because she's been depressed, and I've been so worried that I've been telling her that I love her more than once a day. Two of her best friends there are her gym instructor and a hostess, and from the sounds of it they've also been anxious and lost. At least around my mother's circles, a lot of work involves socializing and being around people, so now that's been taken away it's no wonder a lot of people there feel defeated.

Tavernade said:
I realize that it's likely do to the different job situation of women in Japan versus, say, in the US, but it's interesting that they are more at risk due to loneliness there. I remember reading a lot of articles awhile back about loneliness and isolation in the US where it seemed like it was more of a male thing, as women had larger social circles whereas men had much smaller ones. Though a lot of work culture things are different in Japan, which could turn that somewhat on its head.
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Part of it is that women are deployed to help cater to lonely men. Hostess clubs, maid cafes, and rental girlfriends all sell attention and closeness, and while there are equivalents that cater to women, the gender gap is of course there.
 
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Deleted member 46493

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Crimsonskies said:
And given the last controversy on how these old farts running the country viewed women I have a feeling it won't ammount to much.
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The solution will be some half-assed program or something vs. a real fix - an end to a work culture that works you to death and doesn't let you have your own life, including dating.

Women get hit double hard because they are also expected to be married with kids by their mid to late 20s.
 
Gunny T Highway

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That sounds like a tough job, but it is necessary. I think all governments should have some form of a mental health minister.
 
collige

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I'm not too familiar with Japanese politics, but isn't the current administration mostly a continuation of Abe's terrible right wing policies? Not exactly the people I would trust to solve this problem.
 
PaperSparrow

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This is a serious issue in the US as well, though my understanding is it's trending higher with men here. I know this has been heightened because of social distancing but these job life-focused countries need to start reckoning with the obvious underlying problems beyond that.

I'm kind of cynical that these sorts of government positions will accomplish much, especially conservative-ran ones. Needs to be societal-level changes.
 
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