![]() In analyzing these numbers, RIETI researcher Fujii Kazuhiko notes that women have borne the brunt of pandemic-driven job losses in the huge personal services sector. In August, however, suicides rose by 246 month-on-month to 1,849, with women accounting for 75% of the increase. Nonetheless, from February to June, the number of suicides dropped 10% compared with the same period last year, according to statistics compiled by the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). This progress has been threatened by the pandemic, as the unemployment rate in Japan crept up from 2.4% in February to a 21-year-high of 3% by June. Suicides fell from a peak of 34,427 in 2003 to 20,169 in 2019 - the lowest number since authorities began tracking annual suicide figures in 1978, if still high by international standards. A nine-step plan, announced in 2007, aimed to lower the suicide rate by 20% by 2017. Meanwhile, the Japanese government has taken an active role in reducing suicide numbers in recent years. “They ought to give seminars on emotional care to talent managers,” an anonymous agency executive told the Shukan Josei Prime (Women’s Weekly) entertainment news site. Some in the industry have opined that Miura, Ashina and Takeuchi lacked emotional support from their respective agencies in dealing with the burdens of stardom, which have intensified during the pandemic. Add COVID stressors on top of these, and the shame associated with getting support makes this group very vulnerable.” Given this is an industry that is already filled with high stressors and lots of media attention, it’s not surprising people may have mental health issues. “Everyone’s mental health is taking a battering at the moment, and people in the entertainment industry are no different. “The stigma and the shame of having a mental health problem is much greater in Japan than many other developed countries, which creates delays and barriers to getting treatment,” Skorji explains. There have been no media reports of Takeuchi, Ashina, Miura or Kimura contacting one of the dozens of helplines in Japan, or otherwise getting professional help, though confidentiality terms could be a factor. “She may have been struggling with postnatal depression, which is not talked about enough in Japan, nor are new mothers given sufficient support,” says Vickie Skorji, director of the TELL Lifeline, a Tokyo-based mental health helpline. She also had a 14-year-old son from a previous marriage. None left a note and all were physically healthy and professionally in demand at the time of their deaths.īut Takeuchi, who played a female Sherlock Holmes in 2018 HBO series “Miss Sherlock,” had given birth to a baby boy in January, her first child with second husband Taiki Takabayashi, whom she had married in 2019. The suicides of Miura, Ashina and Takeuchi are harder to parse. Not long after her death, the Fuji TV network canceled the show. She posted the message “I’m sorry” with her photo on Instagram and, on May 23, tweeted that “I get nearly 100 honest opinions every day and I admit that I get hurt.” Later that day, she ended her life at age 22. In the former category is the death of Kimura, who became the target of harsh social media attacks following her on-air altercation in March with a male participant on the popular reality show “Terrace House,” which found a global audience on Netflix. In modern-day Japan, factors contributing to high suicide rates, by developed world standards, are varied and, in the case of celebrity suicides, motivating factors can range drastically. The reality, however, is more complex, with their self-inflicted deaths frequently being compelled rather than chosen. ![]() ![]() The Japanese have long had an image in the West as accepting and even embracing of suicide, with oft-cited examples being the samurai warriors and the kamikaze pilots of WWII. I want people to be aware of me, to praise me, to care about me…That sort of desire has steadily grown in the isolated society of the coronavirus crisis.” Matsubayashi says that when she imagines jumping from a high place, “I’m not thinking of the faces of family, friends and those who have helped me I just want to escape from my present situation and find peace.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |