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Japan Politics

Japan approves constitution steps

Japan's parliament passes legislation that paves the way for a referendum on revising the pacifist constitution. Ref. BBC

Politics Japan

Sometimes I wonder about the Japanese that commit suicide... Is it a cultural thing where they wish to save honor or hide shame or is it in this case just too guilty to face the music?

Japan Politics History & Civil Business Politics

I think Japanese in general have the fame of being honorable people hence if something may cause them or their families great shame then they seem to be willing to take out their own lives if necessary.

Politics Japan

Honestly, I think it has to do with a lack of religion. There is very little religion in Japan to preach against suicide. In addition, historically (the samurai times and before) it was considered preferred to living in shame for some failure.

Politics Japan

So is it that we can expect that every guilty politician is likely to resort to this if they are caught? Slander must be a very big issue there, especially if the Japanese media gets it wrong and takes down a politician wrongfully.

Japan Politics

I wouldn't say everyone in the public eye that has faced some shame will elect to commit suicide, but there will be a few more than the rest of the world. The guy from Livedoor, Mitsubishi Execs, Snow Brand Execs and many others have elected to continue life in the face of shame and media bashing. However, there are a fair number that have elected to "check out" as we say... As has been reported, you are 5 times more likely to die by your own hand in Japan than in a car accident!

https://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/FG28Dh01.html

The economy has been on the upswing in the last couple of years, so there may be some changes to the numbers, but the article is pretty interesting.

Japan Politics

I have heard that many businessmen and politicians keep a katana in their office on display or tucked away in a draw for this purpose? I also heard that many of the politicians also work by a clan code, though not spoken of publicly. Any truth to that?

Japan Politics Politics Business Civil & History

I haven't heard of the katana's being much more than display items. Although, I am sure if they wanted to they could use it for suicide. The most common way to do it is to just throw yourself infront of the oncoming railcar. Typically, it is a local train and not the Shinkansen. As far as the clans are concerned, I haven't heard of this either, but it wouldn't surprise me. The thing I see most here is a allegiance to the college they attended. If you have a guy from the same school high up in a company, they tend to pull their own up the ladder.