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A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

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Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#21

Post by Retric »

dragontamer wrote: post #12

The Hikikomori has become a standard anime trope. Starting in 2009 in Anohana, the main character is a recovering Hikikomori (who went through quite a depressing story that caused him to withdraw from society). This last spring, there were at least three major animes revolving around the concept. "Nanana's burried treasure", "No Game No Life", and "Mekakucity actors" all have title characters who are Hikikomoris. Hik…

It's a fairly common anime trope.

42 examples on: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Hikikomori

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#22

Post by Loughla »

The only thing I can't get over is how work focused all of the letters are. Sure, they all have family struggles, but they're less concerned about the particular struggles and more concerned about how that impacts their work.

This article is phrased as if the entire Japanese culture is based on a disproportionate work-life balance to the extreme.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#23

Post by sosborn »

chris_mahan wrote: post #14
jessaustin wrote: post #10

By tradition, suicide can absolve guilt and cancel debt, can restore honor and prove loyalty. In this respect I feel Japan's culture is superior to ours in the USA. For example, I felt Mark Madoff's suicide was entirely appropriate, a final act that put the rest of his life in a more dignified context. Yet every article one reads about it treats the suicide as an additional disgrace, yet another horrible thing we can…

My wife is Japanese (born and raised there) and she does not look at it that way. She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times. Also, the whole samurai/bushido thing essentially doesn't exist for anyone under fifty over there. I went to Japan with my family in January, and I had a…

No offense, but making trip to Japan and eating at Joyful is like going to the Bay area and eating at Denny's.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#24

Post by dragontamer »

Retric wrote: post #21
dragontamer wrote: post #12

The Hikikomori has become a standard anime trope. Starting in 2009 in Anohana, the main character is a recovering Hikikomori (who went through quite a depressing story that caused him to withdraw from society). This last spring, there were at least three major animes revolving around the concept. "Nanana's burried treasure", "No Game No Life", and "Mekakucity actors" all have title characters who are Hikikomoris. Hik…

It's a fairly common anime trope. 42 examples on: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Hikikomori

Common yes, but not as common as it has been in recent years.

Three title-character Hikikomoris in a single anime season? Especially sine most of the examples before 2009 are not title characters. IE: You get stuff like a specific client for one episode of xxxHolic in older animes... or Haruhi who insulted normal people by calling them Hikikomoris.

But in contrast to say, Spring 2014 animes, there are three title character Hikikomoris that play major roles in the anime.

The concept has always been in anime, but very rarely has it been used so often for main characters.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#25

Post by enraged_camel »

chris_mahan wrote: post #14
jessaustin wrote: post #10

By tradition, suicide can absolve guilt and cancel debt, can restore honor and prove loyalty. In this respect I feel Japan's culture is superior to ours in the USA. For example, I felt Mark Madoff's suicide was entirely appropriate, a final act that put the rest of his life in a more dignified context. Yet every article one reads about it treats the suicide as an additional disgrace, yet another horrible thing we can…

My wife is Japanese (born and raised there) and she does not look at it that way. She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times. Also, the whole samurai/bushido thing essentially doesn't exist for anyone under fifty over there. I went to Japan with my family in January, and I had a…

>>She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times.

My understanding is that at least some of the people who commit suicide have done things beyond apology.

I mean, let's say a bridge collapses and kills tens of people, and it turns out this was due to the architect's gross negligence and/or incompetence. Are you saying he can simply apologize and work hard to make up for his mistake?

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#26

Post by krapp »

chris_mahan wrote: post #14
jessaustin wrote: post #10

By tradition, suicide can absolve guilt and cancel debt, can restore honor and prove loyalty. In this respect I feel Japan's culture is superior to ours in the USA. For example, I felt Mark Madoff's suicide was entirely appropriate, a final act that put the rest of his life in a more dignified context. Yet every article one reads about it treats the suicide as an additional disgrace, yet another horrible thing we can…

My wife is Japanese (born and raised there) and she does not look at it that way. She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times. Also, the whole samurai/bushido thing essentially doesn't exist for anyone under fifty over there. I went to Japan with my family in January, and I had a…

>Also, the whole samurai/bushido thing essentially doesn't exist for anyone under fifty over there.

I've been led to believe, (though I may be wrong, probably am) that it didn't really exist for the samurai either. In real life, they were elitist thugs and enforcers, and the mythology of bushido was added by old and bored samurai after Japanese society had more or less outlawed their violent ways.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#27

Post by tfigueroa »

Loughla wrote: post #22

The only thing I can't get over is how work focused all of the letters are. Sure, they all have family struggles, but they're less concerned about the particular struggles and more concerned about how that impacts their work. This article is phrased as if the entire Japanese culture is based on a disproportionate work-life balance to the extreme.

So it would seem. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kar%C5%8Dshi

That kind of environment can spin out cases like hikikomori. You can see similar trends in the U.S. with respect to startups and overworking, to a smaller scale, usually in the form of "going off the grid."

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#28

Post by thisjepisje »

enraged_camel wrote: post #25
chris_mahan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is Japanese (born and raised there) and she does not look at it that way. She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times. Also, the whole samurai/bushido thing essentially doesn't exist for anyone under fifty over there. I went to Japan with my family in January, and I had a…

>>She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times. My understanding is that at least some of the people who commit suicide have done things beyond apology. I mean, let's say a bridge collapses and kills tens of people, and it turns out this was due to the architect's gross negligence…

Are you implying he can make up for his mistake by killing himself?

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#29

Post by jessaustin »

krapp wrote: post #26
chris_mahan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is Japanese (born and raised there) and she does not look at it that way. She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times. Also, the whole samurai/bushido thing essentially doesn't exist for anyone under fifty over there. I went to Japan with my family in January, and I had a…

>Also, the whole samurai/bushido thing essentially doesn't exist for anyone under fifty over there. I've been led to believe, (though I may be wrong, probably am) that it didn't really exist for the samurai either. In real life, they were elitist thugs and enforcers, and the mythology of bushido was added by old and bored samurai after Japanese society had more or less outlawed their violent ways.

It's as if the culture, history, and thought of Japan is as complex, multifaceted, and contradictory as that of any other place. Anyway, expats are often opinionated with respect to controversial aspects of their home countries.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#30

Post by fakeasaur »

jessaustin wrote: post #10

By tradition, suicide can absolve guilt and cancel debt, can restore honor and prove loyalty. In this respect I feel Japan's culture is superior to ours in the USA. For example, I felt Mark Madoff's suicide was entirely appropriate, a final act that put the rest of his life in a more dignified context. Yet every article one reads about it treats the suicide as an additional disgrace, yet another horrible thing we can…

This is a dark, dark statement that paints a desperate individual killing himself out of fear as a good thing. It's not. Justifying suicide like that only makes it look like a good option for people who could get better.
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