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> Tokyo is a place where a train being 2 minutes late causes ire (and a train conductor once killed himself for a mistake as trivial as this). The driver going

> Tokyo is a place where a train being 2 minutes late causes ire (and a train conductor once killed himself for a mistake as trivial as this). The driver going too fast from being late was the cause of a (100+ fatalities) train accident about 10 years ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amagasaki_rail_crash https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amagasaki_rail_crash > It's a place where if a person jumps into the train to kill themselves, many will curse under their breaths about being late to work. The rail operator will also send a large bill to the jumpers family.

Joeri 11y ago
> The rail operator will also send a large bill to the jumpers family. Isn't this the case in most countries? I suspect they do it to discourage other jumpers, since if you jump you know you're saddling your family with a debt. As a society we could avoid these things if we provided a legal path to requesting to be euthanised, a legal self-determination on the end of your own life. In my country you can request it, but you must be medically found by multiple doctors to be under unbearable and untreatable pain. If we made such a mechanism more inclusive, we could get rid of jumpers, as well as having an opportunity to turn the ship around for people considering suicide.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  > Isn't this the case in most countries? I don't think so. Personally, I only heard about it in Japan, because this particular method of suicide is so endemic there. About US, on the other hand, I read a different story. Gun-inflicted suicides are more common there, and there are reports that often, police officers purposefully misreport those as "gun-related accidents", so that the family can still get life insurance of the deceased person.
  - id 11y ago
    Many if not most life insurances actually do pay out if the suicide occurs a certain time period (often it's 2 years) after the policy is purchased.
- kwhitefoot 11y ago
  Unless the jumper is under the age of majority the family are not responsible for the debts of the deceased in any country I know of. Is it different in Japan? See http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-happens-to-debts-when-someone-dies http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-happens-to-debts-when-someon... for instance.
  - occamrazor 11y ago
    The family isn't, but the estate of the deceased might be.
Paradigma11 11y ago
Does the bill really go to the family or to the jumpers assets/inheritance?
- rdancer 11y ago
  It goes to the estate, but that is logical, and doesn't elicit as much emotional response, so the only people you hear talking about it are those who don't understand that distinction.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    Could you elaborate on that distinction? I definitely do not understand it, but I would like to.
    - vinceguidry 11y ago
      An estate is simply the legal term given to the net worth a person has after they die. There's a legal process that allocates the dead person's resources according to various factors. Generally a person's debts will be satisfied first. Then whatever's left gets divided according to the person's will, if any. If there is no will, a judge will divide assets up amongst surviving relatives. If there is nothing left after satisfying debts, then heirs get nothing. If there is no will and no heirs, the estate goes to the state. Typically if a person's net worth is negative, debts are not passed on to heirs, leaving creditors to sue for relief. Again, jurisdictions vary, and I would expect there are many other factors at play in a country like Japan where keeping the family's social standing intact may be worth paying off those the deceased wronged instead of dragging the dead person's dirty laundry through the court system even if there's no chance of winning. Jurisdictions vary, but I would imagine in a case such as the aforementioned, the state wouldn't take the whole estate, only part, after debts are satisfied. A phenomenal article on this aspect of the "what happens after you die" question is this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-new-york-city.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-ne...
      - 11y ago
ekianjo 11y ago
> It's a place where if a person jumps into the train to kill themselves, many will curse under their breaths about being late to work. And honestly if you want to kill yourself you dont HAVE to jump before a train. You can do it in other ways without bothering anyone.

Joeri 11y ago

> The rail operator will also send a large bill to the jumpers family. Isn't this the case in most countries? I suspect they do it to discourage other jumpers, since if you jump you know you're saddling your family with a debt. As a society we could avoid these things if we provided a legal path to requesting to be euthanised, a legal self-determination on the end of your own life. In my country you can request it, but you must be medically found by multiple doctors to be under unbearable and untreatable pain. If we made such a mechanism more inclusive, we could get rid of jumpers, as well as having an opportunity to turn the ship around for people considering suicide.

TeMPOraL 11y ago
> Isn't this the case in most countries? I don't think so. Personally, I only heard about it in Japan, because this particular method of suicide is so endemic there. About US, on the other hand, I read a different story. Gun-inflicted suicides are more common there, and there are reports that often, police officers purposefully misreport those as "gun-related accidents", so that the family can still get life insurance of the deceased person.
- id 11y ago
  Many if not most life insurances actually do pay out if the suicide occurs a certain time period (often it's 2 years) after the policy is purchased.
kwhitefoot 11y ago
Unless the jumper is under the age of majority the family are not responsible for the debts of the deceased in any country I know of. Is it different in Japan? See http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-happens-to-debts-when-someone-dies http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-happens-to-debts-when-someon... for instance.
- occamrazor 11y ago
  The family isn't, but the estate of the deceased might be.

Paradigma11 11y ago

Does the bill really go to the family or to the jumpers assets/inheritance?

rdancer 11y ago
It goes to the estate, but that is logical, and doesn't elicit as much emotional response, so the only people you hear talking about it are those who don't understand that distinction.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  Could you elaborate on that distinction? I definitely do not understand it, but I would like to.
  - vinceguidry 11y ago
    An estate is simply the legal term given to the net worth a person has after they die. There's a legal process that allocates the dead person's resources according to various factors. Generally a person's debts will be satisfied first. Then whatever's left gets divided according to the person's will, if any. If there is no will, a judge will divide assets up amongst surviving relatives. If there is nothing left after satisfying debts, then heirs get nothing. If there is no will and no heirs, the estate goes to the state. Typically if a person's net worth is negative, debts are not passed on to heirs, leaving creditors to sue for relief. Again, jurisdictions vary, and I would expect there are many other factors at play in a country like Japan where keeping the family's social standing intact may be worth paying off those the deceased wronged instead of dragging the dead person's dirty laundry through the court system even if there's no chance of winning. Jurisdictions vary, but I would imagine in a case such as the aforementioned, the state wouldn't take the whole estate, only part, after debts are satisfied. A phenomenal article on this aspect of the "what happens after you die" question is this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-new-york-city.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-ne...
    - 11y ago

ekianjo 11y ago

> It's a place where if a person jumps into the train to kill themselves, many will curse under their breaths about being late to work. And honestly if you want to kill yourself you dont HAVE to jump before a train. You can do it in other ways without bothering anyone.