4 ms·

IIRC the relatives of people who commit suicide on Japanese railways are charged for the disruption caused.

by razakel 9y ago

conanbatt 9y ago
!!!! "The best way to stop people from buying a gun, is to kill a puppy once each time is sold"
- microcolonel 9y ago
  > "The best way to stop people from buying a gun, is to kill a puppy once each time is sold" That seems like it would ensure that the only people who buy guns are those with no regard for innocent life. I think you've invented the most perverse incentive ever devised.
  - philipov 9y ago
    > That seems like it would ensure that the only people who ... are those with no regard for ... Sounds like what it takes to make it in politics.
    - microcolonel 9y ago
      Killing puppies is probably one of the few things that would disqualify you from office.
  - conanbatt 9y ago
    Each disposal of a puppy has to be maintained and paid by a tax on people that have no pets
lomnakkus 9y ago
This is one of those things that I heard on QI[1] that seems really plausible -- thus I did not fact check it -- but I'm not sure if it's just because of my Western cultural bias and prejudices. Is it well attested/documented? [1] Which, I think, should mostly be considered "entertainment" rather than particularly correct, though I do believe that they actually do strive for correctness. It's more that it has turned into a sort of "twist the words" game -- which is a shame.[2] [2] It seems to have gained a little bit of a second wind with Toksvig in the current season -- as a sort of a more chat-about-random-things-prompted-by-question-X type thing. Which is nice. (Disclaimer: Only 2 episodes in.)
- razakel 9y ago
  I found this Irish Times article: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/families-fined-for-suicides-in-japan-1.1104002 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/families-fined-for-su... as well as this 88-page study: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=anth_honors http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art... Apparently the fee is usually around $2 million.
  - lomnakkus 9y ago
    $2 million. Wow. I guess that would discourage anyone who's desparate enough to commit suicide (and still cares about their family) to look for other methods. I'm not quite sure why, but I somehow find it very strange that a railway company[1] can administer a "fine" to people that may never even have interacted with it. Am I alone in this? [1] Are they private entities in Japan?
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - rootsudo 9y ago
      2 Million yen, about $10-14,000 depending on exchange rate.
mschuster91 9y ago
What the f..k, how is that even legal?!
- drak0n1c 9y ago
  Japan elevates social responsibility above the self-interest of individuals.
VygmraMGVl 9y ago
I'm not sure if this is true or not after looking around at news stories for a while. There was, for example, some uncertainty about whether or not a train line could sue the family of a man with dementia who was hit by a train [1]. However, even if train companies do sue families if their relatives get hit by trains, it doesn't change the fact that there are a LOT of suicides by train in Tokyo. For example, on one day in 2012 there were 3 separate suicides from jumping in front of trains [2]. I think the lack of delays in Japan from these types of accidents may have to do with very frequent train schedules and lots of redundancy in both alternate routes and alternate tracks. [1] https://japantoday.com/category/national/family-of-91-year-old-dementia-sufferer-struck-by-train-ordered-to-pay-jr-compensation https://japantoday.com/category/national/family-of-91-year-o... [2] https://japantoday.com/category/national/man-jumps-to-death-at-shinjuku-station-in-tokyo https://japantoday.com/category/national/man-jumps-to-death-...
marak830 9y ago
This I can confirm, a work friends family had to pay for the cleanup and delay room when her brother committed suicide via train. I'm not in Japan at the moment so I can't ask the figure, but I believe it was in the region of 10-20k us(take that figure with a huge grain of salt, I'm going off of my memory, and still drinking my morning coffee).

IIRC the relatives of people who commit suicide on Japanese railways are charged for the disruption caused.

conanbatt 9y ago

!!!! "The best way to stop people from buying a gun, is to kill a puppy once each time is sold"

microcolonel 9y ago
> "The best way to stop people from buying a gun, is to kill a puppy once each time is sold" That seems like it would ensure that the only people who buy guns are those with no regard for innocent life. I think you've invented the most perverse incentive ever devised.
- philipov 9y ago
  > That seems like it would ensure that the only people who ... are those with no regard for ... Sounds like what it takes to make it in politics.
  - microcolonel 9y ago
    Killing puppies is probably one of the few things that would disqualify you from office.
- conanbatt 9y ago
  Each disposal of a puppy has to be maintained and paid by a tax on people that have no pets

lomnakkus 9y ago

This is one of those things that I heard on QI[1] that seems really plausible -- thus I did not fact check it -- but I'm not sure if it's just because of my Western cultural bias and prejudices. Is it well attested/documented? [1] Which, I think, should mostly be considered "entertainment" rather than particularly correct, though I do believe that they actually do strive for correctness. It's more that it has turned into a sort of "twist the words" game -- which is a shame.[2] [2] It seems to have gained a little bit of a second wind with Toksvig in the current season -- as a sort of a more chat-about-random-things-prompted-by-question-X type thing. Which is nice. (Disclaimer: Only 2 episodes in.)

razakel 9y ago
I found this Irish Times article: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/families-fined-for-suicides-in-japan-1.1104002 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/families-fined-for-su... as well as this 88-page study: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=anth_honors http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art... Apparently the fee is usually around $2 million.
- lomnakkus 9y ago
  $2 million. Wow. I guess that would discourage anyone who's desparate enough to commit suicide (and still cares about their family) to look for other methods. I'm not quite sure why, but I somehow find it very strange that a railway company[1] can administer a "fine" to people that may never even have interacted with it. Am I alone in this? [1] Are they private entities in Japan?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - rootsudo 9y ago
    2 Million yen, about $10-14,000 depending on exchange rate.

mschuster91 9y ago

What the f..k, how is that even legal?!

drak0n1c 9y ago
Japan elevates social responsibility above the self-interest of individuals.

VygmraMGVl 9y ago

I'm not sure if this is true or not after looking around at news stories for a while. There was, for example, some uncertainty about whether or not a train line could sue the family of a man with dementia who was hit by a train [1]. However, even if train companies do sue families if their relatives get hit by trains, it doesn't change the fact that there are a LOT of suicides by train in Tokyo. For example, on one day in 2012 there were 3 separate suicides from jumping in front of trains [2]. I think the lack of delays in Japan from these types of accidents may have to do with very frequent train schedules and lots of redundancy in both alternate routes and alternate tracks. [1] https://japantoday.com/category/national/family-of-91-year-old-dementia-sufferer-struck-by-train-ordered-to-pay-jr-compensation https://japantoday.com/category/national/family-of-91-year-o... [2] https://japantoday.com/category/national/man-jumps-to-death-at-shinjuku-station-in-tokyo https://japantoday.com/category/national/man-jumps-to-death-...

marak830 9y ago

This I can confirm, a work friends family had to pay for the cleanup and delay room when her brother committed suicide via train. I'm not in Japan at the moment so I can't ask the figure, but I believe it was in the region of 10-20k us(take that figure with a huge grain of salt, I'm going off of my memory, and still drinking my morning coffee).