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Japan expat resident here. The 'suicide for preserving honor' theory has been long abandoned & mostly outlawed, even. No one in the modern generation thinks th

Japan expat resident here. The 'suicide for preserving honor' theory has been long abandoned & mostly outlawed, even. No one in the modern generation thinks that way. The causes for suicide are mostly due to economic imbalance & high credit/ loans/ failed businesses (sadly). Children have easy access to credit cards from family, and rack up huge debts by indulging in things as part of peer pressure. I saw several case studies highlighting this when I was part of influencer marketing business. Ritual suicide was done by seppuku - slashing out your guts, as a final act of bravery. No one does anything remotely similar.

jkhdigital 5y ago
How do you “outlaw” a theory? You can’t purge a cultural heritage—everyone in Japan learns Japanese history and ritual suicide is a notable part of that history. The point is not that people commit suicide today for the same reasons or in the same way that they did 500 years ago, but that it is more likely to be accepted as a way out than in a culture that e.g. considers suicide to be a one-way ticket to the spiritual inferno.
- srvmshr 5y ago
  > You can’t purge a cultural heritage—everyone in Japan learns Japanese history and ritual suicide is a notable part of that history. Not sure where you get this idea, but this is grossly inaccurate. Japanese culture is strongly revisionist. People don't talk about the war, much less teach about it. The 'old ways' and 'samurai heroism' was faulted for the mess in '40s. People make a sigh whenever such touchy topics come up. New Japan is a different beast. As a consequence, we are seeing a generation which is severely confused on why WW2 happened. American pop culture is embraced with open arms, but they can't explain why Hiroshima happened at the hands of US. It's all faulted to grave mistakes on the 'old thinking' which is best left behind. Japan adopted modernism & became America's best buddies, ignoring the blemishes over 3 decades of Imperial japanese horrors. Older generation, who used to teach from experience of pre-war and neo-modern Japan, are dying off due to age. A significant chapter of history is being ignored by looking the other way. Look up the editorials of any Japanese weekly, and on any random week you will find some discussion on how they bemoan the growing dissonance between the post-war values of peace & the cultural change alongside the pseudo-aggression of some political parties, which eventually aims to remilitarize Japan at some point. (That's a story for another time or another thread)
andrewprock 5y ago
I have to assume that WWII history is still being taught. I'm not sure if they are censoring kamikaze tactics in Japan, but they are still well documented in US WWII media.
- srvmshr 5y ago
  Funnily enough, WW2 is taught in a very sanitized way. Its more along the lines of "we had disagreement, we had a war, we were all somewhat wrong. let's move on and be peaceful". People take offense if you prod along the topic further. They don't want to talk about it anymore.

jkhdigital 5y ago

How do you “outlaw” a theory? You can’t purge a cultural heritage—everyone in Japan learns Japanese history and ritual suicide is a notable part of that history. The point is not that people commit suicide today for the same reasons or in the same way that they did 500 years ago, but that it is more likely to be accepted as a way out than in a culture that e.g. considers suicide to be a one-way ticket to the spiritual inferno.

srvmshr 5y ago
> You can’t purge a cultural heritage—everyone in Japan learns Japanese history and ritual suicide is a notable part of that history. Not sure where you get this idea, but this is grossly inaccurate. Japanese culture is strongly revisionist. People don't talk about the war, much less teach about it. The 'old ways' and 'samurai heroism' was faulted for the mess in '40s. People make a sigh whenever such touchy topics come up. New Japan is a different beast. As a consequence, we are seeing a generation which is severely confused on why WW2 happened. American pop culture is embraced with open arms, but they can't explain why Hiroshima happened at the hands of US. It's all faulted to grave mistakes on the 'old thinking' which is best left behind. Japan adopted modernism & became America's best buddies, ignoring the blemishes over 3 decades of Imperial japanese horrors. Older generation, who used to teach from experience of pre-war and neo-modern Japan, are dying off due to age. A significant chapter of history is being ignored by looking the other way. Look up the editorials of any Japanese weekly, and on any random week you will find some discussion on how they bemoan the growing dissonance between the post-war values of peace & the cultural change alongside the pseudo-aggression of some political parties, which eventually aims to remilitarize Japan at some point. (That's a story for another time or another thread)

andrewprock 5y ago

I have to assume that WWII history is still being taught. I'm not sure if they are censoring kamikaze tactics in Japan, but they are still well documented in US WWII media.

srvmshr 5y ago
Funnily enough, WW2 is taught in a very sanitized way. Its more along the lines of "we had disagreement, we had a war, we were all somewhat wrong. let's move on and be peaceful". People take offense if you prod along the topic further. They don't want to talk about it anymore.