世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Last year two of the big stories in Japan were children killing themselves due to bullying, and group suicides with people meeting over the internet in suicide clubs. Regardless of how tragic each incident is, these types of suicides make up just a few percentage points of the overall figures, with physical ill-health in older people being the main trigger for suicides. To find out what the average Japanese thinks, the Cabinet Office of Japan sponsored an opinion poll on the topic of building a healthy heart (suicide prevention methods).

Demographics

3,000 adults were selected randomly from the Japanese voter lists and face-to-face interviews were conducted. Of the original sample, 1,728 answered the questionnaire, a response rate of 57.6%. 54.7% of the sample was female, 8.1% in their twenties, 15.4% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 22.0% in their fifties, 21.1% in their sixties, and 17.6% aged seventy or older.

Note that the buzzword for the suicide prevention methods is こころの健康づくり, kokoro no kenkou-zukuri, literally translated as building a healthy heart.

I feel Q3 is flawed. The statements do not have simple yes/no answers, so perhaps either degrees of agreement or opinions on the frequency of such occurances would have been more illuminating.

Research results

Q1: Since 1998 the numbers of suicides in Japan has topped 30,000 every year, a figure four or five times larger than deaths in road accidents. Did you know that every year that large number of people took their own lives? (Sample size=1,728)

Yes	66.4%
No	33.6%

Next, the respondents were given a summary of the Basic Law for the Prevention of Suicide and asked to read it closely, then asked the following question.

Q2: How much did you know about the Basic Law for the Prevention of Suicide? (Sample size=1,728)

Knew the details of the law	1.7%
Knew the objectives of the law	6.5%
Knew the name of the law only	20.9%
Didn’t know anything	70.8%

Q3: Given the following statements about suicide, which answer is closest to how you think about them?

Q3A: “Suicide is premeditated.” (Sample size=1,728)

Think so	58.3%
Don’t think so	30.3%
Don’t know	11.3%

Q3B: “People who say they will commit suicide do not actually take their own life.” (Sample size=1,728)

Think so	50.0%
Don’t think so	36.5%
Don’t know	13.5%

Q3C: “Suicide is not mentioned beforehand, but suddenly occurs.” (Sample size=1,728)

Think so	46.0%
Don’t think so	44.7%
Don’t know	9.3%

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]