世論 What Japan Thinks

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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.

Perhaps I’m lucky, but my employer carries out all the activities in Q10. Whether or not anyone acts on the information provided is another matter altogether, of course!

Research results

Q10: At your workplace, what sort of “building a healthy heart”-related activities are being carried out? (Sample size=800, those in employment, multiple answer)

Questionnaire at regular health checks	45.8%
Information and training for employees	19.4%
Counselling facilities available at the workplace	19.4%
Work-related stress questionnaires are carried out	12.8%
Counselling facilities available outside the workplace	11.8%
Doctor interviews with those with continuing long overtime hours	8.9%
Self-evaluation tests for “building a healthy heart”, stress, etc, distributed	7.8%
“Building a healthy heart” plan in place	6.0%
Nothing in particular	37.1%
Other	0.9%
Don’t know	3.6%

Q11: How satisified are you with “building a healthy heart” facilities available to you? (Sample size=1,728)

Satisfied	5.8%
A little satisfied	26.7%
A little dissatisfied	13.0%
Dissatisfied	9.1%
Can’t say either way	20.5%
Don’t know	24.8%

Q12: At your workplace, what sort of “building a healthy heart”-related activities are being carried out? (Sample size=246, those in self-employment or home working, multiple answer)

Questionnaire at regular health checks

36.6%	Work-related stress questionnaires are carried out
17.5%	Self-evaluation tests for “building a healthy heart”, stress, etc, distributed
15.0%	Counselling facilities available at the workplace
13.8%	Information and training for employees
10.2%	Counselling facilities available outside the workplace
9.3%	“Building a healthy heart” plan in place
7.3%	Doctor interviews with those with continuing long overtime hours
6.9%	Nothing in particular
40.2%	Other
2.8%	Don’t know
3.3%

Q13: At your workplace, what sort of “building a healthy heart”-related activities do you expect to have? (Sample size=800, those in employment, up to three answers)

Work-related stress questionnaires are carried out	34.4%
Questionnaire at regular health checks	32.6%
Counselling facilities available at the workplace	26.8%
Doctor interviews with those with continuing long overtime hours	23.5%
Counselling facilities available outside the workplace	21.6%
Self-evaluation tests for “building a healthy heart”, stress, etc, distributed	18.5%
Information and training for employees	17.9%
“Building a healthy heart” plan in place	9.4%
Nothing in particular	21.3%
Other	1.5%
Don’t know	1.0%

Q14: Thinking about your closest family member in employment, what sort of “building a healthy heart”-related activities would you like to see available for them? (Sample size=682, those unemployed or retired, up to three answers)

Questionnaire at regular health checks	47.5%
Doctor interviews with those with continuing long overtime hours	33.4%
Work-related stress questionnaires are carried out	33.4%
Counselling facilities available at the workplace	30.2%
Counselling facilities available outside the workplace	19.2%
Self-evaluation tests for “building a healthy heart”, stress, etc, distributed	17.3%
“Building a healthy heart” plan in place	9.7%
Information and training for employees	9.4%
Nothing in particular	10.3%
Other	1.3%
Don’t know	9.2%

Q15: Regarding the following mental-related societal problems, for which of them do you know of a trusted place where you can discuss matters? (Sample size=1,728, multiple answer)

Bullying	49.5%
Debt, loanshark	48.4%
Consumer protection	47.0%
Nursing care	41.8%
Child-rearing	41.5%
Loss of job	33.3%
Long working hours	28.7%
Sexual harrassment	26.8%
Crime victim support	26.8%
Bankruptcy, financial depression	21.5%
Real estate, other legal problems	21.4%
Other	1.0%
Don’t know	23.3%

Q16: In order for the government to prevent suicide in the future, for which of the following societal problems should the government put effort into establishing? (Sample size=1,728, up to three answers)

Bullying	48.0%
Loss of job	34.3%
Nursing care	33.6%
Debt, loanshark	32.9%
Long working hours	26.8%
Child-rearing	24.0%
Bankruptcy, financial depression	18.9%
Crime victim support	17.9%
Consumer protection	17.4%
Real estate, other legal problems	2.8%
Sexual harrassment	2.7%
Other	1.1%
Don’t know	5.7%

Q17: When the media reports on suicides, it is said that the style of reporting has an effect on suicide prevention. What in particular do you think would have an effect of preventing suicides? (Sample size=1,728, up to three answers)

Presentation of information on who to contact regarding problems	52.3%
Broadcast how to resolve problems	46.7%
No detailed reporting on the method of suicide	37.6%
Presentation of information on suicide signs or how to respond to them	35.8%
No broadcast that bullying suicides, etc have a single cause	25.9%
No sensational reporting of famous people’s suicides	23.6%
No broadcast of images or drawings of the dead body	15.3%
Other	1.5%
Don’t know	7.4%

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